Plans have been announced to develop a new 3G playing surface on the grounds of Merville Community Centre.
SPEAKER: FAI CEO John Delaney speaking at Merville Community Centre.
The ambitious development will see the old tennis courts transformed into an all-weather training pitch which will provide Merville United’s many underage teams with first-class training facilities which will benefit their growth as players as well serving many others who use the centre.
The announcement coincided with a visit from an FAI delegation on Monday morning who commenced their week-long stay in Sligo by making Merville the first of 20 local clubs they would visit ahead of Saturday’s AGM in the Clarion Hotel.
Representing the FAI were CEO John Delaney, FAI President Tony Fitzgerald, U21 coach Noel King, Aine O’Gorman from the Senior Women’s team, former international Ray Houghton, FAI development officer and Sligo Rovers player John Russell and Longford Town’s Gary Shaw.
Out on the Merville pitch the FAI delegation were treated to exhibition matches by many of Merville United’s players with Ray Houghton, Aine O’Gorman and Gary Shaw all getting involved.
The football club has thanked the role played by the Merville Community Centre’s management committee and staff in supporting the project to date.
Craft designers from around the North West have come together in an exciting new creative venture launched the weekend before last at the Lissadell House, Country and Garden Show.
The Wild Atlantic Butterfly Crafts and Music Store is the brainchild of marketing company ‘Business Irish’ who have teamed up with Lissadell House.
They are showcasing some of the best of design from the region. International and local visitors can drop in for free, browse and have a colourful array of local craft to choose from as gifts or souvenirs.
It is hoped that tourists will be able to incorporate a trip to the craft and music store after they have experienced the magnificent Lissadell House and alpine gardens.
Visitors to the store in Lissadell will also be treated to music from local trad and folk musicians who will be playing daily at 12, 2pm and 4pm.
There is even promises of some big name artists set to drop by to join the sessions. The craft and music store also intend to conduct a number of events during the Summer including outdoor adventure and creative workshops with children.
They are set to work in partnership with ‘Lissadell Adventure’ headed by Jarlath Gantley.
“We are very excited at this opportunity to share local Irish craft and proud to do it in what is a jewel of a setting in Lissadell House,” said Valerie Irwin, Project Manager.
“Visitors and locals alike will be able to drop by and buy something and grab a coffee in the local tearoom too.
“I am also personally really looking forward to working on the children’s workshops and at the moment I am organising them with Lissadell Adventure.”
The craft shop will be open throughout the Summer until the end of September.
There is always pressure with performing on stage.
When you are performing something which has won Oscars along with a whole catalogue of other awards, no doubt that pressure is doubled.
ROCKING OUT: Pictured (centre, holding guitar) is Sligo actor Bob Kelly who stars in the stage production of ‘Once’. Picture by Patrick Redmond.
For Sligo’s very own Bob Kelly, the role of Eamon in the stage production of ‘Once’, made famous by the 2007 Oscar winning film starring Glen Hansard, he takes it in his stride.
Speaking to the Sligo Weekender this week, the Knocknashee native, spoke of how he cut his teeth in the acting world.
“It was my involvement in Sligo Youth Theatre in 1998/1999 that made me want to become an actor. The Arts Office, together with Blue Raincoat were getting kids in to teach them the acting basics and how to do shows and that is how I got involved. I caught the bug from there with people like Nial Henry and Bernie Meehan who were very supportive and thought that this was the life for me.”
For the role in Once, Bob explains how he got the part.
“The role of Eamon is not a very complex role. The story of Once is essentially about a boy and a girl and everyone else is in the background. With this piece, even though Eamon comes towards the end, you are on stage performing music all the time. The difficulty for me is not in the acting part of the show but in the music and getting that technically right and getting the musicianship up to scratch,” Bob commented.
Although the switch between disciplines of music and then acting could be difficult for some, the blend and story telling of the music in “Once” is something which Eamon feels is not difficult.
