Laois County Council

Category: News

  • Portlaoise, Portarlington and Mountmellick Local Area Plans

    Laois County Council is holding pre-draft public consultations on the Portlaoise, Portarlington and Mountmellick Local Area Plans beween Ocotber 11th and November 1st 2017.  Have your say.

    Open mornings are being held as follows, as part of public consultation:

    Portlaoise Local Area Plan – Portlaoise Library, Lyster Square, Portlaoise on Thursday 19th October 2017 from 10am until 2pm

    Portarlington Local Area Plan – Portarlington Library, Main Street, Portarlington on Wednesday, 18th October 2017 from 10am until 2pm

    Mountmellick Local Area Plan – Mountmellick Library, O’Moore Street, Mountmellick on Friday, 20th October 2017 from 10am until 2pm

     

     

     

  • Temporary Road Closure – Drummond, Rosenallis

    ROAD CLOSED to public traffic for 1 Day to allow for road surfacing. Access for residents will be accommodated where possible. Diversion routes will be clearly signposted.

    At the following location:
    L2013 – Drummond, Rosenallis as indicated below

    ON:
    Thursday12/10/17 07:00 to 18:00

    Observations (if any) should be emailed to pmcloughlin@laoiscoco.ie and copy ekenny@laoiscoco.ie & gomahony@laoiscoco.ie

  • Leaves Festival of Writing and Music Launched

    LEAVES FESTIVAL OF WRITING AND MUSIC 2017
    Emo Court events 10-12 November
    Dunamaise events 7-9 November

    The annual Leaves Festival of Writing and Music is just around the corner. Leaves celebrates the diversity and richness in today’s literary, music, theatre and film scene. Leaves aims to excite and engage with audiences young and old.
    This year the weekend-long programme will be held in Emo Court; the magnificent Gandon designed neo-classical house and gardens on the outskirts of Portlaoise. At the recent launch of the Leaves Festival in Emo Court, Festival Curator, Muireann Ní Chonaill said, “the Leaves Festival is a great opportunity to celebrate writers, musicians and the world of film and theatre. We are very excited to be hosting the Leaves weekend in the beautiful surroundings of Emo Court and there is no better place to listen to and meet writers and musicians.”
    Opening the weekend in the Drawing Room, Emo Court, on Friday night 10th November, at 8.00pm are poets Jean Ó Brien, Martin Figura, and Helen Ivory. They will be joined by musician, Úna Keane and the event will be chaired by Arthur Broomfield.
    The Tea Rooms in Emo Court is the venue for Saturday mornings writing workshop, to be led by Helen Ivory. It runs from 10am-12.30pm on Saturday 11th November.
    Returning to the Drawing Room for the rest of Saturday’s events(11th November), are poets Denise Curtin, Paddy Moran, Karen J Mc Donnell, joined by Portlaoise born musician, Gary Dunne. This event will be chaired by Séamus Hosey and commences at 3.00pm.
    To celebrate National Harp Day, Scottish Harpist, Catriona McKay together with Swedish nyckelharpa player Olov Johansson, will perform a special concert. They will be accompanied by the Music Generation Laois Harpists and it commences at 5.00pm on 11th November.
    Saturday evening (11th November) will feature Lisa Harding and Kevin Barry reading and discussing their novels with Sean Rocks, presenter of Arena, on Radio 1 and it commences at 8.00pm.
    On Sunday at noon, 12th November, the Drawing Room will be the setting for the premiere of Thresholds.
    This new music commission celebrating the theme of pollination, by Ian Wilson will be performed by saxophonist, Cathal Roche. It was funded through the Creative Ireland Laois programme. The winning poems on the theme of pollination will be read by the prizewinners at this event. The new Laois Spoken Word artist, who will commence their ten month residency during the Leaves Festival will be introduced to the public at this gathering also. During their residency the Spoken Word artist will work with young people throughout the county, through secondary schools, Youth Theatre and Youthreach.
    The Dunamaise Arts Centre, Portlaoise has scheduled events for Leaves, including cinema; My Cousin Rebecca and the live broadcast from the Harold Pinter Theatre, London of Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf. Dubliners’ Women, by Katie O’Kelly, featuring female characters from James Joyce’s Dubliners, will be performed.
    Readings in the schools and libraries will be by Helen Ivory, Martin Figura and Alan Nolan.
    Booking Box Office: 0578663355 or online at www.dunamaise.ie
    Follow us on Facebook at Leaves. For more information please contact the Arts Office, Laois County Council Portlaoise, Co Laois. Email artsoff@laoiscoco.ie Web www.laois.ie

