Search Results for 'Michelle Mulherin'

Like marathons, election campaigns are long journeys more often suited to the long distance runner then to the sprinter. As on all long journeys events can happen and change predictions that seemed definite at the outset, this is especially true when it’s a political journey. Bear that in mind as we begin the coverage of the local election campaign scheduled for next June. If Madame Editor allows, this scribe will return to my predictions when the ballots are cast and counted to see how wrong (or right!) I was!

Mayo has been allocated €11.7 million under the National Roads Programme 2009 but there has been anger expressed at what was dubbed “the crumbs off the table”.

The Grassroots in Westport aren’t happy if last week’s article is anything to go by. Nothing happening apparently, all the Government’s fault, etc, etc. But they’re forgetting that Westport has had it good for a long time in comparison to the rest of the county. And the reason they’ve had it so good is because there’s a ‘can do’ attitude in Westport that up until recently wasn’t really replicated in Ballina or Castlebar. Westport is the tourism Mecca it is today because the Covies stood up in the 70s and decided to make it that way. They put their money where their mouths were and invested considerable sums of their own money in to getting it there. That investment alongside some incredibly biased treatment from Board Fáilte and then Fáilte Ireland (memo to Fáilte Ireland - there’s more to Mayo then Westport) has made Westport the beauty it is today. Governments don’t win Tidy Towns — communities do and the ‘can do’ spirit fostered by the business community is now part of the overall Covie spirit. And in these times, that spirit, not whinging, is needed more then ever, that spirit, not whinging, will sustain Westport through these incredible times.

Fine Gael county councillor Michelle Mulherin questioned the use of the new long term lease plan announced by the Minister for Housing and Urban Renewal, Michael Finneran TD recently. Minister Finneran announced the €20 million project when he was in Ballina recently to announce the multi million euro funding for the rejuvenation of St Patrick’s Estate in the town.

In the midst of this depressing time in Irish history, there was one good news story this week. The announcement that farmers and householders who generate their own electricity can now sell it back to the national grid is a welcome development.

The elected members of Ballina Town Council narrowly passed a revised supplementary development contribution scheme at their monthly meeting. The revised plan which saw the cost of the contribution cut from €4,500 per residential unit to €3,500 was passed by a vote of five to four in the chamber after a lengthy debate. The proposal to put the item through but with a reduced charge was made by Fianna Fáil councillor Padraig Moore, which was a counter motion to Independent councillor Mary Kelly’s proposal to shelve the item for 12 months and bring it back to the council then.

Ballina’s hub status, once viewed as a positive label for the town, is now working to the detriment of small local businesses and organisations with the loss of a potential €2 million funding for the town.

Bord Gáis celebrated the arrival of natural gas to Ballina with one of the first customers in the town to connect to the network, Market Lane Restaurant. Mayor of Ballina Councillor Michelle Mulherin, and CEO of Ballina Chamber Sandra Cribben joined Bord Gáis Networks staff and complex owners Keith and Siobhan Brennan to celebrate the switching on of natural gas by restaurateur and chef Kieran Sweeney.

The elected members of Mayo County Council from Ballina approved the raising of a loan of €12.9 million for the provision of a 66-unit housing development in St Patrick’s Estate in Ballina by Clúid Housing Association. Senior executive officer Paul Benson outlined to the members the reason for the raising of this loan. He told the members that the council would raise the loan and hand the money over to Clúid for the scheme, but the council would be reimbursed fully by central government the amount of the loan and any charges that were applied on it. He also informed the members that the tendering process was well under way for the project and that he was still confident that work would be under way on the scheme before the summer.

A notice of motion by Michelle Mulherin calling on the Ballina electoral area committee to request the Minister for Environment and the Minister for Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs to obtain a derogation for Ballina and other towns in the BMW region from the EU in order for them to obtain structural funds under the Leader programme caused plenty of debate at the committee meeting this week. The motion was eventually passed when it was seconded by her Fine Gael party colleague Jarlath Munnelly.