The south Sligo village of Monasteraden united behind a very worthy cause, and in the process raised €11,000 for charity.
CHEQUE: The Shave or Dye team from Drury’s Bar, Monasteraden presents a cheque to Ena Barrett from the Irish Cancer Society for €11,000. Photo by Mick McCormack.
A group of locals, using Drury’s Bar as their headquarters, set up a Shave or Dye fundraiser to benefit the Irish Cancer Society. The fruits of their labour, a cheque for €11,000 was presented to Ena Barrett of the Irish Cancer Society earlier this week.
“Many thanks to everyone who sponsored us and to all the local businesses that gave all the spot prizes,” said a spokesperson for the fundraising group. “To Drury’s Bar and everyone’s good will, many thanks also.”
Well known West Sligo farmer Joe Coulter was at the front of the queue for the first cup of coffee to be served at the newly opened Fairgreen Café in Skreen.
CUPPA: Brid Torrades of The Fairgreen in Skreen, serves her first cup of coffee to Joe Coulter at the official opening.
The new cafe and gallery, which was formerly the Corragh Donn premises in Skreen has been under development for the past 24 months before opening last week.
Brid Torrades, who also runs Osta Cafe in Sligo is now running the new cafe. Donal Kelly, who developed the premises spoke about the long wait Joe had.
“The idea of a cafe has been planned for the past two years. I was there by myself with not a sinner with me and Joe would come in on a regular basis when he was at the co-op and enquire [joking] as to when he would be getting his coffee,” Donal said.
Since opening, Donal has described it as “brilliant addition” to Skreen.
For more photos from the official opening, see page 25 of this week’s Sligo Weekender newspaper. In shops now.
As yet more Armada artefacts were lifted from the sea this week Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht Heather Humphreys has said that the National Museum would have no objection to them being exhibited locally.
ARTEFACT: A figure engraved on one of the cannons.
However, it will be at least two years before the bronze cannon and other objects will be ready for display.
A month ago the Minister, with representatives of the Spanish Embassy, visited the site of the three Armada wrecks off Streedagh beach in north Sligo as two cannons, dated 1570, were lifted from the sea.
Yesterday (Wednesday) and on Monday more cannons and other items were brought ashore at Mullaghmore harbour to be transported to Dublin for conservation treatment.
So far a variety of significant artefacts, including six bronze cannons, one gun carriage wheel, a ship’s copper cauldron and a number of smaller items have been recovered.
For more on this story, see this week’s Sligo Weekender newspaper. In shops now.
Away from the world of politics, Tánaiste Joan Burton, ahead of Wednesday’s cabinet meeting, was reading Yeats.
READING: Tanaiste Joan Burton reading a Yeats poem in Hargadons on Monday.
The Labour leader was a guest of honour at Hargadon’s on O’Connell Street where she read the Yeats poem ‘Beautiful Lofty Things’ and was joined by Senator Susan O’Keeffe.
“I chose this poem because it is short, it is political and it is my favourite aunt’s favourite poem,” she said.
Following the poetry reading, the Tánaiste’s attentions were turned to yesterday’s cabinet meeting and the role in which Sligo will play in the new adoption bill.
The bill will see as many as 50,000 people nationwide to be able to obtain certificates which list their original parents.
For more on this story, including the thoughts of the Tanaiste going into yesterday’s cabinet meeting, see this week’s Sligo Weekender newspaper. In shops now.
The former Bishop of Elphin has said that rural Ireland has not benefited from the economic recovery and that the light in small communities is being ‘extinguished’.
COMMENTS: Bishop Emeritus Christy Jones spoke to Council for the West on Friday last.
Bishop Emeritus Christy Jones was speaking at a meeting of the Council for the West on Friday last in Ballaghaderreen. Co. Roscommon to mark 21 years since the Council was first established.
He began his address to the delegates by recounting a recent news headline which said “Rural Ireland is dying and the Government must act now to save it”.
The Bishop said “There seems to be very little enthusiasm for the topic of rural/urban regeneration. The focus seems to be once again on the big cities and foreign investment. While this is necessary for national economic recovery, once again rural Ireland is being neglected.
“Rural and urban communities are not feeling any benefit from the economic recovery. The closure of cost inefficient Garda stations and post offices and of pubs has created a loss that may be irreversible.
“The journalist [who wrote the headline] calls on the Government to appoint a full time Minister for Rural/Urban regeneration with the necessary resources which are so desperately needed.