“I think it [the music] would be difficult in another show. In this show, like in the film, it makes perfect sense. The music is very integrated into the story and they don’t just break into song for no reason. The music comes out of the story. The characters play and music is very much a part of the story.”
The play has done the rounds in London, Broadway, Korea and other parts of the globe. Bob was due to take up the role in the West End, however, other commitments meant he could not take the part until it came to Dublin’s Olympia this month.
“This is my first involvement. I auditioned for it back in the West End and was offered the role, but unfortunately things took a turn and I was not able to take the role. It was a Godsent when it was coming to Dublin and for me to have another shot at it.”
It will be busy in the months ahead for Bob. Following the last performance of “Once” in late August, his sights will turn to a short film which will appear on RTÉ.
“As an actor you take what comes along so I am always on the go with different things. I have been branching out a little bit more into writing and I have made a short film for RTÉ which will hopefully make it onto screens in October or November. We have just wrapped on that in the last month.
“I also do a lot of work with Blue Raincoat in Sligo as well. Following ‘Once’, I have a residency in the Hawk’s Well this year and we will be using that to get more projects that are connected to Sligo with Sligo history involved in a big way. There is a lot of writing coming up on my part,” Bob said.
For the opening night of Once, although the film and other stage productions of the play have made it famous worldwide, Bob is not nervous about what lies ahead when it takes to the stage.
“There are a number of elements working against it [the nerves]. When you have capable lead actors, the storytelling is in good hands and the musicianship is brilliant. Also we have had a number of previews so by the time we open we have had a few of those under our belt. So a lot of nervousness is gone out of it. Also the fact that there is music involved possibly makes you a little bit nervous of that, more so than the acting.”
For those who go along to the show early, as part of the set design there is a working bar which will also help to take some of the edge.
“Once” opened on Tuesday, July 14 and will run until August 22. For details on booking and tickets see www.oncemusical.ie or www.ticketmaster.ie, or call the Olympia Theatre in Dublin on 01-6793323.
‘Old Flames’ returns to the Hawk’s Well on Monday July 27 (at 7.30pm) during the Tread Softly festival. Old Flames features new work from writer Brian Leyden.
SHOW: Writer Brian Leyden (left) and musician Seamie O’Dowd present a free event in the Hawk’s Well on July 27 entitled ‘Old Flame’.
This event was commissioned for Bealtaine2015 by Sligo Arts Services and the Hawk’s Well Theatre, with funding from Sligo County Council, HSE West and the Arts Council of Ireland.
Old Flames blends stories and music in a fond look at romance and courtship, house-dances, dowries and matchmaking as recollected by an earlier generation.
This show will light up a few fond memories and maybe even rekindle a romantic fire or two. Brian will be joined on stage by musician Seamie O’Dowd.
Previous Bealtaine commissions by the Hawk’s Well Theatre and Sligo Arts Service have included the hugely successful ‘The Man in the Woman’s Shoes’ (2012), ‘The Poetry of Place’ by Steve Wickham (2013) and ‘Songs from Home’ with Colm O’Donnell (2014).
Brian Leyden has published the bestselling memoir The Home Place, the short story collection Departures and the novel Death and Plenty.
He won the RTÉ Radio 1 Francis MacManus Short Story Award in 1988 for ‘The Last Mining Village’. He has written extensively about his home area for RTÉ’s Sunday Miscellany.
His radio documentary work includes No Meadows in Manhattan, Even the Walls Were Sweatin’, The Closing of the Gaiety Cinema in Carrick-on-Shannon and An Irish Station Mass. He received an Arts Council Literary Bursary in 2014. His most recent work is Sweet Old World: New and Selected Stories (2015).
This production is free but booking is recommended through the Hawk’s Well Box Office on 071-9161518.
The Sligo Jazz Festival was officially launched in Hargadon’s this week.
Patrick Gilbert, Eddie Lee, Sinead Conway and Stephen Kohlman who performed on the Sligo Jazz Festival Programme launch.
