Ballyhaunis Blog

In one of his Dail speeches in April this year - the TD for Roscommon and South Leitrim - Luke “Ming” Flanagan told the Dail how he spent time as a prisoner in Castlerea prison and experienced torture!

He told whoever was listening (probably not many) how … “

I was put in a remand cell on my own and experienced the torture of being able to listen to only one radio station, Midwest Radio, which was playing country and western music. How that did not put me off it for life I do not know.

Midwest Radio - it’s enough to keep criminals out of prison.
Maybe the Guards should use it as a threat to trouble makers - Midwest Radio all day in prison !

Good news for anyone looking to buy a house - as everyone knows house prices have fallen a good bit since 2007.

A quick search on Daft.ie bought up these detached bungalows with 5 bedrooms or more with floor space over 200 sq metres - priced under €20000 Euro

See the Cheap 5 Bed Detached Bungalows Here

There are a few in the Mayo / Roscommon area.

Here is what Ken Ring thinks the weather will be like in Ireland for summer 2011

June
Ken Ring says that the number of sunny days in June will be five or less - with the best days being the 14th-20th in most places.
Otherwise - quite a bit of rain in the first week and also after the 20th.

July
The forecast from Ken Ring for the first half of July is good - plenty of sun, hardly any rain days until the 24th , in fact only about 6 good rain days in the whole month and they should nearly all be in the last week. July should also be the warmest month.

August
The driest and sunniest part may be the last week, about 5 or 6 good rain days peppered through the month for each county.

September
Forecast from Ken is for lovely weather - dry and sunny, for the first two weeks, then rain about 18th-20th, pretty heavy in places and then dry but a bit cloudy for another 9 days, until more rain on the 29th, and this should be heavy .

This is the full text of the speech made by Enda Kenny to welcome Barack Obama and his wife to Ireland. Made on May 23rd 2011 in Dublin

“IF THERE’S anyone out there who still doubts that Ireland is a place where all things are possible; who still wonders if the dream of our ancestors is alive in our time; who still questions our capacity to restore ourselves, to reinvent ourselves and to prosper. Well, today is your answer.
Because today, on this day, the President of the United States, Barack Obama and his first lady, Michelle Obama, come to visit.
To show that he believes in Ireland. To make that precious connection with his Irish family, his Irish roots, as thousands before him have done.
Today, the 44th American president comes home.
When Fulmouth Kearney started out on the long Atlantic crossing, he might have dreamed, but hardly imagined, that one day his great-great-great grandson would return as the President of the United States.
That boy said goodbye to a ravaged island. Millions had died or were leaving, packing their hopes and their dreams in beside the remnants of a life. Stepping onto ships which, for some, was like stepping into space.
Every one of them, and all their people, are our people: ár muintir féin.
Their past is our past.
Their story is our story.
This evening, my call is directly to those 40-million Irish-Americans. Whether you’re listening or watching in New York or New Haven, or in San Diego or St Louis. And whether you’re Irish by blood, or by marriage, or by desire. We, your family, your Irish family, are right here to welcome you. To follow your president home.
Last week, Queen Elizabeth came to our shores and bowed to our dead. The Irish harp glittered above the heart of the English Queen. With pride and happiness, and two words of Irish, we closed a circle of our history.
A cháirde
Today, with President Obama, we draw another circle – one in which we tell the world of our unique, untouchable wealth. Wealth that can not be accumulated in banks, or measured by the markets or traded on the stock exchange.
Because it remains intact and alive, deep inside our people.
In the heart-stopping beauty of our country and in the transforming currency of the Irish heart, imagination and soul.
It’s like the spirit of Leinster last Saturday in Cardiff. Never give up. Never give up and never say die.
This is what we call our Uaisleacht. It has sustained us over the centuries. We pass from mother to daughter, father to son – in our dreams and in our imagining, in our love for our country – our pride in who we are. Long into what must be, and will be, a brighter and more prosperous future .
The president and his first lady are an extraordinary couple.
President Obama is part of that proud past and part of that prouder future.
In 1963, the 35nd President of the United States stirred our hearts. In 1995 the 42nd president lifted our country’s spirits.
But the 44th president is different. Because ladies and gentlemen, he doesn’t just speak about the American dream. He is the American dream. And that is the American dream, come home.
So ladies and gentlemen, let your voices be heard around the globe as I’m honoured to introduce the President of the United States, Barack Obama and the first lady Michelle Obama.
Let’s hear it.”

here is the latest list of school closures in the region….

