The RTÉ Investigates programme has made false allegations against me that I wish to address

publicly:

In late October I was contacted by a woman called ‘Nina Carlsson’ who claimed to be a representative for

an investment company looking to build wind farms in the Sligo area. I agreed to meet her for a quick chat

in the foyer of the Sligo Park Hotel but on the morning of the meeting she changed the venue to a room in

the Great Southern Hotel. I wanted to meet this lady in a public place and it was RTÉ who arranged that the

meeting take place behind closed doors. For the past number of weeks my solicitor has been repeatedly

requesting RTÉ to broadcast the entire footage filmed at that meeting as the edited footage does not give a

fair and honest account of the conversation that took place between myself and this undercover reporter.

On at least 13 occasions during the course of the conversation I told the reporter that the planning process

was an impartial one and that no-one could guarantee her company success and I said to her “If you are

asking can I go into the council if you apply for planning permission or if you apply for planning and I can go

to them and do something with the officials or, I can’t”.

It has been repeated in the press in the last couple of days that I offered to act as an intermediary for this

company in return for an investment in a business I was planning. I never sought payment of any kind from

this undercover reporter for assisting her. During our conversations the undercover reporter on 9 occasions

referred to money and payment to me and I repeatedly said at least 14 times that I wanted no payment from

her. I told her “The way I work anything you ask me to do, I will do for the benefit of Sligo”, “And I don’t want

any fee or nothing like that for anything I do for you. Right?”, “I will work with you yes. It will cost you

nothing. I am not looking for anything out of it”, “I will work with ye. Free gratis and for nothing”.

RTÉ has stated that I proposed an investment be made by this fictitious company in a business interest that

I had in return for assisting them in the planning process. I completely deny this allegation. I repeatedly

said that I wanted no payment for assisting them in the pre-planning process. During the course of my

conversation with the undercover reporter I said I was a businessman and I mentioned that I may have a

potential future investment, that I was thinking of getting some investors and that it may be a family member

of mine that ends up investing rather than anyone else. I repeatedly stated in the follow up call with the

undercover reporter that if we did go into business together in the future that it would be “totally on a

business nature, everything above board” and that “I would never even contemplate looking for money from

anybody… you have to have a business plan …..and you have to sign an agreement that you are going to

pay back”. The reality of local government is that most elected representatives carry on business interests

outside of their roles as a county councillor in order to make a living. I am an auctioneer and a small local

businessman. I am extremely proud of my local area and like most local business people I am keen to see it

thrive economically. It will be clear to anyone who viewed the RTÉ programme that I did not go to that

meeting dressed to impress a potential business partner. I at all times believed I was meeting this lady for a

quick chat in a public place to act on behalf of local interests and I felt that as a councillor I have a duty to

assist potential investment opportunities for my locality. I made no promise of success to this reporter and I

sought no reward.

Having viewed the programme last night I can understand why people feel angry at what they saw. I am

angry also. The edited footage does not represent the true nature of the meeting between myself and the

undercover reporter and this is why I have repeatedly asked RTÉ to broadcast the entire conversation. I

apologise wholeheartedly for the fact that my statutory declaration for 2015 was not filled out correctly and I

have now amended this declaration. I also regret ever mentioning any potential future investment

opportunity as I now recognise that the way that the conversation was edited makes it seem as if I was

seeking a personal benefit when I never was. I at all times believed I was meeting this reporter in a public

place to speak about a local matter and I repeatedly told her, during and after this meeting, that I never

expected or requested any payment for that assistance. RTÉ has accused me of being in breach of Section

247 of the Planning Act 2000 and I unequivocally deny this accusation. I am now considering all of my legal

options in relation to this matter.

It is with regret that after so many years with the party I have now been forced to sever my ties with Fianna

Fáil. For the sake of my family and supporters I regret that my involvement with Fianna Fáil has meant that

the media have decided to misrepresent me in this case rather than focusing their attention on the two

elected representatives featured in the programme who did in fact seek payment for themselves. However,

my main concern is, was and always will be County Sligo. I have had an active role for a long number of

years in various local community groups and public life generally and I hope that the people of Sligo will

allow me to continue to be active in those areas into the future.