The Festival programme get’s under way on Tuesday, July 21 with a perfomance from world music star Dhafer Youssef’s highly acclaimed Birds Requim Quartet in the Hawk’s Well Theatre.
For more information on Dhafer Youssef’s concert and photos from the Hargadon’s launch, see this week’s Sligo Weekender newspaper. In shops now.
Sligo, the home of Irish surfing, is to host the influential Surf Summit, which takes place after this year’s Web Summit in Dublin’s RDS.
SURF CAPITAL: Sligo will play host to the lucrative Surf Summit this year which will bring together hundreds of potential investors to Sligo from the tech world.
Yesterday, Wednesday, it was announced that the event will take place in Sligo between November 6-8, 2015.
Surf Summit will take place straight after the Web Summit with hundreds of tech investors, startups, entrepreneurs and industry enthusiasts travelling to Sligo to do business and sample a range of outdoor activities which will include surfing, kayaking and kite surfing.
For the full story, pick up a copy of today’s Sligo Weekender newspaper. In shops now.
The final cost of the visit by Princes Charles to Sligo in May is now likely to be just short of €400,000 and there is doubt as to whether any help with the bill will be forthcoming from central government.
But when the cost was revealed at a meeting of Sligo County Council on Monday, councillors were in the main supportive of the view of CEO Ciaran Hayes that it was money that had to be spent and was well spent in terms of the promotion of Sligo.
The only real exception was Councillor Declan Bree who said he was “shocked” and felt that it was “over the top”.
However, the CEO outlined the international impact of the visit and the opportunity it presented to build on for Sligo.
He said the amount of people already following the route of the royal couple was “phenomenal”.
He said that anecdotal evidence suggested significant increases in coach tours, with more of them staying and spending around Sligo and he said there were occasions when Lissadell had difficulty dealing with the amount of coach tours.
Mr Hayes said the hospitality sector had also reported trade was up.
The CEO outlined the impact on numbers visiting The Model. In 2013 it had 77,750 visitors, last year it was 113,445 but this year up the end of June it was already 69,654 and if it continued at the present level would end up at 130,000-140,000 for the year.
He said that there had also been a “very positive advance” in terms of Anglo-Irish relations and he said it had “allowed Sligo to move on from the events of 1979”.
The CEO acnowledged that in normal circumstances councils agree budgets prior to undertaking works or projects but he said the royal visit was not normal and was “an extrordinary opportunity” and he said they had less than a month’s notice with some things changing right up to the visit.
He said that recently the Department of the Environment had advised a deputation of councillors that it did not have “a budget line” for the visit but he said that neither did the council.
“The options for the council were to seize the opportunity for Sligo or relinquish the opportunity having regard to financial issues. I don’t think we could have afforded to do that and no one would have thanked us if we did”, he said.
He said they would be submitting an application for funding to the Department of the Environment this week but he did not know what the response would be.
Mr Hayes said that they now had to look at how Sligo positioned itself to take advantage of the visit and develope strategies to build on its legacy.
The details of spending on the visit of Prince Charles by Sligo County Council were:
€175,000 Road strengthening
€53,000 Wages and salaries
€51,500 Maintence and repairs at The Model and accommodation for media
€29,000 Landscaping, grass and hedge cutting
€17,000 Street sweeping, road marking, etc
€15,000 Fencing at Model
€13,000 Footpath improvments (The Mall and Mullaghmore)
€13,000 CCTV
€10,000 ICT costs
€7,500 Professional fees, including training and bus hire
€5,500 Printing, stationary, hire of marquees and portaloo
A Sligo illustrator is fulfilling a childhood dream by designing official artwork for one of his sporting idols.
WALL OF ART: Dan Leydon pictured in front of some of his illustrations.
Strandhill-based designer and artist Dan Leydon has been commissioned by US soccer team LA Galaxy to provide official social media artwork ahead of Steven Gerrard’s transfer from Liverpool to Galaxy and his highly-anticipated debut for the club later this month.