“As I read the article I felt sad that once again rural towns and communities are in decline and who cares?
“We hear much about the future of our beef and dairy produce. We hear much about committees to improve the situation but sadly once again rural towns and communities are in decline.
“I was at the formal closing of our primary school recently and remembered that when the light goes out in a home we witness the death of a family but when the light goes out in a school we witness the death of a community. Who is going to keep all those lights alive in rural Ireland?”
International rock superstars, Wheatus, are set to rock night two of this year’s Sligo Summer Festival.
WHEATUS: The New York band will headline the second night of the Sligo Summer Festival.
The guys most famous for their massive international hits, ‘Teenage Dirtbag’ and ‘A little Respect’ will mean the 2015 festival will be the first time there has been two international headliners at the event.
Wheatus’ debut single “Teenage Dirtbag” cracked the Top 40 BBC Official Sales Chart for a second time in March of 2011, ten years after it’s debut at No. 2 on the same chart.
To say that Wheatus have been through the wringer in the decade between is the original understatement. Lawsuits, lineup changes, interstate art heist investigations (yes, really), betrayals, intellectual property theft, physical violence, post traumatic front man Brendan B Brown could write a book.
To date their first record has sold more than 5 million copies worldwide. Any manager or record label would be happy to tout those stats to the press but Wheatus have remained unsigned and unmanaged for the last 8 years.
Unlike many of their peers from the early oughts, Wheatus continue to write, record, and tour 15 years after their inception, having taken control of their revenue stream with the home made, “pick-your-price” download system fans can use at wheatus.com. They have released five studio albums since 2000 and are currently in preproduction for album six.
Sligo Summer Festival, now in its fourth year, has already successfully hosted three hugely attended festivals in 2012, 2013 and 2014. It has attracted thousands of people in the last three years and this year could be the biggest one yet.
Previous years has seen Sister Sledge, The Riptide Movement, Ryan Sheridan, Bressie, The Saw Doctors, Sharon Shannon and Mundy headline with many other amazing Irish acts also grace the stage in what has become one of Ireland’s biggest festivals.
The festival runs for two nights on Friday August 7 (with Boney M) and Saturday 8 (Wheatus), and runs just before the Fleadh hits Sligo on Sunday August 9 so the crowds are expected to be massive again this year.
As with last year, there will be a minimal voluntary donation on the gate and U-14s go free to help fund this community festival. The event takes place again in Stephen Street car park.
This year’s Garland Sunday celebrations on Sunday, July 26, will have an added interest for the people of Sligo with mass from the Holy Well being broadcast live on RTE to Ireland and across the world on the internet.
LAKE: Rower Sean Gilmartin was recorded rowing on Lough Gill for the build-up to the Garland Sunday broadcast.
Kairos Communications, who count two Sligo people from the same family among their staff, will be on site from Saturday morning preparing for the broadcast which will go to air on Sunday at 11am.
With a crew of over 25 people for the day and many metres of cables and wires to be hung, slung and joined around the location, the rehearsal and broadcast will be a mighty feat for Kairos and the people of the parish of St John’s, Carraroe.
As MD of Kairos and producer of the broadcast Finbarr Tracey explains “live television from any venue has it’s challenges, but when it’s an outdoor broadcast in the unpredictable Irish summer, you face a few more challenges than doing something in a studio in Dublin.
“But the Holy Well is a beautiful location, a place of stunning natural beauty and a special, sacred feeling to it, so we just have to have faith that it will all go well and try our best to make the mass come across as well as we can to the people tuning in.”
The broadcast will showcase the beauty of the area around Lough Gill and highlight the treasure that Sligo has in Tobernalt.
Sligoman Seamus Callagy, originally of the parish, has already filmed a pre-recorded introduction to the Well and the area that will air just before the mass.
“It was great to be back in Carraroe for the day and seeing all the places I used to know so well as a kid.
“It was a grey morning in the midlands when I set off for Sligo, but after filming few shots, suddenly the cloud cleared and the rest of the shoot had glorious sunshine and blue skies.
“For me it was wonderful to get a chance to capture the stunning scenery around the well and Lough Gill, and being out on the boat with Sean Gilmartin reminded me of wonderful times on that lake many years ago.”
Sean Gilmartin, a rower on Lough Gill for many years, contributed to the introduction along with local historian Martin Enright and parishioner Maura McMoreland.