-Councillor Joseph Queenan

8th December, 2015

A new IDA advance facility in Sligo is part of a strategy launched in Sligo on Monday to create an extra 28,000 jobs in the North West/North East region by 2020.
Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation Richard Bruton was at IT Sligo to officialy launch the Action Plan for Jobs for the region, which encompasses Sligo, Leitrim, Donegal, Cavan, Monaghan and Louth.

The plan is aimed at delivering 10-15% employment growth in the region over the coming years.

Apart from the new IDA advance facility at Finisklin Business Park, which it is hoped will be available next year, a number of other initiatives are suggested for Sligo with a view to creating jobs (see separate story, below).

But there was no indication in the plan as to how many of the suggested 28,000 extra jobs in the region would be in Sligo.

The plan recognises that the region suffered badly in the crash, with employment falling by 50,400 from 2007 to the end of 2012 and the unemployment rate at that time rising to 16.6%.

The impact on the construction sector in the region was particularly significant, given that it accounted for 14% of employment in 2007 and over 20,000 construction jobs were lost between 2007 and 2011.

Minister Bruton said he believed that based on all the evidence and the “strong buy-in for the process up to this point it is realistic to target 28,000 additional jobs in the region by 2020”.

The Minister said: “Jobs are growing right across the country, but they are growing faster in some regions than in others. That is why we have put in place the €250million regional jobs strategy, to support regions to play to their strengths and accelerate jobs growth in every area.

“The North East/North West is a region which had historic problems with unemployment, but over recent years thanks to the ingenuity of its workers and businesses it has performed extremely strongly.

“Since we launched the national Action Plan for Jobs in early 2012 over 20,000 extra people are at work in the region, making it the third fastest growing region in the country in employment terms.”

Mr Bruton said he was convinced that with the right support from Government through the North East/North West Plan, and by continuing the collaborative approach right across the region, they could deliver 28,000 extra jobs over the coming years.

Among the 152 actions in the plan to be delivered in the region as a whole over the period 2015-2017 include:
– Achieve an increase of at least 25% in the number of start-ups.
– Increase the number of IDA investments by 30-40% up to 2019. This will result in a minimum of 61 additional projects for the region.
– IDA will also aim at securing potential “second site” investments from companies who already have large scale operations in Dublin.
– And in the tourism sector – a new Shannon-Erne Blueway and further development of initiatives around the very successful Wild Atlantic Way.

A malnourished and wounded dog was found abandoned in Hazelwood this week in a case described as one of the worst ever seen by a Sligo animal rescue group.

The canine, named Hazel by her carers, was discovered lying in a hedgerow and unable to walk by a passing couple on Monday in the popular nature park.
She is currently receiving medical treatment in a foster home where she is understood to be recovering well.

“We have been in operation for seven years and this has to be right up there with the worst cases we have dealt with. She was very close to death,” said Dorothy Kilgallen of Sligo Animal Rescue.

“She had very badly infected wounds on her hind legs and a lot of cuts and abrasions all over her, but nothing too infected like the ones on her hind legs which are our biggest concern at the minute.”

Hazel’s condition shows that she had suffered for a prolonged period of time and was dangerously underweight by at least 9kg.

“She was found (on Monday), but it would have taken quite a while for her to get into that state, that doesn’t happen overnight or even after a couple of weeks, that would have happened over the course of a number of months. She is also terribly underweight at just 6kg when she should be between 15-18kgs for her breed and height.”

Some recent high profile cases as well as the Irish ‘Animal Rescue’ TV series shows that incidents like this are still very common across the country and Dorothy believes it may be worse than ever before.

“She is today’s news, but in a week’s time she will be forgotten because there will be another dog in another county (in a similar state) and the reality is things just aren’t improving at all, things are actually getting worse.”

This case also provides a stark reminder of the annual plea urging people not to give pets as Christmas presents. Abandoned and unwanted “Christmas pets” has been a problem both nationally and internationally for many years where families have either received an animal they did not want or were incapable of caring for.