  • Book Clubs

    Book Clubs

    Portarlington library has spaces available in the following book clubs : Classics Book Club which  meets on the 1st Wednesday of the month at 11am , General Fiction Book Club which meets on the 1st Wednesday of the month at 6:00pm and our Junior Book Club (ages 9-12) which meets on the 2nd Wednesday of the month from 4:30-5:00 pm. For more information call 057 8643751 .

  • Notification of Road Closure – Redcastle

    ROAD CLOSED to public traffic for 1 Day to allow for road surfacing. Access for residents will be accommodated where possible. Diversion routes will be clearly signposted.

    At the following location:
    L1077 – Redcastle, Mountrath as indicated below.

    ON:

    Tuesday 10/10/17 07:00 to 18:00

    Observations (if any) should be emailed to pmcloughlin@laoiscoco.ie and copy ekenny@laoiscoco.ie & gomahony@laoiscoco.ie

  • Notification of Road Closure – Davitt Road, Mountmellick

    ROAD CLOSED to public traffic for 3 Days to allow for road surfacing. Access for residents will be accommodated where possible. Diversion routes will be clearly signposted.

    At the following location:
    L2120 – Acragar, Mountmellick from the roundabout at Davitt Shopping Centre to Kyletalesha as indicated below.


    BETWEEN:
    Tuesday 10/10/17 07:00 to Thursday 12/12/2017 19:00

    Observations (if any) should be emailed to pmcloughlin@laoiscoco.ie and copy ekenny@laoiscoco.ie & gomahony@laoiscoco.ie

  • Are you registered to vote?

    Are you registered to vote?

    Check you are registered to vote on www.checktheregister.ie  
    Are your details correct?

    For further assistance, contact 057 8664105 or email register@laoiscoco.ie

    Remember, you cannot vote if you are not on the register

  • Road Closure – Mountmellick to Tullamore Road

    In accordance with the provisions of Section 75 of the above Act and Article 12 of the Roads Regulations, 1994, Laois County Council hereby gives notice of its decision to temporarily close the N80 Mountmellick to N52 Tullamore.

    Works will require a road closure on the N80 Graigue to Forest Upper, Co. Laois for a distance of 3.4km beginning on

    Monday 9th October 2017 from 07:00 until Friday, 10th November 2017 at 18:00.

    Access for residents will be accommodated where possible. Diversions will be clearly signposted via R423 & R420.

    A map of the diversion route is available via link below.

    #C0022B- 29-08-17 -N80 Graigue to Forest Upper Co Offaly-Deversion

    Also available for inspection at www.laois.ie and Áras an Chontae, Portlaoise.

    Observations should be made to tmadden@laoiscoco.ie

  • “Thresholds” by Ian Wilson celebrates pollinators

    “Thresholds” by Ian Wilson celebrates pollinators

    The premiere of a newly commissioned musical piece on the theme of pollinators by Ian Wilson took place at Emo Court on Sunday 12th November 2017, as part of the Laois Leaves Literary Festival.

    Titled “Thresholds”, this specially-commissioned 25-minute musical work for saxophonist and soundtrack will feature the voices of local people whose lives and work in some way have a positive impact on pollinators – we hear little snippets telling us about what they do for pollinators and how they do it.

    Saxophist, Cathal Roche, performs the Premiere of a new musical piece in celebrations of Pollinators , at Emo Court on Sunday12th. Nov. during the Leaves Festival . Photo: Michael Scully.

