If you think the Mayo summer is bad, read this!

by Auld Stock

SO you think our summers are bad?

In July 1915 a thunderstorm hit Castlebar, described by locals as the worst storm ever to shatter the county town.

Dan Hogan, a member of Castlebar Urban Council, said the thunderstorm frightened the lives of young and old.

The storm was so severe that birds, especially swallows, were forced to fly into dwellings for refuge.

It is interesting to note that Castlebar had an Urban Council over one hundred years ago when the town had a population well under 4,000 people.

Today, Castlebar, with a population close on 14,000 residents, has been deprived of its council.

The politicians who abolished councils throughout Ireland ought to be ashamed of themselves.

Worse still is the fact that our leading politicians have never raised their voices to have our town councils revived.

What a shame.