Mayo Public Participation Network are calling for you the public to put forward  candidates for a number of vacancies which have arisen on County Council Committees and associate member committees.

 If you would like to learn more about  how you can get involved we are requesting submissions from suitable candidates. 

If you are a member of a registered group and part of the Social Inclusion pillar and feel you have what it takes to join the evaluation panel as the PPN rep, then please send in a short Bio to mayoppn@gmail.com.

 Joint Policing Committees rep?

Joint Policing Committees (JPCs) provide a dedicated forum to support consultation, cooperation and synergy on policing and crime issues between An Garda Síochána, local authority officials, elected representatives and the community and voluntary sectors.  We are seeking a community rep to sit on the JPC. Please contact mayoppn@gmail.com

The nominee must fulfil the following criteria:

The nominee must live in the coastal region of Mayo (9kms from Coast)

The nominee must be active in community affairs in Mayo (Ballina to Leenane)

To secure greater gender balance on the board we would request a female nominee from the PPN The nominee from the Mayo PPN would sit on the Board of FLAG North West, which consists of representative from the fishing, aquaculture, environmental and community sector along with representation from the State sector on the Mayo/Sligo coast line.

The FLAG North West board is in the process of developing a Local Development Strategy for the Mayo Sligo coastal communities and on approval of this strategy will administer the FLAG programme under Union Priority 4 of the EMFF. email mayoppn@gmail.com for further details.

Bursary Award 2016: Collaborative Film

Deadline: 14 Nov, 5pm

Web: http://www.create-ireland.ie/bursary-award/bursary-award-2016-collaborative-film   Email: support@create-ireland.ie

A copy of the Proposed Variation to each Plan, along with the respective SEA Determinations and Habitats Directive Assessment Screening Reports and Determinations, may be inspected from

Wednesday 26th October 2016 until Thursday 24th November 2016, at the following locations during normal opening hours:

 The Planning Office, Mayo County Council, Aras an Chontae, The Mall, Castlebar;

 Ballina Civic Offices, Arran Place, Ballina;

 Westport Civic Offices, Altamont Street, Westport;

 Mayo County Council offices in Ballinrobe, Belmullet, Claremorris and Swinford.

The documents may also be viewed on Mayo County Council’s website www.mayococo.ie/cdp

Note free internet access is available at Mayo County Council’s branch libraries at Achill, Ballina,

Ballinrobe, Ballyhaunis, Belmullet, Castlebar, Charlestown, Claremorris, Crossmolina, Kilkelly,

Kiltimagh, Louisburgh, Swinford and Westport.

Written submissions or observations in respect of the Proposed Variation to the above Plans, received between 26th October 2016 and 24th November 2016, will be taken into consideration before the making of the Proposed Variation to the Plans.

Submissions should be in one medium only and include the full name and address of the person making the submission, details of organisation, community group or company represented, where relevant and clearly marked with the relevant Plan title. Submissions or observations should be forwarded to:

Forward Planning Section,

Mayo County Council, Áras an Chontae, The Mall, Castlebar, Co Mayo

Or by e-mail to:

variationtoplans@mayococo.ie

Latest date for receipt of submissions 4.00 p.m. Thursday,24th November 2016

Last month Mayo took a significant step in fulfilling one of the key commitments laid out in the county’s Age Friendly Strategy, launched by An Taoiseach Enda Kenny in June of this year.

An open invitation was extended to older people, and to organisations and groups that represent older people, to attend a meeting in Lough Lannagh on Monday October 10th to progress the setting up of an Older People’s Council (OPC) for Mayo.

The newly formed OPC is having its inaugural meeting later this month to elect a Chairperson and other official roles to begin to develop a workplan for the year. The Chair and Vice-Chair of this group will also have the unique opportunity to sit on the Age Friendly Alliance and will work to advise member organisations about the issues that are important to older people such as health care, opportunities to socialise and stay in touch with friends and neighbours and feeling safe in their homes and when out and about.

Mayo’s Age Friendly Alliance is a voluntary partnership chaired by the Chief Executive of Mayo County Council Peter Hynes and made up of representatives from public sector agencies in the area and other organisations including the PPN that promote a positive approach to ageing and include:

o Mayo County Council – Chief Executive and Cathaoirleach

o The Health Service Executive

o An Garda Síochána

o GMIT (Galway Mayo Institute of Technology)

o MSLETB (Mayo Sligo Leitrim Education Training Board)

o Mayo Volunteer Centre

o Mayo Sports Partnership

o Mayo PPN (Public Participation Network)

o Chamber of Commerce

o Leader Partnership Companies

o Community Action on Dementia in Mayo

o Age Friendly Ireland

o Mayo Older People’s Council

This partnership between organisations, the community and in particular our older people will make real, the vision of making Mayo a great place in which to grow up and grow old. 

County Mayo Foundation has been established as a not for profit company in the United States to engage County Mayo’s diaspora in supporting charitable initiatives that improve the lives of people from County Mayo. It represents an innovative funding model for supporting and strengthening civic engagement and addressing priority areas in need of sustainable support and investment.

The Foundation supports projects that focus on:

Ø Education

Ø Public health

Ø Community Enterprise

Ø Arts and Culture

Ø Recreation

Fur information Click here

Proposed Centre for Community Sustainability at the Mayo Campus of GMIT

Galway Mayo Institute of technology are currently undertaking a study that proposes to develop a Centre for Community Sustainability at their Mayo Campus in Castlebar. The proposed Centre will adopt an inter-disciplinary approach to sustainability and will draw on expertise from the social, health, business and environmental perspectives.

The main aims of the study are;

1)Identify local and regional educational needs and opportunities

2) Identify and develop networks and partnerships among key stakeholders

3) Identify suitable projects and funding streams and develop a model to incubate and deliver these projects through the proposed Centre.

Once the feasibility study is completed, it is anticipated that the proposed Centre would focus on the delivery of accredited learning, research, sustainability solutions incubation (projects) and network development.

Further information available from project coordinator john.scahill@gmit.ie

REGISTER FOR A FREE TRAINING SESSION AT THE MAYO CAMPUS OF GMIT.

One of the goals of the feasibility study is to identify the local and regional educational and training needs of community groups. If you or your organisation would like to participate in this study, please click on the link below to complete a short (less than five minutes) survey.

If you complete the survey and enter your email address you will be eligible to attend a free lecture/training session of your choice that will be run in the Mayo Campus of GMIT in early 2017. (For information on the range of training topics available, please follow the link to the survey and see Q. 11) 

If you wish to learn more about the work of the PPN and the benefits of joining , your group can register here.

Dear PPN Member,

University of Limerick (UL) in partnership with Community Work Ireland (CWI).  is exploring the establishment of Public Participation Network (PPNs) and their early period of operation. Research is being carried out by Dr. Chris McInerney and Cian Finn, from the UL Department of Politics and Public Administration.

The primary purpose of this research is to explore your experiences of participating in the PPN to date. The research seeks to learn how your organisation and others have engaged with the process; how you have found the national guidelines; what are the different ways you engage with the PPN and how you assess the effectiveness and nature of participation in local decision making.

The questionnaire should take no longer than 15 minutes and is being undertaken by means of an online survey. While most of the questions allow you to select from different options, there is also an opportunity to elaborate further on issues you might consider to be important. You can access the survey by clicking here

Finally, should you have any questions on the research process you can contact Dr. Chris McInerney at 061 234800 or chris.g.mcinerney@ul.ie.