You are here: Home: Leisure and culture: Tourism and travel: Town twinning: Twin towns

Twin towns

County Mayo

Population:

111,393 persons

European Regional Priority Status:

Objective 1 Status

Unemployment Rate:

20% (1996)

Main Towns

Castlebar (population 9,985)

Ballina (population 6,842)

Westport (population 4,249)

Location

County Mayo is located on the West Coast of Ireland and covers some 5397 counties Sligo, Roscommon and Galway to the North border Km2. Mayo, East, and South respectively and by the Atlantic Ocean to the West.

The Council

Mayo County Council is the Local Authority for County Mayo. The council has 31 elected individuals. The executive function of the council is the responsibility of the administrative staff, while all technical aspects lie with the professional staff.

Socio-economic aspects

The main employment sector in the County is Agriculture, comprising of a total of 31% of the workforce. Dependency on agriculture is reducing with employment in the Industrial and Services Sectors on the increase, both currently at 23% and 46% respectively. Population trends for Mayo indicate a movement from rural areas to the urban centres of the County. Tourism is also expanding at an exceptional rate in the County and is becoming the main employer in the services sector. Mayo is renowned for its areas of scenery and good environment both physically and socially.

Transport

Mayo's road network is connected to all major centres in Ireland, with National Primary routes to Dublin, Sligo and Galway. The mainline rail service from Dublin to Westport covers most of the main towns in the County. Horan International Airport is located in the heart of Mayo and provides links to Britain and Europe, as well as transatlantic flights.

Tourism

Mayo has many places of interest on its long and beautiful coastline. The best salmon fishing in Europe is on the river Moy and the lakes of Lough Conn and Cullen. Cowg lakes and rivers have been made famous by the film 'The quiet man'. Holy Shrine at Knoek sees 2 M pilgrims every year.

Web site

Mayo County Council|
Mayo County Council's web site with information on a wide variety of topics, ranging from Environment to Safety and Leisure to Libraries.

back to top