RESCUE Dogs Sligo are currently at capacity. The volunteer-run rescue centre currently has reached its capacity for rescued dogs. Another problem for the centre is the mounting bills which the centre has due to vets fees to keep the dogs healthy.

Dorothy Kilgallen, a volunteer with Sligo Animal Rescue, explained the most pressing issue the organisation is facing.

“It is a case of having a problem paying for what we have in. We have to continue to pay boarding fees and veterinary bills and that is a problem at the moment. There is no money coming and in and there are no dogs going out so there are no adoption fees,” she said.

The rescue lives off the adoption fee, €100 per dog, and the good will of others to survive. The approximate cost of running the rescue each week is in the region of €400.

Aside from that, the resuce makes money from the sale of cards and calenders at Christmas, money which has now been spent on vets bills and other running costs.

“There is nothing in the bank at the moment. The more behind you are with bills the harder it is to play catch up,” Dorothy said.

In terms of dogs currently under the care of the rescue, Dorothy says there are 19. Some of those dogs have been there longer than others and it is hard to put a time frame on how long it will take for a dog to be adopted.

“How long is a piece of string? We have two sibling puppies who came in to us at two weeks old and they are eight months now. Some dogs are luckier than others, they may only be here two or three weeks before adopting,” Dorothy commented.

Although Dorothy is eager for the 19 dogs to find homes, she is also eager to stress the commitment involved with having a dog.

“Think really long and hard about it because we have had a really bad run in the last month of people booking dogs and then unbooking them. Think long and hard about it because it is not fair on the dogs,” she said.

Dogs for adoption and more details on the rescue dogs in Sligo can be found on the Facebook page “Rescue Dogs Sligo” or on the website sligoanimalrescue.com.

Rare memorabilia items associated with the famous 1798 ‘Battle of Collooney’ are being put on sale by the Adams Auction House in Dublin.

The items, which include a presentation cup, a dress sword and medals, were awarded to the Limerick City Militia who took on the French in the Co. Sligo town.

Speaking to the Sligo Weekender, local historian Aidan Mannion offered some insight on the history of the battle.

“The cup and the sword were presented to Colonel Charles Vereker of the Limerick City Militia who came to Collooney to take on the French, led by General Humbert,” he explained.
“Locally it is known as the Battle of Carricknagat and the Teeling monument, which is just on the entrance into Colloney, commemorates Bartholomew Teeling who fought in the battle.”

For more on this story see this week’s Sligo Weekender newspaper – in shops now, or get your digital edition here on www.sligoweekender.ie.

The highlight of Sligo’s Centenary year of celebration will be a ‘Day of Commemoration’ which commences at 12.04pm on Sunday, April 24, on the 100th Anniversary of the reading of the 1916 Proclamation.

‘Music Rising’ is a free open-air concert in Stephen Street Car-park and will feature an-all local line up, with some of Sligo’s top internationally touring musical acts, including Michael Rooney and the Sligo Folk Orchestra, Dervish, Rackhouse Pilfer, Moxie, NoCrows, Seamie O’Dowd and Kieran Quinn.

The days’ activities will also include a procession through the streets of Sligo followed by the raising of the tricolour and reading of the 1916 Proclamation at City Hall, the unveiling of a ‘Sligo Roll of Honour’, a civic reception hosted by Sligo County Council for the families of the Sligo people involved in the 1916 Rising, and a fireworks extravaganza to bring the celebrations to a spectacular close

The Cathaoirleach of Sligo County Council, Councillor Rosaleen O’Grady, encouraged the people of Sligo to come along.

“This will be a spectacular, colourful and vibrant musical celebration by some of our most notable performers, and is arguably the highlight of our year-long programme. I see the Centenary programme as a gift to the current generation, a gift which enhances and informs our sense of identity, and provides an invaluable insight into the events that shaped our nation.

“As well as informing us, this programme will also challenge us to question old certainties, consider new perspectives and broaden our historical horizons with the wealth of archival material being published.

“I would strongly encourage people of County Sligo not to let 2016 pass without making the effort to attend an event, Sunday 24th April will be an opportunity for the people of Sligo to enjoy, celebrate and reflect.”

