1996/99
For up to date news visit the Connaught Telegraph website.
Snippets
8 April 1998
£600,000 advance factory for Claremorris
By Aiden Henry
THERE was good news on the jobs front for Claremorris last night with the announcement of a new £600,000 advance factory for the town.
The 17,000 sq ft building will be situated on the Industrial Estate at the racecourse on the Balla Road. This will be a massive boost to Claremorris as the area has been neglected as far as major industry is concerned since the Bacon factory closed in the town twenty years ago.
The local Chamber of Commerce decided just over a year ago to draw up plans to get an advance factory for the town under the Business Expansion Scheme.
Spearheaded by Chamber Vice-President, Liam Smyth, they set about getting business people to invest in the project. They have already purchased a site from the Racecourse trustees and they expect construction work on the new building to start in early July.
Chamber of Commerce President, Mrs. Eileen Dyer, said last night that they were delighted that everything was now in place for the building of the new modern up to date factory.
Thumbs-up for Mulranny holiday homes
An Bord Pleanala has granted planning permission for the construction of 27 holiday homes, an administrative centre, laundry, storage facility and children's play area at Mulranny.
The development, overlooking Clew bay will be undertaken by Mulranny Properties Ltd, work on which will commence immediately.
Divers and lifeboat crew to be honoured
Ballina diver Michael Heffernan who lost his life last October in a brave attempt to rescue four people trapped in cave on the North Mayo coast is to be honoured posthumously by the Royal National Lifeboat Institute (RNLI).
Michael, a member of the Grainne Uaile Sub Aqua Club, lost his life during the 21-hour rescue attempt in which another man also died.
Sixteen other people involved in the rescue are to be honoured by the RNLI including fellow diver Joseph Barrett (45), and Garda diver Ciaran Doyle (30). Member of the Ballyglass Lifeboat crew who assisted in the operation are also to be honoured.
They are John Gaughan (46), Cathal Reilly (33), Gerard Reilly (43), Joseph Murray (45), John Gerard Heston (28), Martin Gibbons (31) and Alan Murray (17).
Local skippers Patrick O'Donnell, Martin O'Donnell and Tony O'Donnell, Garda divers David Mulhall and Sean O'Connell and Sean McHale and Martin Kavanagh from the Irish Marine Emergency Service (IMES).
Lough search for missing fishermen
NINE members of the Garda Underwater Unit were yesterday (Tuesday) still searching for the two commercial eel fishermen missing on Lough Conn for six days.
Earlier the divers had located the 19 foot fibreglass boat which belonged to missing fishermen Trevor Boyd (32) and Jeremy Irvine (29) both from Enniskillen.
The men went missing on the 27 square mile lake on Wednesday and the alarm was raised by their families.
A full scale search was launched, headed by Garda Inspector Jerry Henry, who mobilised, personnel to comb the lake.
Items of equipment were located and later the boat was found in 17 metres of water at Sandy Bay about half a mile from the Knockmore shore.
Fifty yards from the boat the divers found a green oilskin coat and gloves which were the property of the missing men.
The search was yesterday being centred around where the submerged boat was located but at the time of going to press nothing else had been found by the searchers.
Meanwhile, Mr. Boyd's wife, Jacqui, who is pregnant with the couple's third child, has been maintaining a vigil at the lake since Thursday.
