Issue No. 44 | June 2025
South West Mayo Development Company CLG
Empowering Communities - Enriching Lives
In the Loop Newsletter
Mayo Pride Festival 2025
Members of the SWMDC team Catherine McCloskey (Social Inclusion Coordinator), Celesta Khosa (Community Development & Youth Officer) & Caroline Brennan (Community Link Worker) at the official launch of Mayo Pride Festival.
Raising the flag for Pride
Representatives from South West Mayo Development Company had a fantastic morning on 29th May, in great company, as we raised the flag at Aras an Chontae for Mayo Pride Festival weekend 30th May – 2nd June 2025.
Mayo Pride is an established and successful event which attracted approximately 3,500 LGBTQI+ people, their friends, families, and allies to Westport to celebrate LGBTQI+ identity and inclusion.
It provides a unique opportunity for agencies to engage directly with the LGBTQI+ community in the county, to share information, promote services and encourage LGBTQI+ voices to be involved in organisations.
SICAP is a member of Mayo County Council LGBTQI+ Network and helped organise and part fund Mayo Pride 2025.
Staff Updates
Health & Safety Training
As part of our Health and Safety programme, seven staff have committed to complete First Aid Responder training which is a three day course provided by Key Safety training.
Further Health & Safety training will be rolled out to all staff later this summer in collaboration with our newly appointed Health & Safety consultants, Peninsula Group.
Mens Health Week 2025
Living Well Programme Officer, Martha McTigue (right) is pictured here with John Haugh, HSE (left) and Cllr Níall McNelis, Deputy Mayor Galway City Council at the Men’s Health Information Fair in Galway on 9th June 2025.
Men’s Health Week took place from 9th – 15th June 2025 and SWMDC’s Living Well Programme team was delighted to support the initiative by attending health information events across counties Galway, Mayo and Roscommon.
Men’s Health week shines a light on Men’s Health and encourages all men to think and talk about their health in a positive way. But why is there a need to hold a Men’s Health Week? Research shows that men in Ireland experience a disproportionate burden of ill-health. For example –
- Males have higher death rates than females for almost all of the leading causes of death and at all ages
- Men’s poorer lifestyles are responsible for a high proportion of chronic diseases
- Late presentation to health services can lead to a large number of problems becoming more serious or even untreatable
The theme for this year’s Men’s Health Week was “Shoulder to Shoulder” and aimed to encourage men to reach out and take action for better health. For more information on this topic, see www.mhfi.org. And if you are living with a long-term health condition, the Living Well Programme can assist you to learn new skills to improve your health and overall wellbeing. Information about the Living Well Programme can be found on our website – www.southmayo.com/programmes/Living-Well
Tai Chi Comes to Kilkelly
Kilkelly Active Age Group received SICAP support to run a six week Tai Chi course at the Kilkelly Trimoige Community Centre.
Their tutor, Tracey O’Malley, has a wealth of experience teaching Tai Chi and Qigong and put the group through their paces each week.
The classes were attended by over 25 people regularly each and plans are afoot to branch out into other activities such as Activator Pole workshops, chair yoga and Qigong in the future. Workshops and courses are a great way to encourage participation in the community, as well as benefiting health and wellbeing.
Cabot's Cookery School - Official Launch
A project of passion and perseverance, Cabot’s Cookery School was launched to great fanfare in late May.
The school was awarded significant LEADER funding, which allowed Redmond and Sandra Cabot to realise their dream of establishing their own cookery school nestled in the Aughagower hills just outside Westport.
Minister Dara Calleary TD performed the launch honours and praised the Cabots for their tenacity in seeing this project through to completion.
Members of the SWMDC LEADER team past and present came in for wonderful praise and appreciation, and Redmond thanked Sue O’Toole, Fiona McGreal, Seán Carolan, Norita Clesham and Majella Mulchrone for their collective input over the years.
If you would like to book a course at Cabots, please see https://www.cabotscookeryschool.ie/.
New LEADER Programme – The new LEADER programme is due to launch in Mayo shortly. Please keep an eye on our website and social media for updates.
Great News for Local Walks
We are delighted to announce that we have been successful in securing funding through the Walks Scheme Development Fund (WSDF) 2025 for two local walks projects, which will progress in the coming months.
Burrishoole Loop Walks
€10,000 has been approved for the Burrishoole Loop walks under the heading towards the Rocky Mountain Way viewing point and picnic area. Funding for this project will include the supply and installation of two wheelchair accessible benches on concrete bases at an iconic location high above the coast.
Further elements will include the improvements to the path surface and drainage works along with new directional signage. Local landowners will benefit further from an improved vehicle turning circle at the location.
Croagh Patrick Heritage Trail
A further €10,000 has been approved for the Croagh Patrick Heritage Trail. This funding will enable safety improvements to take place at the famous Ayle Caves. The existing path will be rerouted for a distance of 50 metres. The new route will be safer and easier to maintain.
An adjoining section of the path will be raised up from a wet area where it currently resides. Both these sections will be fenced from livestock on a permanent basis. This will prevent cattle poaching and add greatly to the quality of the trail.
New Walks Scheme Candidates
We are also delighted to have received confirmation from the Department of Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht (DRCDG) that the Keenagh Loop and the Newport Coastal Trail have been ‘approved in principle’ for inclusion on the Walks Scheme.
The work to include these walks on our scheme will have a longer timeframe to completion. Work is now underway to develop workplans for each of the potential landowners on these trails. All going to plan, we hope that these trails will be included on our scheme by the end of the year. Great news indeed!
We would like to thank Martin Dillane (Rural Recreation Officer) and Majella Mulchrone (Administration and Finance) for all their work in getting these applications over the line.
Working Together
In South West Mayo Development Company, we take an integrated approach to local and rural development.
This means that we use our suite of programmes to ensure the best outcomes for our people and communities.
Pictured are members of our Rural Social Scheme completing works on the Newport Coastal Trail. Working in collaboration benefits everyone, and we thank Noel Mulroy and Frank McNeela, RSS Supervisors and their teams for all their Walks Scheme support.