Donal Tinney, Sligo 2016 Commemoration Co-ordinator emphasised the family-friendly nature of the celebrations: “We are encouraging as many people from Sligo and the neighbouring counties to enjoy a feast of excellent music.

“We are very privileged in Sligo that we can organise a national scale event like Music Rising fully from our own resources. We are grateful to the Ireland 2016 Committee for their support and to the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government, IPB Insurance for their generous financial assistance.

“We also appreciate the support of our teams of volunteers organised through Sligo County Council and Sligo Leader. All of the musicians are locally based; as are the backroom team and volunteers running the event. It is an excellent example of how events like the Fleadh and Sligo Live build up a professional level of excellence, which has enduring benefits for the area.”

Music Rising is a 1916 Easter Rising Centenary initiative by Sligo County Council’s 2016 Steering Group and is funded through the Ireland 2016 Commemoration Fund.

Timetable for April 24

12.04pm
The day of festivities opens with a host of family activities. A procession led out by the Army and including marching bands and invited local groups will follow a route from Lower Pearse to Quay Street. Outside City Hall the tricolour will be raised, there will be a reading of the 1916 Proclamation and the unveiling of the ‘Sligo Roll of Honour.’ A Display of ‘Sligo through the decades’ banners will decorate a number of shop windows along the procession route in the lead-up to 24th April.

2.30pm
‘Music Rising’ celebration gets underway in Stephen St car-park with a reading of the 1916 Proclamation. The opening performance is by Michael Rooney and Sligo Academy of Music Folk Orchestra, followed by Sligo’s top musical acts, concluding with Dervish at 8pm.

5pm
Civic reception hosted by Sligo County Council in Sligo Park Hotel for the descendants of the Sligo families involved in the 1916 Rising.

9.30pm
Fireworks extravaganza to light up Sligo’s night sky.

Sligo County Council are to call on the Minister for Health and the HSE to respond to a request for a staffing review at Cregg House.

The request has been considered a matter of urgency concerning staffing levels at the residential centre which were recently highlighted by the INMO (Irish Nurses and Midwives Association) who held a lunchtime protest outside the facility.

“It is now a matter of public knowledge that the Intellectual Disability Services facility at Cregg House is severly understaffed”, said Cllr Declan Bree, who put the motion forward at Monday’s County Council meeting.

‘‘As far back as June of last year HIQA asked for an urgent review of staffing levels in Cregg House. However to date the management has failed to comply with the request.”

See this week’s Sligo Weekender newspaper for more on this story. In shops now.

Sligo University Hospital has this week been hit by the twin problems of an overcrowding crisis and an outbreak of vomiting bug.

The level of overcrowding was particularly bad on Tuesday and yesterday, Wednesday. On Tuesday there were 33 people on trolleys, the third highest number in the country that day, while yesterday morning there were 32, again one of the highest figures nationally.

The situation in Sligo was highlighted on RTE’s Morning Ireland by the consultant in charge of the Emergency Department in Sligo, Fergal Hickey.

He referred to the situation where there were ambulances lined up at the entrance and patients having to be moved in and out of cubicles as people waited to be treated.

Mr Hickey said: “We had to move patients in and out of cubicles to see another patient. It is an ordeal the patients have been forced to endure.

“It is complicated in our hospital by the fact that we have an outbreak of Norovirus (vomiting bug) so we have even fewer beds than normal. which means it is increasingly difficult to get a bed for a patient that needs one.”

For more on this story, pick up a copy of this week’s Sligo Weekender newspaper. In shops now.

No fewer than four Miss Irelands will be taking to the catwalk for Ireland’s largest fashion show, in aid of Sligo Cancer Support Centre and Sligo Rovers.

The Radisson Blu Hotel will play host to the fashion show on Wednesday, April 27 and already over 100 models have now signed up to take part.

They include the reigning Miss Ireland, Sasha Livingston, and three of her predecessors – Rebecca Maguire (Miss Ireland 2012), Aoife Walsh (2013) and Jessica Hayes (2014). All four models will be wearing outfits from the So Amazing brand.

