Latest news with #Castlebar-based
Irish Independent
30-06-2025
- Politics
- Irish Independent
Was the abolishment of Town Councils good or bad for Mayo?
This comment was made during a discussion about the abolition of town councils, which divided Mayo County Council members at the annual general meeting (AGM) last week. Cllr Blackie Gavin raised the discussion topic and directly addressed Minister Calleary, who was present at the AGM, as he said, 'At a national level they're on about bringing back some of the town councils, I think that's very important.' The Castlebar-based councillor argued for the importance of town councils in relation to capital project funding not being spent in Mayo. He said, 'We got nearly €12 million here a number of years ago for capital projects in our county town of Castlebar, and not a euro has been spent yet. I know from talking to my colleagues all around the State, every other town and village has the money spent except Mayo. It's a disaster.' Town councils were abolished in 2014 under the Local Government Reform Act, in which 80 town councils across Ireland were dissolved in an aim to streamline local government. Phil Hogan, who was Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government at the time, steered the reform. Cllr Richard Finn told the AGM, 'When Phil Hogan abolished the town councils, I thought it was the best day for local government. I believe it has given the small towns and villages that we represent around the county an equal share of the national and the county cake, 'We are elected here as county councillors, not town councillors, and we have to work for the county and spread the money around the county equally.' His comments were supported by Cllr Neil Cruise, who stated that he favours a strengthening of the municipal districts over the reinstatement of town councils. He said, 'The small to medium-sized towns and the villages are getting a lot better bang for their buck in the municipal districts.' A new Local Democracy Taskforce was announced at the beginning of June. It aims to reform and strengthen local government by examining the structure, functions, governance and funding of local authorities. Cllr Damien Ryan from Ballinrobe has been appointed to the Taskforce. He spoke at the AGM and backed the abolition of town councils, saying they created a two-tier system where 'If you had the luxury of a town council you had a massive funding stream, but everywhere outside of that was completely eliminated.' Cllr Ryan argued that funding for the municipal districts must increase, as the funding mechanism has not followed the 2014 reform to local government. He is an advocate for reform in local authorities and said, 'If we are serious about balanced redevelopment and social inclusion, then local authorities that don't have the mechanism to collect the funding that keeps them sustainable need to be looked at. The Department of Finance have to step in there, ADVERTISEMENT Learn more 'Funding follows the power and follows the people. The capitalising of local authorities that don't have the luxury of density of property base has to be looked at.' He argued that if that is done properly, then local government reform would 'not need to be touched again for another 25-30 years'. In response to this, Cllr Gavin said, 'We collect over €1 million from pay and display in the town,' but stated that Castlebar doesn't get this funding back to spend on local projects. He finished making his case for the reinstatement of town councils by saying, 'The councillors have no powers. The ordinary man on the street has more say than the elected councillor.' This article has been funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.
Irish Independent
23-06-2025
- Business
- Irish Independent
Mayo records notable house price increases amid ‘very low supply'
According to the latest House Price Report, the average house price in Mayo in Q2 of 2025 stood at €234,406. This is 52.3pc higher than pre-Covid prices and 4.1pc higher than the previous quarter. Every house type in Mayo recorded an increase in prices. Most notable was the price of a one-bedroom apartment, which jumped from 23.4pc to €102,000. This comes amid a nationwide annual increase in house prices. County Laois recorded the biggest annual increase, rising 16.6pc to €284,031 while Monaghan rose 2.2 pc to €245,222. Dr Ronan Lyons, author of the House Price Report, said the housing market was 'starved of supply' at present. 'The underlying reason is largely unchanged. There are simply too few homes on the market at the moment,' he said. Today (Monday, June 23) there are 868 properties in Mayo listed for sale on Elsewhere, the Real Estate Alliance (REA) has found that the average price of a second-hand three-bed semi-detached house in Mayo has increased to €265,000. This represents a 8.2pc increase in just three months – the highest increase of any area recorded during that period. According to the Q2 REA Average House Price Index, the average time taken to sell a property has increased by one week to a total of five. 'We are experiencing very low supply, with a total of just seven properties sold in Castlebar in this quarter,' said Robert McGreal of REA McGreal Burke. 'There are eleven properties on market currently with an average of €265,000 as well.' ADVERTISEMENT The survey shows that across the county, 50pc of purchasers were first-time buyers. A 20pc of sales in Mayo this quarter were attributed to landlords leaving the market. Additionally, agents across the county reported that the BER ratings of properties saw A-rated properties command 28pc price increases in comparison to comparable C-rated properties. Castlebar-based auctioneer Kevin Beirne told the Irish Independent that new building regulations were contributing to house price inflation. 'There is such a different now between a modern new home with all the building regulations and the energy efficiency of them, that's why there is such a difference in the price. Building materials and triple-glazed windows and all that are longer lasting,' he said.
