August 2014

See press release below from the local Pride of Place committee – we were represented at this event by our treasurer John Culhane. Hopefully Ballinrobe can gain national recognition for the efforts put in by approximately 80 people who took part on the day.    The town of Ballinrobe was put through its paces on Wednesday last, August 6th, when judges in the prestigious Pride of Place awards scheme  came to visit – and the local organisers have declared themselves ‘very happy’ with how the adjudication went. Over 80 people took part at various points around the town in what was a slick itinerary of events put together by Ballinrobe Town Management Team. “The adjudicators spent three hours with us to see all the work that has been done in terms of developing our community in recent years”, said Martin Murphy, chairperson, Ballinrobe Town Management Team. “We brought them on a whistle stop tour of Ballinrobe and I was very proud of what we were able to show them. There is no doubt but that there is huge community activity underway here in Ballinrobe, and so many people exhibiting real pride in their own place. We were very happy with the adjudication. The adjudicators really tuned into what we have been doing here in Ballinrobe. “We showcased highlights such as Ballinrobe Racecourse, Lakeside Sports & Fitness Centre, the historic Harry Clarke windows in St Mary’s church, the Felix Waitkus Memorial, the Green Town Park, Ballinrobe Golf Club and the various efforts made to promote the history of the town. “There were impressive displays by individual groups such as TACU, Community Gardeners, Cemetery Committee, Active Retirement Association, Men’s Shed, Tidy Towns, Kite Flyers and Western Lakes Cycling Club which gave an immediate illustration and examples of their membership and activities. “In addition brief interviews highlighted work done by The Playgroup, The After Schools, The Order of Malta and the interesting background to both the John King statue and the story of Felix Waitkus (Lithuanian Transatlantic flyer) who landed here in 1935. “The judges were impressed with the use of buildings and windows around the town to incorporate and illustrate community activities. Businesses in the town played their part by putting up colours and flags for the day, and by taking special steps to make their premises look clean and impressive.” Clubs and community groups in the area sent representatives along to Lakeside Sports & Fitness club to meet with the adjudicators from Co-Operation Ireland, Donal Connolly and William Beattie “The Ballinrobe Town Management Team was established in late 2013. The team is made up of representatives of organisations from Ballinrobe, Ballinrobe Area Engineer and Ballinrobe public reps,” added Mr Murphy. Pride of Place is an all-island competition that acknowledges the work that communities are doing all over the island of Ireland. The competition focus is on people coming together to shape, change and improve daily lives in their communities. Ballinrobe will be represented at the Awards Ceremony in Treacy’s West County Hotel, Ennis Co Clare, on November 15th. Mr Murphy thanked the sub-committee who put Wednesday’s tour together – Mary Jackson, David Hall, Willie Culkeen, Peter Heaps, Averil Staunton, Padraig Costello, Deirdre Butler and Liam Horan. “They rallied the town behind them and that was the key to the success of the adjudication visit. We are extremely grateful to all who helped to make the day a success – they are too numerous to mention here,” added Martin. “The support offered by Mayo County Council should be acknowledged – not alone did they nominate us for this award, but, led by Neil Sheridan, they provided excellent support throughout. County manager Peter Hynes and council executive Cora Gilligan joined us on the day to witness the work we had done, and we are continuing to do here in Ballinrobe. The staff of TACU, which is the local family resource centre here in Ballinrobe, played a huge part in preparing for the event. “Our two local representatives – Cllr Damien Ryan, who is the current Cathaoirleach of Mayo County Council, and Cllr Patsy O’Brien – contributed enormously to events on the day.” The feedback from many of the groups involved in this event is that awareness of each other’s activities has been raised and that this is another step forward in highlighting and building upon the good work already being carried out within community groups. A ‘must see’ slideshow of the Ballinrobe Community activities is available on the TACU Facebook page. After watching it many people will be interested in learning more about and joining the various groups in Ballinrobe.

Ballinrobe GAA club extends its sympathy to the Quinn, Keane and Joyce families on the death of Jim Quinn, Church Road, Kilmaine. Jim was a regular spectator at our club matches, where he supported his grandchildren who have worn – and continue to wear – the club jersey with distinction. Jim was laid to rest in Kilmaine on Wednesday morning. May he rest in peace.

We were due to host the Mayo intermediate football championship quarter-final between Kilmaine and The Neale on Sunday next (August 10th). The game has now been postponed following this statement from Mayo GAA board: Quarter finals of this years intermediate football championship were due to take place this weekend. We have had a request from James Horan to delay this weekends fixtures based on the following reasons; 1. James Horan feels that players will require maximum recovery time following last weekends quarter final against Cork. 2. There are now only two weeks remaining before the Mayo/Kerry semi final and this is a very important game in Mayo Senior teams plans to progress into the All Ireland Final. Members of the CCC have discussed the matter at length with James Horan and have explained the pressures relating to County and Provincial fixtures. A proposal from the Senior Team manager had been considered and agreed and is as follows. The Intermediate Quarter Finals will now take place on Saturday the 30th of August and the eight participating teams will have their players released to them in the week leading up to the games. We regret the position regarding the coming weekend but taking all matters into account we have agreed to the proposal to try our best to be fair to all involved. We are presuming the refixture will take place in Flanagan Park but will await confirmation at a later stage.