€440,000 given to West Mayo clubs and organisations

€440,000 given to West Mayo clubs and organisations

Edwin McGreal

Funding details for clubs and organisations in the West Mayo Municipal District of Mayo County Council were released last week. 

A total of 129 different groups, clubs and organisations have been given funding as part of the €440,000 allocation under the ‘General Municipal Allocation’. 

Previously this funding was reserved for the three town councils in Mayo and known as ‘amenity grants’. With the abolition of the town councils, this money is now spread all over the county although there has been a lot of debate over the amount given.

“When the county manager (Council Chief Executive Peter Hynes) said each district was only getting €240,000 we rejected that and managed to get another €200,000 but it is still only €440,000 for all of West Mayo. To put that in perspective Westport Town Council on its own had €390,000. Someone is fooling someone,” said Cllr Christy Hyland (Ind). 

Cllr Michael Holmes (Ind) said ‘towns like Belmullet and Claremorris had nothing under the old way and now they have something. It’s swings and roundabouts’. 

Cllr Paul McNamara welcomed the funding, saying ‘there’s 129 organisations who had nothing this morning who have now received funding’. Groups had to apply for funding in order to receive it. 

The funding was split into four sections. They are: promotion of the region; community organisations and residents’ associations; Tidy Towns; and arts and heritage. 

The following is a breakdown of who received what under the different headings.

Promotion of the region

This was split across five sub categories which were tourism promotion; events and festivals; enterprise/business promotion; twinning; and strategic projects. The funding breakdown for promotion of the region is as follows:

Tourism promotion: Erris Beo €7,000; Comhlacht Forbartha Áitiúil Acla Teo €7,000; NADDCO €3,000; Mulranny Tourism Group €2,000; Destination Westport €20,000; Clare Island Tourism Group €1,000; Inishturk Community Club Ltd €1,000.

Events and festivals: Ballycroy Festival €500, Carrowniskey Races €500; Clann Lir Festival €1,000; Festival of the Pirate Queen 2015, Clew Bay, Westport €7,200; Gathering for Patrick €5,000; Geesala Festival €2,500; Inishlyre Memorial Marine Festival €200; Inishturk Community Club Limited €1,000; Murrisk Pattern Day €500; Official Opening of Gairdín CuimhneachΡin an Fód Dubh €1,000; RΡs Mhaigh Eo/Westport Cycle Race €500; Shraigh Sports Festival €200; Burrishoole Walking Festival €500; Westport Arts Festival 40th Anniversary €7,000; Westport Festival of Chamber Music €2,500; Westport Folk and Bluegrass Festival €2,500; Westport Food Festival €1,000; Westport Get Out There Festival €2,700; Westport Shop and Spraoi na Nollag €3,600; Westport Story €3,600; Westport Triathlon €1,000; Westsportif Leisure Cycle Event €2,500; Rolling Sun Book Festival €2,500; Feile Dú Éige €600; Feile na Mara, Achill €2,000. 

Enterprise/business promotion: Erris Chamber of Commerce €7,500; Westport Chamber of Commerce €7,500.

Twinning: Louisburgh/Moelan Sur Mer €1,500; Westport/Plougastel €2,500; Achill/Cleveland €9,000. 

Strategic projects: Achill Deserted Village Visitor Centre €28,000; Mayo Day €5,000. 

Community organisations and residents’ associations

This tranche of funding was split into three sub categories - community and voluntary groups; residents associations; and burial ground committees - and was split as follows.

Residents’ associations: Distillery Court, Westport €200 (12 houses); Radharc an tSailin, Binghamstown €200 (ten houses); Seaside Estate, Belmullet €350 (44 houses); Horkans Hill, Westport €350 (50 houses). 

Burial ground committees: The distribution to burial ground committees was not released. 

Distributions for community and voluntary groups were split up into the following sub-headings:

Community councils/community development: Mulranny Community Futures €1,000; Comharchumann Forbartha Ionad Deirbhile Eachléim Teo (CFID) €1,000; Tuke Fund Committee c/o CFID €1,000; Louisburgh HQ €1,000; Killeen Community Council €1,000; Coiste Ionad Pobail Bheal Derig €1,000; Coiste Forbartha Dooniver €1,000; Comhar Bigil Teo €1,000; Murrisk Development Association €1,000.

Environmental projects: The Edible Landscape Project €500; Westport Bee Keeping Association €500; Mulranny Environmental Group €500; Kildownet Polytunnell Project €500; Old Irish Goat Society, Mulranny €500. 

Youth: Ballycroy Foróige Club €250; Joint Community Youth Initiative for Performing Arts €1,000; Fahy Foróige Club €250; Erris No Name Club €250; 22nd Mayo Scouts, Dugort €500.

Emergency services: Order of Malta Belmullet/Erris Unit €500; Order of Malta, Ballycroy Unit €500; Order of Malta, Louisburgh Unit €500; Erris Heartbeat Defibrillator Group €500; Mayo Mountain Rescue €2,000. 

Childcare: Naíonra agus Iarscoil Naomh Sheosaimh Teo, Bunnacurry, Achill €500; Carrakennedy Community Childcare, Carrakennedy, Westport €500; Naíonra Beal an Mhuirthéad €500.

Community Alert: Achill Community Alert CCTV €250; Kilmeena Community Alert €250. 

Sport: Achill GAA €762; Achill Rovers Football, Drama and Athletic Club €762; Achill Sports Network €762; Burrishoole GAA Club €762; Covey Wheelers Cycling Club Youths €762; Eagle Boxing Club €762; Geesala Boxing Club €762; Naomh Micheal Rowing Club, Ballycroy €762; Kilmeena GAA Club €762; St Anne’s Boxing Club €762; Westport Athletics Club €762; Westport Bord na nÓg GAA €762; Golden Gloves Boxing Club Belmullet €762; Grainne Uaile Sub Aqua Club, Sli Ectra, Ballina €762; Westport Community Games €762; Westport Covey Wheelers €762; Westport GAA Club €762; Westport Hurling Club €762; Westport Ladies GAA €762; Westport Special Olympics Club €762; Westport Swim Club €762.

Music: Clew Bay Pipe Band €1,000; Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Eireann - Cathair na Mart €500; Westport Town Band €1,000; Achill Pipe Band €1,000; Westport Children’s Choir €500. 

General: Mayo Volunteer Centre €250; Ballycroy Men’s Shed €500; Westcoast FM, Westport €4,250; Gift of Hands €250; Westport Ladies Social Group €100; The Octagon Quilters €250. 

Tidy Towns

Ten towns and villages in the West Mayo Municipal District received funding for their local Tidy Towns group. The first eight listed below are designated as villages for Tidy Towns with Belmullet in the small town and Westport in the large town category.

The amount given to each were as follows: Geesala €3,000; Ballycroy €3,000; Tonragee €3,000; Newport €3,000; Louisburgh €3,000; Mulranny €3,000; Murrisk €3,000; Bangor Erris €3,000; Belmullet €16,000; Westport €20,000.

Arts and heritage

The final category which received funding from the 2015 allocations was arts and heritage. 

Aras Inis Gluaire in Belmullet received €15,000, the Custom House Studios in Westport received €15,000 also, while the new Westport Town Hall was the largest single benefactor of the allocations, receiving €45,000.