Search Results for 'Kevin Guthrie'

The ongoing row between Fine Gael and the other elected members of Mayo County Council in relation to the filling of vacancies on Mayo VEC may finally be coming to a conclusion. The issue raised its head once again at the April meeting of the local authority on Monday, when Sinn Féin councillor Gerry Murray said he had “no option but to withdraw from the meeting” after he was not allowed to read the text of the legislation in relation to the appointment of people to the VEC following the resignation of a member.

Only a matter of minutes after Cllr John O’Hara took his seat in the chamber of Mayo County Council for the first time, the new Fine Gael representative for Ballina was dragged into a political row that has rumbled on for well over a year now.

Fresh from celebrating the election of Michelle Mulherin to the Dáil the members of the Ballina district of the Fine Gael party will have to get voting again very soon. Because of her election, the party now has vacancies to fill on both Mayo County Council and Ballina Town Council. Ordinarily a vacant seat is filled by co-opting a Fine Gael candidate who missed out on getting elected to the county council last time. However the Fine Gael vote managment in the 2009 local elections was so good that all their candidates in the Ballina electoral area were elected to the county council.

It is told that the then Nan Denning was in a world of her own, singing away as she made her way down McHale Road, Castlebar, at the ripe old age of 14, when she was overheard by Tony O’Grady from Manulla. He enquired if Nan would sing in his band which comprised John Lally on saxophone, Toddy Buckley from Knockthomas on drums, Gerald Ralph from Moneen on drums, and Tony himself on accordion. Nan’s first gig was at the Eclipse Ballroom in Ballyhaunis with her opening number “Buttons & Bows”. From there started a long and talented singing career which brought Nan from the dance halls of Mayo to the Castlebar pantomime stage.

The Fine Gael party in Castlebar has not made any deal with Fianna Fáil councillor Blackie Gavin to get him to support former town councillor Kevin Guthrie’s appointment to a vacant post on Mayo VEC, according to Cllr Ger Deere. The post, which was vacated by Fine Gael councillor Noreen Heston when she resigned from the VEC in March, was filled by former Mayor of Castlebar, Kevin Guthrie, on Tuesday night when he beat fellow nominee Tony Deffley by five votes to four in council chamber. “I can categorically deny that any deal has been done with Cllr Gavin in relation to him supporting Kevin Guthrie for the post in the VEC,” Cllr Deere said. “He made up his own mind in relation to it and thinks Kevin Guthrie is the best person for the position.”

Castlebar Chamber of Commerce have unveiled a plan which could put the idle IDA business park on the Breaffy Road to good use.

Sinn Fein County Councillor Gerry Murray has said that the Ernie O’Malley memorial on the Mall in Castlebar should not be moved from its present location.

“If I have to travel three hours home in the evening I don’t mind as long as I get home,” explains Castlebar Mayor Kevin Guthrie, who is pulled over on the road somewhere between Clara, Co Offaly and Castlebar on a Tuesday evening as he speaks to the Mayo Advertiser. Midway through his term as the first citizen of Castlebar the Fine Gael town councillor is enjoying holding the chain of office for the first time, even if it does mean when he finally makes that three-hour trip after work he might not see his home for too long before he’s out the door again on official duty.

This week at Davitt College, one cannot help but notice the three flags hoisted on its flagpoles - the Irish flag, the Mayo flag and the German flag. The flags were hoisted to welcome their German exchange partners from Realschule Hochstadt and Herzogenaurach, who have just spent six days in Castlebar.

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