Sligo Animal Rescue has dealt with animals in this all too familiar scenario in the past, recounting one particular case of a pup being found tied up on Christmas Day.

“We generally don’t see the Christmas puppies being brought into us until around April-May time. They are at a stage where they are five-six months old and still might not be house broken or still chewing the chairs and skirting boards or they are howling because they are left at home on their own all day. You might get one or two in the days following Christmas who were given to someone as a surprise present, but that person didn’t want them. For example we found a puppy tied up in Doorly Park two Christmases ago and I would say that happened because someone was given a puppy as a surprise but they didn’t want it.”

In an attempt to prevent Christmas pets being picked up in Sligo, Dorothy confirmed that the voluntary group does not allow adoptions throughout the month of December.

“As a rule we do not allow dogs to be adopted in December unless somebody has already been on the list and are unable to collect their pet until this month. We don’t give any animals out as a present and that applies all year round – we do not home animals as presents. Ever.”

Despite this, Dorothy revealed that at least ten enquiries were made in the last week alone about booking kittens and pups as Christmas presents.

2016 will mark the centenary of the Easter Rising and so there will be a broad programme of cultural events and projects taking place nationwide.

Sligo Stories is a project devised by the Hawk’s Well Theatre. The project seeks to collect stories about Sligo circa 1916, in particular those that refer to Sligo Gaol and its environs as well as general stories about life in Sligo at that time.

To this end, the theatre have brought together a group of Cuairteoiri – volunteers from the community who are locating, interviewing and recording the stories of those who have accounts relating to this time, both first-hand accounts as well as those that are passed down through families and friends, painting an informed picture of what life was like in Sligo at this time.

The theatre’s Cuairteoiri are reviving the Irish tradition which was known as “to go on Cuairt”, whereby people visited neighbours and friends and told stories.
These stories will then be used as research material for a piece of theatre that will be created by the Hawk’s Well Theatre and their Actor in Residence, Bob Kelly.

Originally a member of Sligo Youth Theatre, Bob Kelly studied theatre at the prestigious Ecole de Jacques Lecoq in Paris. He has performed at The Louvre, The Abbey and at The Royal Ballet School. He is a regular collaborator with Blue Raincoat Theatre Company, and in 2012 was nominated for an Irish Times Theatre Award for his work with them on “The Poor Mouth”.

The team at the Hawk’s Well Theatre have also been in contact with Irish embassies abroad as well as other societies that embrace the Irish diaspora, casting a wider net to ensure the broadest possible collective experience.

It is not too late to get involved in Sligo Stories. If you have accounts that relate to Sligo at the turn of the last century, or if you know of family or friends in Ireland or abroad who might have interesting stories to tell, contact the Hawk’s Well team at sligo@hawkswell.com

The Mayor of Sligo is campaigning to have the 82 years-old deportation order against the man whose life was featured in the film “Jimmy’s Hall” formally rescinded.

The 2014 film, which was partly filmed in Sligo, was based on the life of Jimmy Gralton, who was the only Irishman ever to be deported from Ireland.

Now Councillor Thomas Healy, who had a small part in Ken Loach’s film, is asking the Minister for Justice, Frances Fitzgerald, to formally rescind the deportation order on Jimmy Gralton and “acknowledge the injustice done to Jimmy and his family by the enactment of this order”.

Gralton, who was born near Carrick-on-Shannon, was deported in 1933 following protests over his political activities, principally centred around the hall he built on his family farm in 1932.

The Sinn Fein councillor has a motion calling for the deportastion order to be rescinded down for Monday’s meeting of Sligo County Council.

He told the Sligo Weekender that what had prompted his move at this time was that December 29 would be the 70th anniversary of Jimmy Gralton’s death.

“Also we are going into the 1916 commemoration next year. His deportation was just 17 years after the proclamation was read at the GPO with the promise of civil rights and liberties but his civil liberties were not respected. He was deported because he did not fit into society at that time.”

Cllr Healy said he had written to the Minister for Justice last week but he had not got any reply yet.