Irish Independent
17-06-2025
- Business
- Irish Independent
Castlebar declares housing emergency as supply has ‘dried up and rents have increased astronomically'
The Irish Independent speaks to Castlebar-based county councillor Harry Barrett about the 'housing emergency' gripping Mayo's county town Today at 07:45 With a population of just over 13,000 people, Castlebar is the geographic, administrative and commercial heart of Mayo. It is not the most expensive postcode in the county. With some three- or four-beds now fetching over €500,000, Westport is – and will remain – the most expensive place to live in Mayo.
Irish Independent
17-06-2025
- Business
- Irish Independent
Castlebar has just declared a housing emergency
The Irish Independent speaks to Castlebar-based county councillor Harry Barrett about the 'housing emergency' gripping Mayo's county town Today at 06:07 With a population of just over 13,000 people, Castlebar is the geographic, administrative and commercial heart of Mayo. It is not the most expensive postcode in the county. With some three- or four beds now fetching over €500,000, Westport is – and will remain – the most expensive place to live in Mayo.
Irish Independent
24-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Independent
Sheep dip from Louth now on display in National Museum of Ireland
The story behind the sheep dip is told in Happy Days and Hard Times, a collection of memories, stories and images, compiled by the National Museum of Ireland, which has just been reprinted for a third time due to its ongoing success. The book came about through a reminiscence project, which encouraged visitors to the National Museum at Turlough Park in Co. Mayo, to submit their memories, inspired by the folklife objects on display in the museum galleries. The Louth contribution is by a Castlebar-based woman called Ann Marie Dowling whose mother was from Co Louth. 'My mother was born in 1930 – one of ten children on a farm in Cortial, Kilcurly, Co. Louth. The pink sheep dip on Level C was owned by her family and was used to dip the sheep,' she wrote. "Over 30 years ago, a photo was taken of my uncle, my mother and I standing by this dip in the barn at Cortial. We still have this photo though my sister and I are in our late 40s now. Sadly, my uncle died in the early 1990s and my mother passed away in 2011, aged 80 years. I will always remember the stories she recounted of a very happy childhood on the farm in Co. Louth. 'Perhaps it is these that have influenced me to make my home in the more rural environment of Co. Mayo, having been raised in Dublin. I find it a pleasure to visit the museum here in Turlough. My mother is never far from my mind on these visits.' The book was compiled by the Museum's documentation officer, Joanne Hamilton, who first started collecting visitor memories in 2013. 'It is wonderful to see Happy Days and Hard Times reprinted for a third time,' she said. 'The thought-provoking stories resonate with so many; those visits to the bog with the flask of tea or cycling the countryside. It brings people back to a simpler past, a past filled with colour and conversation, a past where children ran through fields till dusk and neighbours sat for hours whiling away time. 'Of course, as the book title suggests, not all of the rich memories of country living are surrounded with a nostalgic glow; these were hard times as well, and this comes through as people recount their stories.' Visitors from all over Ireland and many people living abroad contributed to the book. The book even features a contribution from the famous musician Christy Moore who recalls listening to Michael O'Hehir on the wireless and hearing day-old chicks chirp underneath the settle bed. Members of the public can still contribute memories and stories of country life to the project either via the memory sheets available in the reminiscence corner at the National Museum in Turlough Park or by downloading a memory sheet from Copies of the book are available now at any of the book shops at the three National Museum of Ireland locations – Turlough Park, Castlebar; Kildare Street, Dublin 2 or Collins Barracks, Dublin 7.