Here is a map showing the possible locations of speed cameras in County Mayo.
The roads that will be monitored by the GoSafe camera vans are marked in red.
It looks like Kiltimagh will be seeing speed camera vans in the future - as well as roads around Ballina, Westport and Castlebar.
Slow down where ever you are


View Larger Map

Balyhaunis Fine Gael MEP is in the news because of his 3 day “study trip” to the sunny island of Madeira - all paid for by taxpayers.

It appears that the three-day break has nothing directly to do with Irish affairs or the constituents of Jim Higgins in Connacht-Ulster.

When contacted by the Irish Independent about the trip - Jim Higgins is reported as saying

“That’s all shite … that’s all shite if you don’t mind me saying so. That’s typical media bluster, you know. I don’t share that at all,” he told the Irish Independent.

Higgins claimed the three-day stay in a five-star hotel on the island represented value for money because of the “important work” taking place.
He said “I haven’t a clue what star it is. All I know is that it’s a very good hotel, the accommodation is wonderful, the food is lovely. For people who work so hard, we’re entitled to that. You don’t expect us to stay in B&Bs, do you?”

Mr Higgins’ ministerial pension is €5,952, and his Dail pension is €54,890. This is on top of his MEP salary of €91,984.
That’s about €152,000 in total .

All four Fine Gael MEPs, who are part of the European People’s Party (EPP), were entitled to attend this week’s “study break”. - but Mr Higgins was the only one of them to attend the conference, which kicked-off on Tuesday. The trip is being paid for by the European taxpayer. Gay Mitchell, Mairead McGuinness and Sean Kelly declined the invitation.
About 250 MEPs, 80 parliamentary assistants and 70 civil servants working for EPP went on the trip

According to the Independent - Higgins said that Madeira was chosen as a destination because of the catastrophic floods in 2009. MEPs were due to assess the damage yesterday afternoon, having discussed funds for global disasters, compensation and insurance in such situations. MEPS have also been dealing with the issues of internet access, search engines and social networks, he said.

Jim Higgins has his own Facebook page - so you can make friends with him there and tell him what you think. http://www.facebook.com/higginsmep
He has his own website too - so you can get in touch with Jim there too http://www.jimhiggins.ie/ep/contact
I wonder - would there be as many people on the trip if it was in a cold damp place ?

My Survey is a market research company. They are looking for Irish residents over 16 to join their online consumer panel. You will be asked to complete online surveys – and your opinions will be used by companies to develop new products and improve existing products.
I have had one about cars , another about alcoholic drinks and another about soft drinks.

It’s simple,- and free to register. All surveys are done online from the comfort of your home (or office) . Participants get rewards point for doing the surveys.
These points can be converted into things like Argos vouchers or Paypal vouchers (as god as cash).

If you are out of work – it’s an easy way to beat the boredom and maybe get something in return. A bit of extra cash for Christmas maybe? It’s not a proper job – you won’t make a living from it - but every little helps!

Click Here to Join today !

Ballyhaunis is on RTE again today - twice in one week !
First this week we had the O’Gorman half hour visit to Ballyhaunis - which didn’t do the town many favours. He must have been on a tight budget and a short timescale. He showed us two grocery shops that look like they haven’t changed since the 1950’s - both complaining that they were going out of business. I wonder why!
He also managed to find a charity/ second hand shop on Knox street - where he gave an Asylum seeker and her daughter more questions than a tribunal.
He also spoke to a female security guard outside a bookies - who only sleeps an hour a day and prefers to be single. When O’Gorman pointed out that her nice shiny black car could be good for “pulling” - she said she would need a towbar to hook up a trailer!
The Nour Food shop owners - (who he spoke to in an Alleyway across the road for some reason) - said that business was good - especially in the Halal meats. They were not worried by Lidl or Aldi .

O’Gorman also had a long chat with a Syrian lady - who is a Muslim and he even went to her house for tea. I don’t know how she put up with his silly questions about veils and arranged marriages - she was very patient.

see it here

Now Ballyhaunis is in the news today because of Travellers firing a gun at someone on Tuesday ! As usual around the Knock Novena in August - there were a few caravans parked up in Ballyhaunis. The Garda helicopter was called in and the armed response unit! After a search - a “car, industrial machinery and slash hooks have been seized”.
(Slash hooks seem to be essential requirements for a visit to Knock Shrine of course !)

Ballyhaunis on RTE tonight at 7pm . Paddy O’Gorman visits Ballyhaunis in Co Mayo, where one shopkeeper worries that the number of local businesses closing will lead to dereliction and disrepair - but the roving reporter also discovers a halal meat shop that is thriving.

RTE One 7:00pm-7:30pm (30 minutes) Sun 15 Aug

See it Here