​Leeane Swaine from Dublin has started her own new dog grooming service ‘Fairy Dog Mother’ in Croffy’s Yard, Main St. Leeane has been grooming dogs for over 12 years, and recently decided to take her career a step forward by setting up her very own salon. She has Just returned home after seven years in Australia where she met her partner Liam Finneran from Taughmaconnell. 

After many years working for other salons, Leeane says that having her own business for grooming has been a dream come through. “Grooming is not just a job for me, it’s my passion. Working with dogs has always been my true love, its something I always wanted to do from a young age, and now my dreams have become a reality”. In her spare time, Leeane competes in grooming competitions all across Ireland, and previously in Australia when she resided there. She enters classes with Terriers, Poodles and Gundogs to name a few, which she learns so much from after multiple 1st, 2nd and 3rd placings. Leeane is fully qualified as a groomer after completing her advanced city and guilds exams, where she learnt to specialise in breed trims. ​

Doing what she does best, Leeane says that she thinks of every pet as her own in the salon, and that they will always be in good hands: “I’m just an all-round animal lover, and I treat every dog which comes into my workplace with the love and respect they deserve” says Leenane. Fairy Dog Groomers are open Monday to Friday from 9am to 5pm, and Saturday 10am to 5pm, but they can accommodate bookings outside these hours if needed. Prices vary for grooming depending on the dogs breed and hair length. A small short haired breed is €25, and a small long-haired breed costs €45. Large short haired breeds cost €45, while large long-haired breeds are €75. This includes all hygiene areas of the dog such as their ears, nails, pads, and sanitary area. They get two good washes, a condition and whatever style you would like done for the dog. To book your dog in for a grooming session, or for further information, contact the Fairy Dog Groomers on 087 366 5566.  You can also visit the Fairy Dog Mother's Facebook page

​8 - Walk down Church Hill onto Society Street and turn left, arriving at the Courthouse on the right. Society Street, like Main Street, was the 19th century location for the professional classes. As well as The Courthouse, it contains the former Bridewell (or gaol) from the 1840s. Further along this street, Ballinasloe Railway Station is a must. Constructed in 1851, it is a Neo-Gothic limestone tour-de-force and a fine example of the quality of rural Irish railway architecture in the mid-19th century.

Karen Breen recently held an afternoon concert in the Town Library for the Social Services. Karen, who is from Kilgarve, is well known around town for her great musical talent, by playing numerous instruments which were self-thought. She plays music every Tuesday for the elderly patients in the Social Services and has played for crowds of locals in the past few years. For many years Karen has attended the Viewpoint Resource Centre, which she gets great enjoyment out of. Karen was born with Edwards Syndrome, but it hasn’t stopped her from doing what she loves most. Her mother Anne and staff of the Resource Centre are amazed and proud of how far she has come with her talent.

​During the concert, Karen played the keyboard along with many local Talents such as Eleanor Shanley, students from Scoil an Croi Naofa, Frank Hession and Friends from Social Services, Hannah Moore and James Murphy. Overall Karen raised a total of €300 during the event. Acting Team Leader of the Centre, Carol Pender, says that the Concert was a huge success, and is hoping for another one just like it very soon. “We all have to take our hats off to Karen and applaud her work, it takes a very brave person to host a show like she did. She put on an amazing performance along with her supporting acts, and on behalf of everyone in the Resource Centre I would like to give her a massive thank you for the great concert and congratulations for her fundraising”.

​Hogarty Enterprises of Birchgrove (on the old Athlone road), recently unveiled their new showroom of carpets, floors and rugs to the public, which has doubled the size of their retail space. There are now eight full time staff members employed in the store, with two sub-contracted carpet fitters working along with them. Founder Sean himself is still active within the outfit, along with the rest of his family.

The newly renovated showrooms compromise of 40,000sq ft of paints, wallpapers, carpets, vinyls, wood/laminate flooring, rugs, lighting, sundries and much more. Personal service is always guaranteed at Hogarty’s with advice on all products offered by each staff member, who have gathered a lot of experience in the flooring and décor industry over the years. The store is main stockists of Fleetwood Irish made paints, with a complete range from exterior to interior as well as a full complement of primers. A full range of furniture paints, waxes and oils are also available.

There are over 700 patterns of wallpaper in stock, ranging from Italian vinyls, contours, feature wallpapers, blown vinyl’s, borders etc. Over 200 rolls of carpet and vinyl covering along with 100 patterns of flooring are available and ready for either immediate delivery or installation by a professional, competent installer. Near to 1,000 rugs of all colours and sizes are on show for purchase to suit every style taste and budget. Finishing touches are also catered for in the shape of lighting, lamp shades, artworks and frames.

In 2015 Hogarty’s opened a sister branch store in Terryland, Galway City, which has been very successful in trading carpets, rugs and flooring direct. “It's great to see our business develop the way it has done over the past few years, and our new 40,000 sq foot show room really is the highlight of it all” states Manager Edward Hogarty “We would like to welcome everyone to come and check out all of our brand-new stock which is on display, and hopefully we will have what’s suited to your home or business layout” exclaims Sean. The store is open from 9am – 6pm Monday to Saturday. Free parking is also available to the public, with over 20 spaces available. For further queries please contact 090 9643109, and be sure to follow Hogarty’s on Facebook for all up to date offers, news and giveaways

A family run Pet Shop in Loughrea has recently opened up a Pet Shop in Society St. Ballinasloe. They stock a wide variety of products to cater for all your pets & wild birds needs. They also stock birds, small animals, reptile & coldwater fish.

