Sligo-Born Munster rugby star Cathal Sheridan is one of the new ambassadors of a campaign encouraging fans and players of the game to speak about and look after their mental health.
HEALTH: Sligo-born Munster scrum-half Cathal Sheridan is a new amabassador for the Tackle Your Feelings mental health campaign. Photo by Inpho.
Called “Tackle Your Feelings”, the campaign has seen national and international rugby stars come forward to tell their own personal story of the issues they’ve faced off the pitch. It is being led by the Irish Rugby Union Players’ Association.
At his announcement as a new ambassador, the 27-year-old spoke of his battle with negative thoughts and emotions for almost a year while recovering from injury.
You can read more about Cathal and the campaign in the sports section of this week’s Sligo Weekender newspaper – in shops now.
The An Post Yeats Tour of Sligo is an opportunity for the charity Acquired Brain Injury Ireland (ABII) to raise vital funds for their work rehabilitating people with brain injury and warning the public of the danger.
LAUNCH: Members of ABII and Sligo Sports and Recreation Partnership were welcomed to the Mayor’s Parlour on March 18 to launch their fundraising drive and monster raffle.
The tour – which comprises 60k, 100k and 160k routes – takes place over the May Bank Holiday weekend, but earlier this month members of ABII were welcomed into the Mayor’s parlour at City Hall by Mayor of Sligo Cllr Thomas Healy to kick-start their fundraising efforts.
ABII will not receive funding directly from the entry fees from the cycle, but they are hoping that many of the cyclists taking part will fundraise in advance of the cycle. Fundraising cards are available from the ABII office at 2 Race Court Manor, Tonaphubble, Sligo or by calling 071-9153472 or e-mailing toboyle@abiireland.ie The ABII will also be holding a monster raffle.
“ABII depend heavily on fundraising to maintain the service and we are delighted to have been chosen as the charity to benefit from the An Post Yeats Tour of Sligo cycle this year,” said Teresa O’Boyle, the Local Services Manager for ABII.
“Being the chosen charity for the An Post cycle involves us coming up with creative ways of optimising on this opportunity to our best advantage to raise as much funding as possible for the local service in Sligo, Leitrim and west Cavan.
“One of the strategies we have decided to pursue is to sell raffle tickets for prizes. We have secured fantastic raffle prizes from businesses, services and organisations all over Sligo and Leitrim.”
She continued: “Often referred to as a ‘Hidden Disability’, brain injury affects every person differently however unfortunately and very often, brain injury changes people’s lives and the lives of their families significantly. Our services provide rehabilitation to those directly affected by brain injury and also provide support to their families.”
The raffle tickets will also be available from the ABII office and on the day of the tour.
TextAhead of the An Post Yeats Tour, there is another charity cycle, a 40km Lough Gill event, taking place this weekend which will also benefit the ABII. The cycle is on Sunday, April 3 and starts from Sligo Racecourse.
Registration is at 9am (entry is €20) and the cycle starts at 10am.
The eagerly anticipated Celebrity Concert, and highlight of Con Brio’s current Sligo Music Series, will take place next Friday week, April 8.
CONCERT: Violinist Chloe Hanslip will play on April 8.
Previous Celebrity Concerts have featured internationally renowned musicians such as violinist Tasmin Little and pianists Joanna MacGregor and Pascal Rogé. The performer for this season’s concert is at least as renowned as previous performers, and possibly even more so, it is the extraordinary English violinist Chloë Hanslip.
Born in Guildford, Surrey in 1987 Chloë has been playing the violin since she was two. At the age of four she performed solo at the Purcell Room in the Southbank Centre. When she was five she performed for Yehudi Menuhin and subsequently, at his invitation, studied with Natasha Boyarskaya at the Yehudi Menuhin School.
By ten she had played in major concert halls throughout Europe and North America, including Carnegie Hall in New York and the Royal Albert Hall in London.
In 1995 she began studying in Germany with Professor Zakhar Bron, the teacher of Maxim Vengerov and Vadim Repin. In 1997 Hanslip was featured in a television documentary in Germany with Igor Oistrakh and Professor Bron. She was also featured in the BBC documentary Can You Make a Genius? screened in 2001 on BBC1 and played the child prodigy violinist alongside Ralph Fiennes and Liv Tyler in the film Onegin.
At 13 she was the youngest recording artist ever to be signed to Warner Classics UK. Her debut album, recorded with the London Symphony Orchestra under Paul Mann, was released in September 2001 to great critical acclaim. Her second CD, a recording of Max Bruch’s Concerti No. 1 and No. 3 with the LSO under Martyn Brabbins, was released in 2002.
Chloë Hanslip has received numerous awards for her playing, including first prize and four special prizes in the 2nd International Violin Competition in Novosibirsk, Russia, resulting in concerts in Russia, France and Japan.
