The apparent poisoning  of White tailed Eagle found on the shores of Lough Beltra in County Mayo has been condemned by Jimmy Deenihan T.D., Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht.  The young Mayo eagle, which had been released in Killarney National Park in 2010, was carrying a satellite tag to track its movements, and when the tag showed the bird was not moving about, a search was carried out by National Parks and Wildlife Service staff and the Golden Eagle Trust.

As energy prices soar and more and more people consider renewable energy options, Belmullet IT Sligo student, Karen Barrett, chose a timely theme when picking her end of year project. Karen (29) and three fellow students built a wind generator which will now be used as a research and teaching aid at the Institute.

Mayo schools will join thousands of students across Ireland this week who are putting plans in motion to take part in An Taisce Green-Schools’ National Walk to School Week 2012, which takes place from May 21st to 25th. Lots of schools in Mayo have decided to celebrate the week in their own unique way by creating special walking buses, participating in walking tours, walking fitness workshops, Park’N’Stride events and nature walks - with the ultimate aim of increasing the number of students who make the school journey on foot during the week.

Pupils from Holy Trinity, Westport, have won the National Green-Schools Travel Competition. Pupils Niamh Bellamy, Amber Farrell, Rosa Kinsella, Hazel Hopkinson and Ciara Carolan wrote and performed their song “Great for the Planet” at the award ceremony.  An Taisce, in partnership with the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport and the National Transport Authority hosted this year’s Green-Schools Travel Competition Awards ceremony in Tailors Hall, Dublin, on Tuesday 24th April.

Ballinrobe Tidy Towns focussed on the Reduce, Reuse, Recycle message during the month of March, encouraging residents of the lovely South Mayo town to minimise the amount of waste they produce.  The message was promoted with a talk from Sharon Cameron, Environmental Awareness Officer Mayo County Council, and later the Tidy Towns had a float in the Ballinrobe St. Patrick’s Day parade, bringing their message to a wider audience.

WEEE Ireland, in association with Mayo County Council Environment Department, are running a month-long recycling campaing in Mayo during March when householders will be able to dispose of unwanted electrical goods such fridges and washing machines. Twenty “Wagon Days” will take place at venues throughout Mayo and a further 11 events will take place in the larger towns later in the year.

Mayo-based business, Bee Green Dry Cleaning, has received the title of ‘One to Watch’ in the SCCUL Entrepreneur awards in the Professional Services category. Rita and Stephen Langan, proprietors of Bee Green Dry Cleaning, the first professional environmentally friendly garment cleaning service in Ireland, attended the awards ceremony in the Clayton Hotel, Galway.

ClAR ICH, a voluntary housing association in Claremorris, is establishing a Sustainable Housing Network for housing associations in Co. Mayo. CLAR ICH  received funding under the Wheel’s Training Links programme to deliver training and mentoring in all aspects of energy conservation.

Westport has officially become one of Ireland’s Smarter Travel Demonstration Areas 2012-2016, and will receive €5million Government investment to develop its sustainable travel plan, according to Minister Michael Ring TD. Limerick City and Dungarvan are the other two locations.

For much of the 20th century some of the biggest industries in Ballina were powered by renewable energy that came from hydroelectric power generated by the River Moy. And now a member of Ballina Town Council says that at a time when Ireland is desperately seeking out new sources of renewable and green energy, it is time once again to look to the magestic river to supply some of Ballina's energy needs.