Customers can find them on Facebook and their contact number is 090 9611942.
Or you can drop into the shop from Tuesday to Saturday 10am to 6pm.

Paul and Carol McDermott would like to take this opportunity to thank all the well wishers who have dropped in since they opened and are look forward to serving the pets of Ballinasloe for many years to come

A masterplan is being drawn up for a multi-million euro development in Ballinasloe, which will include almost 100 homes, a cinema, nursing home, offices, retail units and a drive-thru restaurant.

It is potentially the biggest investment the town has seen in well over a decade, running into tens of millions of euro.

Already, a planning application has been lodged with Galway County Council for Phase 1 of the development at Dunlo, and involves the construction of 95 new homes and a childcare facility, at an estimated cost of around €14 million.

Provisional designs are also being considered for a cinema, nursing home “and maybe some retail units and a drive-thru restaurant” on the extensive site at Harbour Road and Dunlo – although these have not been finalised.

Jacqueline Kenny and Cian O’Connell from Claregalway, directors of Limehill Esker Ltd, have sought permission for the development on an 8.5-acre site at Dunlo, adjacent to Tesco.
According to the application, the site is part of a larger master plan scheme for the Dunlo area.
“The overall scheme consists of retail, leisure, office spaces, a creche and residential units along with carparking and open space. The subject site incorporates Phase 1 of the development. Any further developments relating to this scheme will be subsequent to separate planning applications,” the application reads.

The company owns an extensive tranche of land surrounding Tesco.

Phase 1 involves the construction of: 30 two-bed apartments; 25 two-bed terraced; 26 three-bed terraced; 14 four-bed semi-detached houses, 641 square metre creche and 154 parking spaces.

According to documentation submitted with the application, it is difficult to project selling prices for the second quarter of 2020, but it is envisaged that the asking prices would be €225,000 for two-bed units; €282,500 to €300,000 for three-bed units and €317,500 for four-bed units.
An agreement in principle has been reached to transfer 10 of the homes to the County Council to meet social housing requirements.

Ronan McGreevy is currently a journalist and videographer with the Irish Times and presnter of the documentary "United Ireland: How Nationalists & Unionists fought together in Flanders."

​

In just five years, Ballinasloe has developed a girls rugby programme that has brought more silverware to the club and green jerseys onto the walls of their clubhouse. Irish Rugby TV went to East Galway to meet the volunteers and the players who have made it happen.

Ballinasloe RFC has known plenty of success over the years. The jersey of Ireland international and Lions tourist Ray McLoughlin hangs above the clubhouse bar. The walls are covered with photos of great teams and famous wins from the club's 143-year history.

Trophies sit on the mantelpiece above the turf fire. Most of these, however, only stretch back to 2013. That is when underage Women's rugby kicked off in Ballinasloe RFC. Just two years later, there were five Ballinasloe players in the Connacht Under-18 Women's set-up - Georgia Codyre, Sarah Dent, Ellen Grehan, Grainne Lohan and Rachel Tierney.

By 2018, that number had doubled. Jordan Hopkins, Emily Gavin, Aoibheann Reilly, Méabh Deely, Hannah Gullane, Niamh Kenny, Beibhinn Parsons, Áine Galvin and Mia Fahy were all in the matchday squad as Connacht claimed their first ever IRFU U-18 Women's Interprovincial title recently. Nine of them started in the title-clinching 21-19 win over Leinster.

A week later Parsons and Reilly were named in the Ireland Women's squad for the upcoming November Tests. The pair were also invited, alongside club-mates Galvin and Deely, to an Emerging Talent Day squad get-together by Ireland Women's head coach Adam Griggs.

Credit: Irish Rugby TV

​PAYE Modernisation Briefing
 
On behalf of the Town Team we would like you to join us for the
PAYE Modernisation Project Briefing which will be held in
The Pulse Office, Ballinasloe  
(2nd Floor Office Space above The Library), Society Street,
on Tuesday, 23rd October from 13.00 to 14.00 

Registration will open from 12.45
Light lunch will be served

The PAYE Modernisation Project will involve the most significant reform of the PAYE system since its introduction in 1960. 
 
The new real time reporting regime will be operational for all employee payments being made from 1 January 2019. This will require employers, agents and payroll providers to review their current business processes and practices so that they meet the new requirements. 
 
We would be delighted if you could join us as Sinéad Sweeney, Change and Communications manager, PAYE modernisation project, Department of Revenue and James Coyle of Coyle & Co. Company Chartered Accountants take us through these changes.  This is a free event open to all businesses and interested parties in the area.  
 
We hope you can join us for what promises to be an insightful briefing.
RSVP to [email protected]. Please share with any interested parties.
 
 
On behalf of the Ballinasloe Town Team
Ballinasloe Town Team: Val Colleran, Colm Croffy, Jacinta Divilly, Lyn Donnelly, Andrea Duffy, Seamus Duffy, Tara Flynn, Carmel Grealy, Paula Harley,  Anita Killeen, Mike O’Brien, Pádraig Ó Ceithearnaigh & Ger Tully.
 
The town team was set up by BACD Ltd. to revive the fortunes of Ballinasloe and its hinterland. With the main focus to build on the town’s many strengths, change existing negative perceptions and bring about measurable improvements in the town centre economy and its wider social value.