Local election candidate calls for Mayo music college

Local election candidate, Hugh Rouse, has called for a college of music to be established in the West of Ireland.

The Ballina based candidate believes there is a ‘compelling’ and  ‘glaring’ case to establish a fully fledged college of music in the West of the country, calling the area ‘the heartbeat and mecca of traditional music’.

He has written to the Minister for Education, Simon Harris, requesting the idea to receive ‘serious consideration’. 

Mr Rouse said it is ‘unfair that talented music students from the West, who wish to train and obtain third level qualifications in traditional, classical or other music forms have no option’ outside Dublin, Cork, and Belfast, to do so.

In terms of location, the Fine Gael candidate named Ballina as the college's ideal location, as it ‘sits right in the heart of the wonderful rich traditional music genres of Donegal, Sligo, Leitrim, Mayo, Galway and Clare’.

Mr Rouse said the town’s ‘atmosphere and environmental richness’ are ‘akin to any university town’.

“The sheer magnificence of the river Moy flowing through the heart of the town has won worldwide acclaim. The beauty of the quays and the marina are without parallel” he added.

He praised Ballina's capacity to cater for big events, using the hosting of the All Ireland Fleadh Cheol in 1997 and 1998 and the 2023 Connacht Fleadh, as examples of this.

The local election candidate urged Mayo County Council, Oireachtas representatives, and other local authorities in the West to support the proposal. 

He concluded: “I believe that with collective support it can happen”.