He said he had also met with Jimmy Gralton’s grandnieces and other other relations and some of them were going to be at the launch of a petition calling for the deportation order to be rescinded.

He hopes this would be held at City Hall on December 29.

Cllr Healy is hoping that among the signatories will be “Jimmy’s Hall” director Ken Loach.

“A lot of people did not know about Jimmy Gralton until the film was made and his story was told”, he said.

Husband and wife Damien Brennan and Paula Gilvarry, the people behind the Yeats Experience in Sligo, were in San Francisco, Los Angeles and Santa Barbara promoting the North West last week.

Tourism Ireland a delegatrion of 23 tourism enterprises undertook a three-city trade and media blitz in the state of California. Fourteen Irish tourism companies and nine American tour operators met with California-based travel professionals.

The busy schedule involving a 60-minute TV show format highlighting the island of Ireland, as well as networking sessions with travel and lifestyle journalists.

Alison Metcalfe, Tourism Ireland’s head of North America, said: “The United States is one of the most important markets for tourism to the island of Ireland and 2015 is set to be another record year for tourism from North America.

According to the latest CSO figures, visitor numbers from the US and Canada have grown by almost +14% for January and September.

“Our ‘Jump into Ireland’ sales blitz in California provided an excellent platform to kickstart our promotional effort for 2016 and to spread the word about the many spread the word about the many great things to see and do right around the island of Ireland.”

Fine Gael TD John Perry has secured court permission to serve notice to his own party.

It was announced yesterday (Wednesday) that Mr Perry was seeking an interlocutory injunction in the High Court to prevent ratification of the Sligo-Leitrim ticket until he can make his case in a full court hearing.

The Ballymote man has been appealing to the party to add him to the ticket since he lost out at the recent convention to fellow Sligo TD Tony McLoughlin, after it was decided there was to be just one candidate from the county.

Mr Justice Paul Gilligan served short notice of the injunction application, returning the matter to Wednesday, December 9.

Sligo native Declan Lee, who works for Dublin PR consultancy Insight Consultants, has won the Irish Sponsorship Award for his work with AVIVA on their FAI Junior Cup Sponsorship.

Lee, who joined Insight Consultants from O’Herlihy Communications as part of their merger earlier this year, won the award for the second time in three years at the Irish Sponsorship Awards.

Hailing from Calry, Declan has handled sponsorship campaigns for some of the biggest international brands including Three, Powerade and William Hill.

The campaign included Sligo Junior football team City United, who reached the last eight of the FAI Junior Cup earlier this year and were a part of the Quarter Final draw and launch at the Aviva Stadium in March.

The AVIVA campaign for the FAI Junior Cup was also included in a list of the Top 5 best sponsorships in Ireland this year alongside the likes of Vodafone and Bord Gais Energy.

A Sligo woman has been chosen as one of ten global ambassadors for the best of Ireland’s food and drink exports.

Martina Henry from Strandhill was chosen following a competitive recruitment process to be an Origin Green Ambassador. In her new role, Martina will relocate overseas to promote the Irish food and drink industry and in particular, build awareness of its commitment to sustainability under the Origin Green programme.

As an ambassador, Martina will undertake a two-year programme which aims to develop expertise in the area of business sustainability specific to the Irish food and drink industry.

Following an intensive induction, involving study at the UCD Michael Smurfit Business School and industry briefings, she will be assigned to overseas markets and international company placements to promote Origin Green and communicate the benefits of sourcing food and drink from Ireland to key global customers.

“I’m excited to get this opportunity which allows me to travel and step inside some of the world’s leading companies to learn about sustainability first-hand,” said Martina.

“It’s an important topic that will affect all of our lives increasingly into the future. Now more than ever, with Ireland’s success in food sustainability, the food industry is an unparalleled place to work and study.”

A graduate of NUI Galway, Martina has also gained experience by running her own chocolate and coffee lounge in Sligo.

“The people we have selected, like Martina are professionals with high potential who have aspirations to become future leaders in the Irish food industry,” said Bord Bia director Michael Murphy.

“This is only the second year of the programme and already the previous participants have been successful in delivering global recognition for the industry’s work following placements around the world.”