For more information on this event, see this week’s Sligo Weekender newspaper – in shops now.

SLIGO will have a prominent role in the Paul Clements book ‘Wandering the Wild Atlantic Way’.

The former BBC journalist spent late 2014 and early 2015 along the western coastline of Ireland in what he describes as “bite sized chunks”, with Sligo forming a large part of that.

For Paul, writing this new book was in many ways going back in time 25 years when he first did this journey for another book he wrote at that time.

“I hitchhiked the coastline of Ireland about 25 years ago. So I always had this idea that I wanted to retrace my footsteps. The Wild Atlantic Way was a ready made route for me. I also thought it would be interesting to see how things had changed in Ireland,” Paul said.

When Paul made his way to Sligo in March, he tried to take in as much of the county as possible and he met some interesting people along the way.

For more on this story, see this week’s Sligo Weekender newspaper. In shops now.

Up to now it has been her amazing voice that has kept her in the competition, but this Sunday night, Sligo singing sensation Kelesa Mulcahy needs your vote!

The talented 33-year-old has made it through blind auditions, through face-to-face song battles and even thrived in the live shows held in Dublin’s Helix theatre last month, but now the public have their say and they can ensure the mother-of-one will make it through to the Voice of Ireland semi-finals.

Kelesa impressed the judges when she first performed in the blind audition, surprising judge Kian Egan, who was a long-time friend of the singer but had not expected her to be there when he turned his seat around.

In the end Kelesa went with Team Kian and through two more rounds, he has kept her in the competition, believing that she has what it takes to be crowned the 2016 Voice of Ireland.

Kelesa will be performing on Sunday night, April 10 with a chance to go forward to the semi-final a week later. Each of the judges have three singers left in the competition.

Whichever of their singers has the highest public votes will automatically go through to next week. It will then be up to the judges to decide which of their remaining two team members they save, and which they send home.

When she last competed, on Sunday, March 20, she was told by two of the judges to push herself harder in the next round.

The singer has been in rehearsals this week in Dublin ahead of Sunday’s live show. Her supporters have organised for a bus to take them to the show in the Helix to shout on their support.

And one former Voice of Ireland finalist, Laura May Lenehan, has wished Kelesa the best of luck in the competition too.

The Voice of Ireland live show starts at 6.30pm on Sunday evening on RTE ONE. Full voting details will be revealed on the show.

A Sligo man who is waiting on a second kidney transplant has said that while you are on dialysis your life is “on hold”.

44 years-old Brian Stewart from Sea View Park in Sligo town is back on dialysis for the second time in his life after the failure of a kidney that he had received.

That transplant had given a new lease of life for 10 years but now he is back to a regime of having to be hooked up to a dialysis machine at Sligo Hospital for four hourss, three days a week.

Brian, who spoke to the Sligo Weekender while actually on dialysis, said: “After this you would be fairly fatigued.”

See this week’s Sligo Weekender newspaper for Brian’s story – in shops now.

The Macalla 1916 Suite, a major orchestral work by Sligo-based composer Michael Rooney to commemorate Easter 1916 comes home to Sligo on Saturday night, April 2.

Commissioned by Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann, the suite will be performed at the Knocknarea arena at IT Sligo by over 60 of the finest young traditional and classical musicians from Ireland and Britain.

The world premiere of Macalla 1916 was in London on March 4 while it is now on tour of Ireland.

Bus Éireann’s Expressway provided a specially wrapped coach and driver for the tour.

The performers launched their tour in the RDS in Dublin last weekend at special event for 4,000 relatives of those who lost their lives during the Rising – which was attended by President Michael D Higgnins and An Taoiseach Enda Kenny.

Since then they have played to audiences at Wexford Opera House, Cork City Hall.

Their tour continues this week up until April 3, to the Lime Tree Theatre in Limerick and Garage Theatre in Monaghan, and after Sligo to the Millennium Forum in Derry on Sunday night.

Tickets (€25, €12.50 children) for Saturday night at available through www.hawkswell.com