Search Results for 'Tim Quinn'

The annual allowances and expenses paid to the elected members of Mayo County Council came in at just under €1.25 million for the year just gone. The €1,244,587.37 paid out was split among the 39 people who were councillors during the year. The top 10 earners collected €524,889.25 among them. The top 10 earners though does contain seven members who either retired from their seats or lost their seats in the local elections held in June last year and were entitled to gratuities for their service, as well as the two councillors who held the position of cathaoirleach during the year.

Next Monday’s Mayo County Council budget meeting is sure to see a vivacious debate on the issue of rate increases for business in 2009. County Manager Des Mahon informed the monthly meeting of the authority that the council would be seeking a two per cent increase in the rate for 2009. The news was not greeted well by the majority of the members present, Ballinrobe-based Fine Gael Cllr Patsy O’Brien had a motion on the agenda calling on the council not to increase either the water charges or the rate for 2009. Cllr O’Brien’s proposal received support from both sides of the house. The councillor said: “In this current climate, there should be no increase, because the fact is that many small business in the county which have been the backbone of the rural economy for many years are only barely surviving at the minute.” He went on to put a proposal to the council as to how the rate should be struck for each business on a case by case basis. “I think it would be much fairer to calculate the rate as a percentage of the overall turnover of a business for a year, rather than the flat rate we have at the minute.”

The Irish Wheelchair Association invite all to their Féile Na Bealtaine open day in the resource and outreach centre in Belmullet on May 7 at 2pm where a Ceoltas session will take place.

Mayo General Hospital’s budget for 2009 has overrun by €1.9 million during the first few months of the year. The budget for 2009 stands at €82.9 million, a cut of €2.6 million on 2008, but the hospital is struggling to make the savings.

The Belmullet area saw the largest influx of new voters into the area following the redrawing of the boundaries last year. An extra 2,249 people were planted into the area from both the east and south of the old constituency. The decision to move Newport east from the Westport electoral area into Belmullet and its population of 1,021 was enough to see sitting Newport based Fianna Fáil councilor Frank Chambers decide not to run again, after seeing his home base split between two different electoral areas. While to the east of the old constituency, Ballycastle, Bunaveela, Kilfian west and Lacken north have been added from the old Ballina area.

The tricolour was held high in the Ruby Room of the TF Royal Theatre on Sunday after the last Belmullet electoral area seat was taken by Sinn Féin’s Rose Conway Walsh. This resulted in the loss of outgoing Fianna Fáil councillor Tim Quinn’s seat. He topped the polls in 2004 with first preference votes, while against the county trend Fine Gael failed to secure the three seats which it was contending.

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!

Figures released by Mayo County Council under the Freedom of Information Act have revealed that Mayo county councillors were paid out €836,212 from January to the end of June 2009, all relating to the six months pre-election. Independent Castlebar Councillor Frank Durcan who sought this information said that these figures are “immoral in the times that are in it”.