In 2000 she was awarded a Scholarship by the Sibelius Foundation, one of Finland’s highest honours, presented by the Finnish Ambassador. Also in 2000 she was nominated by Justus Frantz for the Prix Davidoff. In 2002 she was awarded the Echo Klassik Award for Best Young Artist for her debut album “Chloë”.
For her Sligo recital Chloë will be accompanied by one of Britain’s most respected and versatile pianists, Danny Driver.
The wonderful programme for this concert includes Beethoven’s brilliant and powerful Kreutzer Sonata, Prokofiev’s Cinq mélodies, Op. 35b and Richard Strauss’ lyrically beautiful Sonata for Violin and Piano in E flat, Op. 18.
This is a concert not to be missed. In the Sunday Business Post last weekend music critic Dick O’Riordan wrote “this English duo has been dubbed the dream team, even in an era when great artists are judged not by talent alone but by their celeb quotient.
“No matter how, or by whom, Hanslip and Driver are measured celeb-wise, they are blindingly brilliant performers…”
The concert takes place in The Model and tickets at €20 can be obtained from The Model, phone 071-9141405 or online at www.themodel.ie
The Sligo Academy of Music Sinfonietta, Jazz Orchestra and Summerhill College Choir travelled to Prague on Thursday, March 13 to take part in the Young Bohemia Prague Festival 2016.
The Sligo Sinfonetta performing in Prague
Eighty students representing Sligo took part in competitions for Symphony Orchestras, Jazz Orchestra’s and Boys Choirs. The festival had participating ensembles from 16 different countries.
All three Sligo ensembles received Sliver Level performance awards from this prestigious International Youth Music Festival. It was not only an incredible achievement for Sligo, but the Sinfonetta and Jazz Orchestra are the first Irish orchestras to achieve Silver Level performance awards in the 13-year history of the festival.
The Students of Summerhill College and Sligo Academy of Music were tremendous ambassadors participating in many events in the Czech capital and finishing their tour with a well-deserved day of relaxation bobsleighing.
The festival was a wonderful opportunity for music making but also for making friends and future collaborations. Summerhill College Choir will soon be participating in an exchange with a top class school choir from Omagh.
For a chance to see the orchestra in the near future they are really looking forward to their performance again this year in the Kieran Quinn theme night “Piano Man” in the Hawks Well from May 4-6 and also in the Gala Concert with the Army Band and County Sligo Golf Club Male Voice Choir on Thursday, June 2 in the Radisson Hotel, Sligo.
For more photos from the event, see this week’s Sligo Weekender newspaper – in shops now.
In support of raising awareness about the importance of organ donation, solo artist, Markus Feehily took time out from his touring schedule to visit Sligo University Hospital, where he met staff, dialysis patients, a living donor and transplant recipients.
The event was organised by the Sligo Branch of the Irish Kidney Association to announce the annual life-saving awareness campaign which will take place from April 2-9.
At the event the former Westlife star met a familiar face, Maria Fowley, who underwent a kidney and pancreas transplant in 2011. The two have known one another since he was a child living in the same neighbourhood Calry and he attended the same school as Marie’s son Sean.
Marie said: “I have known Markus since he was a little boy. I witnessed first-hand his fledgling singing career.
“I was part of the organising committee for Scór na n”g and we knew we were in the presence of a rising star from the first time he sang as he had the voice of an angel. We are delighted that Markus has taken time out of his busy career to support us in launching Organ Donor Awareness Week.”
Speaking at the launch, Markus said, “I feel honoured to have been invited by Marie’s husband Sean to attend the event here today. When I was a child, Marie was preparing me for Scór Na n”g while all the time her diabetes was a secret part of her life.
“Her kidney failure came in the years that followed.
“It came as a big surprise to my parents and the community years later when we heard that she had received a double transplant of a kidney and pancreas a few years ago.
“I feel privileged to be here today amongst Marie and other inspirational people who have all faced uncertain futures because of organ failure and who are united in their wish to honour their organ donors.
“It’s humbling to meet so many patients in the dialysis ward here today whose kidneys have failed and they are just getting on with their treatment while hoping to be called for life saving transplants. It is wonderful to witness the dedicated nursing staff who take such good care of their patients.
“I would encourage everyone to discuss organ donation with family members and let their wishes be known. I hope people will support the Irish Kidney Association volunteers who will be selling forget-me-not flowers and other items in Sligo town and county and the rest of the country during Organ Donor Awareness Week.”
During the Awareness Week Irish Kidney Association volunteers will be distributing organ donor cards and selling forget-me-not flower emblems in towns and villages around Sligo.
Tickets are on sale (priced €15) for a fashion show in aid of the Irish Kidney Association will take place at the Clarion Hotel on Thursday, April 17 at 8pm.
A Brussels-based Sligo man has described his frightening experience of being caught up in the harrowing terrorist atrocities, one of which took place just a short distance from his workplace in the Belgian capital on Tuesday morning.
Heber Rowan, who has been working in the city since February, was one of a number of Sligo people, including MEP Marian Harkin, who were not far from Maelbeek metro station, where 20 people were killed and 100 injured.