The broacast is introduced by Eileen King who also helped with the narration.
The mass, which is being liturgically set for television by parish priest Fr. Jim Murray (and will be con-celebrated by Bishop Kevin Doran), will air on RTE at 11am and will also be available on the RTE Player.
SLIGO were mercilessly destroyed by mighty Mayo in the Connacht GAA Senior Championship decider at Hyde Park yesterday (Sunday) as the defending champions made it five titles in-a-row in a horribly one-sided showdown.
Inspired by the unmarkable powerhouse Aidan O’Shea, who scored 3-4, with Cillian O’Connor also on song with a contribution of 1-7, Mayo easily completed the ‘Drive For Five’ to move into the last eight of the All-Ireland series.
SLIGO are still within reach of a first Connacht GAA Football Minor Championship title since 1968 – but only just – after being let off the hook by a wasteful Galway in a low-scoring yet absorbing decider at Hyde Park yesterday (Sunday).
There was more good news on the jobs front in Sligo yesterday, Wednesday, with the announcement that an extra 50 staff are being recruited for the Stiefel plant at Finisklin.
Kevin Wright, Site Director at GSK. Photo by Brian Farrell.
It is a remarkable turnaround for the fortunes of the facility, which came close to closure in 2009.
And it comes hot on the heels of the recent announcement by another multinational healthcare company, AbbVie, of 50 new jobs at its plant in Ballytivnan.
GSK, the global healthcare company, which operates the Stiefel plant, announced yesterday, Wednesday, that in 2015, it will recruit 50 permanent and temporary people, half of whom have already been hired, with the remaining 25 to be recruited before the end of the year.
“This considerable recruitment drive will increase the total number of people employed at the site to 250 by the end of the year.”, a statement from the company said.
Kevin Wright, Site Director of GSK Sligo, said: “It is fantastic to be celebrating our 40th year in Sligo with such positive news on the jobs front. It is thanks to the dedicated staff here in Sligo that the business is growing.” Stiefel established its manufacturing facility in Sligo in 1975. Stiefel was taken over by GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) in 2009 and four months later it was revealed that the plant would be closed on a phased basis. But in 2012 GSK announced that it was reversing its decision to close the facility and was investing €10m in it. The plant is now a dedicated supply site for Stiefel skincare products. It manufactures a wide range of skin healthcare products for over 70 markets globally.
The new jobs are spread across a variety of disciplines including engineering, quality, technical, validation, logistics, finance and project management. The company says the majority of new recruits are required to support the site’s transition to a single state of the art manufacturing operating model.
The government decision to hold a first ever cabinet meeting at Lissadell House next week provides “a unique opportunity” for Sligo, a local TD has said.
The holding of the meeting in the county next Wednesday is not only historic for Sligo but is one of the few occasions when government cabinet meetings are held outside of Dublin.
Cabinet meetings usually only take place in Government Buildings in Dublin, every Tuesday morning when the Dáil is sitting although they have been held elsewhere.
The news was announced on Tuesday by local Fine Gael TDs John Perry and Tony McLoughlin.
Deputy Perry told the Sligo Weekender: “This is something on which I have been working very closely with the owners of Lissadell, Edward Walsh and Constance Cassidy, for many months since the re-opening of Lissadell by An Taoiseach Enda Kenny in June 2014”.
See this week’s Sligo Weekender newspaper for more details. In shops now.
An Australian globetrotter landed in Sligo Airport at the weekend on the latest leg of his epic journey from Sydney to New York.
GLOBE TROTTER: Michael Smith has travelled from Melbourne to London and now plans to go to New York via Iceland and Greenland.
Michael Smith from Williamstown in Melbourne, has strong memories from his childhood of watching his grandparents jet off to foreign countries (for his grandfather’s work) and of being regaled by stories of faraway lands upon their return.
His grandfather also told him tales of the early flights from London to Sydney in the late 1930s, aboard massive seaplanes run by Australia’s national airline Quantas.
Unlike the jumbo jets of today which can make the journey in one go, the seaplanes’ limited range meant they had to stop off at several locations along the way to refuel.
As an adult Michael’s passion for aviation eventually led to him getting his pilot’s licence. And so, in April of this year Michael set out alone from Sydney in a small Searey sea plane, bound for London.
His small two-seat plane had a similar range to the big seaplanes of the 1930s so it has taken him until now to reach Ireland.
See this week’s Sligo Weekender newspaper for the full story. In shops now.