    The piece – which was commissioned by Laois Heritage Office and funded through the Creative Ireland programme – has also been recorded and the full work, composed by Ian Wilson and performed by saxophonist Cathal Roche is available to stream on Soundcloud.

    Red-tailed bumble bee and common carder bee (John Breen/National Biodiversity Data Centre)
    Red-tailed bumble bee and common carder bee (John Breen/National Biodiversity Data Centre)

    Also on the soundtrack are sounds of pollinators themselves as well as of their habitats, together evoking landscapes we are all familiar with and that we hope to preserve far into the future.

     

    Composer , Ian Wison speaking at the Premiere of a new musical piece in celebrations of Pollinators , at Emo Court on Sunday12th. Nov. during the Leaves Festival . Photo: Michael Scully.

    Ian has made recordings all over Laois for this work – in Portlaoise and in places like Emo Court, Abbeyleix Bog, Clonaslee and Dunamaise among others. The music both responds to what we hear on the soundtrack and provides a commentary on the various topics touched upon there. Saxophonist Cathal Roche is both a focal point for the audience and a kind of guide through the piece, knitting together the various speakers, sounds and ideas with his playing.

    The event also featured readings by the winners of the Pollinator Poetry Prize, poetry to celebrate pollinators by adults and children, adjudicated by poet Anne Marie Ní Churráin.

    Emer Rigney (Colaiste Naomh Cormaic ,Kilcormack ( winner in the 15 -14 years category) in the the Pollinators Poetry Competition , at Emo Court on Sunday12th. Nov. accepting her prise from Adjudicator, Annemarie Ni Chrrean , during the Leaves Festival . Photo: Michael Scully- njo reproduction fee.

     

    The work is part of a joint project of Laois and Offaly Heritage Offices, with the support of the Creative Ireland programme and the National Biodiversity Data Centre. The premier event was part of the 2017 Laois Leaves Literary Festival, organised by Laois Arts Office.

     

  • Congratulations from Connect2Laois for Food

    Congratulations to An Sean Teach and Aghaboe Farm Foods for their wonderful successes at the 2017 Blas na hEireann Awards in Dingle.

     

  • Crayfish Plague spreads to River Barrow – outbreak

    Crayfish Plague spreads to River Barrow – outbreak

    Large numbers of dead freshwater crayfish were reported in the River Barrow in the stretch from Carlow to Graiguemanagh. It has been confirmed using DNA analysis that the cause of death was Crayfish Plague. This is the fifth outbreak of the disease to be found in Ireland in the last two years. It is feared that if the disease spreads further, then it will threaten the survival of the entire Irish population of this endangered species.

    This worrying situation is being investigated by the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) of the Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, Inland Fisheries Ireland (IFI) and the Marine Institute.

    The kill only impacts White-clawed Crayfish; other freshwater animals and people are not affected. Experience of the disease elsewhere is that it causes 100% mortality. It is of grave concern that if the disease takes a firm hold millions of crayfish could vanish from Irish rivers and lakes in a short period of time.

    All the agencies involved in managing and protecting the rivers in Ireland are concerned that another outbreak has been detected and are reiterating their advice and guidance to all users of the river to implement routine cleaning and drying of their equipment once they leave the river and before using it again. This is especially important as it is known that the crayfish plague organism can be carried on wet equipment to new sites. Containment of the outbreak is essential to prevent spread to other as yet unaffected populations in Ireland.

    Check out this link for further details

    Crayfish Plague spreads to River Barrow – water users are urged to follow biosecurity advice to contain outbreak

    or Twitter: https://twitter.com/EPACatchments/status/910812077492723712

  • Are you registered to vote?

    Are you registered to vote?

    Check you are registered to vote on www.checktheregister.ie  Are your details correct?

    For further assistance, contact 057 8664105 or email register@laoiscoco.ie

    Remember, you cannot vote if you are not on the register