Heber told of what happened as he made his daily commute to work.
“It was a normal day, I go by Maelbeek station every day and I passed the soldiers who are in front of the headquarters where I work and normally they are very chatty, but I could see they were very serious and they were stopping people one by one.
“As I was walking down there were more sirens than normal and a lot of black Mercedes’ with blue and red lights in the front.”
“Before I knew it there were more ambulances and I started thinking ‘that can’t be the airport’, but when I got in everyone was hunched down on the ground on their mobiles trying to find out what was happening and word was starting coming from here and there that there was an attack.”
The Cartron native explained how the Paris attacks had remained fresh in the mind of the Belgian public, who recently saw a prime suspect arrested in their country.
For more of Heber’s story and the reaction of others from Sligo who were caught up in the Brussels attacks, see this week’s Sligo Weekender- in shops now.
A Sligo-born doctor who lives and works in the UK has been helping the most vulnerable of the Middle East’s displaced refugees, in Calais, France.
ASSISTANCE: Sligo native Dr Conor Kenny is helping refugees in Calais.
Conor Kenny, who lives and works between London and Bristol, but is originally from Ballincar, Rosses Point was recently involved in humanitarian work in the well publicised ‘Calais Jungle’ camp for migrants, through the Humming Bird project – which offers aid to those displaced by war.
He told the Sligo Weekender this week. “The way I got involved with the Humming Bird project was through friends I went to university with who set up this project. It was something I thought was fantastic and wanted to support.”
See this week’s Sligo Weekender newspaper for more. In shops now!
A campaign group has been established to erect a statue in Strandhill in honour of the late Paul Rennick.
FIGURE: The late Paul Rennick was a watersports enthusiast and keen fundraiser. (Inset) A 3D rendering of the proposal for a statue in Strandhill.CaptionSTATUE:TextA campaign group has been established to erect a statue in Strandhill in honour of the late Paul Rennick.
Paul, who died in tragic circumstances in Melbourne. Australia, in August 2011, was well known in the seaside village as a surfer and watersports enthusiast and for his fundraising efforts, which included a charity paddle from Strandhill to Rosses Point.
Now a Sligo sculptor has created a virtual design for a massive statue of Paul, holding a surf board, which could sit on the currently empty plinth on the seafront at Strandhill. A sculpture which stood on the plinth has been taken away by Sligo County Council for repairs.
Sculptor Philip Brett has come up with the design on behalf of the Paul Rennick Memorial Sculpture Group. “As a local artist and a close friend of Paul, I felt that it was within my ability to capture and express the sentiment with the sensitivity necessary for such an emotional and cathartic project.
“The Surfer Project proposes to create a life-size figurative bronze sculpture of a local surf lifesaver and charity worker. The site of the proposed Art-work is significant for its context within the community; in Strandhill on the beach promenade where Paul worked and spent most of his time with the community.”
The design team consists of two artists – Philip, who came up with the 3D rendering of the statue and metalsmith Mirjam Schiller who would oversee the creation of the sculpture at Cast Foundry Cast Ltd. in Dublin.
The group are now beginning a fundraising drive to commission the piece which they hoped would be matched with public funding from a number of different sources, including mental health organisations.
For more on the statue, search “The Surfer, Paul Rennick” on Facebook.
Following Paul’s death, the positive mental health through activities charity Rennafix Group was set up in his honour in 2012. It organises regular activities designed to promote positive mental health.
The prowess and skill of IT Sligo’s students on the waves was rewarded last weekend when the Institute’s surfing team won the 2016 National Intervarsities Surfing Championships at Strandhill.
TEAM: The IT Sligo surfing team and mentors, which won the National Intervarsity Championships 2016 in Strandhill last weekend.
The IT surfers beat off stiff competition to secure the overall team title for the second time in the Institute’s history. The event – streamed live online – saw 148 competitors from 18 third level institutions take to the water.
“Conditions were very challenging for the surfers,” said Jack-Tim Murphy-Malone, one of the event organisers and President of the IT Surfing Club. “Our surf club had been working towards this event since the start of the academic year.
“The standard was very high, particularly in the men’s open event – but the atmosphere in the water amongst the competitors was very friendly – and showing the event live online helped capture the imagination of the wider surfing community.”
As well as winning the team prize, two IT Sligo students claimed individual titles. Gavin McCrea from Rossnowlagh, a Fine Art student, took gold in the men’s Longboard while Strandhill’s Aidan Kelly, who’s studying Pharmaceutical Science (online) won the Bodyboard event.
The full team were Ken Gunning, Daniel Simpson, Ronan Oertzen, Julliete Guichard, Marie Olsson, Killian Weir, Patrick Weis, Gavin McCrea, Jack-Tim Murphy, Kerry Larkin, Nicole Martin, Ann-Marie Smith, Michaela Gaffney, Nis Kaden and Alex McCloy.
