Search Results for 'Ballina Electoral Area Committee'

Fine Gael councillor John O’Hara suggested at this weeks Ballina Electoral Area Committee meeting that Ballina should look to link up with Sligo County Council to work on tourism initiatives in areas that straddle both counties, such as from the Quay in Ballina to Enniscrone and from the Windy Gap area in Bonniconlon to Lough Talt.

Despite an announcement that there would be changes to the eligibility criteria for those who are applying for a number of housing grants for older people and people with disabilities, the old criteria is still being used to assess applicants for the scheme.

“Are we robbing Peter to pay Paul?” asked Cllr Seamus Weir this week when the Ballina Electoral Area Committee was discussing the Local Improvement Scheme (LIS) part of the roadworks scheme for the area.

A motion by Fine Gael councillor John O’Hara calling for Fergus O’Dowd TD, Minister for State with responsibility for inland fisheries to prioritise the development of the National Salmon Life Centre in Ballina, got the full backing of all the members of the Ballina Electoral Area Committee this week. Cllr O’Hara brought the motion forward following the announcement that Inland Fisheries Ireland had plans to develop a interpretative visitors centre in Cong.

The members of the Ballina Electoral Area Committee will meet next week to work out the road works plan for the area with senior engineers from Mayo County Council. At Wednesday’s monthly meeting of the committee the idea was mooted that the individual councillors would not take up the potential €7,000 that can be allocated to Local Improvement Scheme (LIS) works on private roads and they would put the money back into public road works budget.

The first weekend of August next year will see large numbers of people descend on the north-eastern part of the county to celebrate The Gathering. At the November meeting of the Ballina Electoral Area Committee this week, Acting Director of Services, Paul Benson told the members, that Minister of State, Michael Ring TD had written to all local authorites to ask for budget provisions to be made for the event next year. He also told the members that it had been decided the first week in August is a potenital week to target for events for The Gathering next summer, so it could tie into a number of events that will be running and school holidays, especially in the UK.

Fine Gael councillor Seamus Weir this week clashed with council officials over a potential road widening scheme at Ardagh National School to improve safety in the area. The Knockmore based councillor placed a notice of motion before the Ballina Electoral Area Committee saying, “I am calling on Mayo County Council to engage with the local community in Ardagh and myself regarding the removal of a dangerous fence opposite Ardagh National School. Funding is available through notice of motion and the replacement fence/wall requested by the landowner will be built by the local FÁS team on request of the board of managment of the school.”

Independent councillor Gerry Ginty this week took over as chairperson of the Ballina Electoral Area Committee.

Despite each member of the Ballina Electoral Area Committee to get behind and work towards getting a satisfactory solution to the current impasse on the N26 from Ballina, the issue once again became a game of political tick for tack at the Ballina Electoral Area Committee.

Despite agreeing at the December meeting of the Ballina Electoral Area Committee that the committee would hold monthly meetings from now on rather than the bi-monthly meeting schedule that they had been using, actually agreeing to do so caused problems yesterday. At the February meeting of the committee, there was an item on the agenda to set the day and time each month that the committee would meeting.