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Claremorris industrial fears allayed Fears that Claremorris was losing an industrial base have been allayed. Mr. Ian Douglas, a senior planner with Mayo County Council, said an agreement to allow a 28 house development on the site of the old Bacon Factory in the town did not interfere with proposals to retain the remainder of the land for industrial use. Members of the council approved of a material contravention of the Claremorris Town Plan to allow the housing development by Mullclare Properties to proceed. Only one councillor, Mr. John Devanney, voted against the motion. He said the entire site should be retained as an industrial zone. A number of members asked for more information about the applicants, but further details were not available. Although based in Castlebar, it is understood Mullclare Properties is headed by a number of Westport businessmen. Busy time for Ballyglass lifeboat Ballyglass lifeboat in north Mayo took part in three successful rescue operations last week. The biggest involved two young local fishermen who had to cling to rocks for about an hour on Friday last when their boat got into trouble. The men were eventually taken off the rocks by the lifeboat. The emergency occurred in the early afternoon when the men's 32 foot half-decker developed engine problems. As their boat was in immediate danger of sinking, the men who had been fishing for lobster, jumped onto rocks to save themselves. A Dauphin rescue helicopter was quickly on the scene along with the lifeboat and a fleet of local fishing vessels. Despite efforts to save it, the half decker boat was battered against rocks and later sank. The other lifeboat emergencies involved a capsized punt from which a sailor was rescued and the crew of a yacht which was demasted. Ballyglass lifeboat station is due to take delivery of a powerful new Severn Class rescue vessel next week. Career guidance-how Mayo pupils are losing out Over 4,500 post-primary students in Mayo do not have trained career guidance services because their schools are classified as too small by the Department. This means that most second-level students in the county are being "shortchanged" by the Department of Education because their schools do not have the magical 500 requirement to qualify for the services of a full-time, trained, guidance counsellor. So says Fine Gael TD Jim Higgins who points out that only eleven out of twenty eight post-primary schools in Mayo have access to full-time career guidance counselling. The remaining 17 schools are disqualified from full-time career guidance services because they have less than 500 students. Deputy Higgins continued: "I have no hesitation in saying that it is most unfair that students should be expected to make lifelong career services without proper guidance. "Young people cannot be expected to make informed career choices given the bewildering array of third level college options unless they have professional advice. The very minimum that should be provided is a panel of qualified counsellors to be shared among the smaller schools". Call to tackle rural litter scourge An urgent call has been made on Mayo County Council to identify the problem of rural litter. Mr. Paul Kneafsey, Ballymachugh, Ballycastle, made a written submission to the authority over the issue. He explained: "The problem has become especially acute due to winter feeding of cattle, leaving trees, hedges and ditches draped in black plastic. "In addition, there is widespread agricultural dumping, including dead animals in ditches, rivers and the sea. Much of this is then washed up on beaches. As one involved in tourist activities in the Ballycastle area, I am getting an increased volume of complaints in this regard." He said the council should create partnerships with agriculture to combat rural litter pollution, and encourage farmers to manage waste more effectively. Mr. Kneafsey made his submission in relation to the council's Draft Litter Management Plan. Mr. Padraig Hughes, county secretary, said the specific recommendations made by Mr. Kneafsey were dealt with in the draft plan under developing partnerships with the I.F.A., ICMSA, Macra Na Feirme and Coillte. O Cuív backs Moorehall restoration THE Minister for State at the Department of Arts, Culture and the Gaeltacht, Mr. Eamon O Cuív has pledged to help finance the £4m restoration of Moorehall House on the shores of Lough Carra, the ancestral home of John Moore the first President of Connaught and of historian and political theorist George Moore. He said he recently had discussions with members of the Moorehall Committee and his colleague Minister Sile de Valera visited the site last week. Minister O Cuív said: "I hope that at some later stage we can give practical assistance to this laudable project. "At present there are no Structural Funds available but when they come up again we will certainly be in a position to help out." Minister O' Cuív was speaking at the official opening of the George Moore Summer Festival at Claremorris Library. George Moore Society PRO Ray Leonard said while they were a different organisation they would give their full backing to the restoration drive. Moorehall house was built in 1796 but was burned to the ground during the War of Independence.
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