“I’ve worked with them [LA Galaxy] in the past, designing a match-day poster featuring Robbie Keane,” Dan told the Sligo Weekender this week.
“It’s a happy outcome for me as I’ve always been a Liverpool fan and to get the chance to provide official artwork in Stevie G’s only ever transfer is mental, to be frank.
“I still can’t believe I can make something in my office in Strandhill that will be consumed globally and have such a direct connection to a sporting hero. I love my job and am really lucky to be doing something I love.”
The 28-year-old studied Industrial Design at IT Sligo and developed a very recognisable style of illustration which has brought him to international attention.
“Over the last few years I’ve exhibited my work in New York and London whilst also attracting a diverse client list. Internationally the likes of Nike, ESPN, Bleacher Report and KICKTV have commissioned me on multiple occasions.
“Closer to home I’ve worked for Setanta Sports, Prozone and Aviva, as well as having my work featured by the Guardian and The Telegraph.”
Dan still has plenty of goals for his illustration business, but the sky’s not just the limit. “My over arching aim remains to have my artwork included on a NASA vessel to Mars (planet negotiable) as an example of what culture Sligo has to offer.”
You can see Dan’s illustrations on his official website (www.danleydon.com) or on his Instagram (danleydon). And you can also buy some of his canvases and prints at etsy.com/shop/footynews
There was an increase in crimes of violence in the Sligo-Leitrim garda division in the 12 months covered by the latest crime figures.
The latest statistics published by the Central Statistics Office cover up to the end of the first quarter of this year (the end of March).
The figures for the 12 months from the end of the March 2014 to the end of March this year show increases in sex offences, assaults, robberies and damage to property.
The number of sex offences jumped from 27 to 40, assaults causing harm from 39 to 59 and other assaults rose from 162 to 191.
Robberies (thefts with violence or threats of violence) went up from 8 to 15 and there was an increase in burglaries (break-ins) from 314 to 365.
The number of cases of damage to property rose from 485 to 535, with arson offences rising from 57 to 65.
Also up was the number of drivers caught for drink driving, with the figures up from 11 to 147.
However, the statistics showed decreases in other categories.
Thefts other than robberies and burglaries (such as shop lifting, stealing of or from vehicles, etc) were down from 909 to 758.
Cases of fraud and deception showed a fall from 92 to 74.
Also down were public order offences, from 711 to 649 and the number of people caught with illegal drugs, down from 203 to 181.
The CSO pointed out that it had suspended the publication of crime figures following the publication of the Garda Inspectorate report Crime Investigation in November 2014 which showed irregularities in the way in which crimes were recorded by gardai on PULSE (Police Using Leading Systems Effectively).
It said their decision to resume publication “follows the completion of a comprehensive review of the quality of Garda crime administrative data on PULSE”.
They noted that around 18% of crimes reported to gardai in 2011 do not appear to be recorded on PULSE, around 3% of crimes recorded in PULSE in 2011 have been incorrectly classified and some 7% of incidents classified to Attention and Complaints in 2011 (a non-crime category) should have been classified as a crime.
Matt Jones, a woodturner based in Riverstown, Co, Sligo has been selected for the RDS National Craft Awards Exhibition with his piece entitled Hermit Form I, II and III.
CRAFT: Woodturner Matt Jones at work in his studio in Riverstown.
This will be Matt’s second time to be included in these national awards, having also been successful in 2013.
Matt is one of fifteen makers involved in the Made in Sligo Craft Trail, set up as an additional attraction for tourists visiting County Sligo and as a mechanism for makers to engage with customers.
The annual RDS National Craft Awards, established in 1968, was set up to showcase and reward excellence in Irish craft.
“It is great to be successful again this year” said Matt. “It is a real challenge to meet the high standards of this competition and it is a culmination of many months of work.
“The Hermit Forms are reminiscent of crustaceous shells and other sea life, inspired by Sligo’s spectacular seashores.” said Matt.
“However the hermit is also a person who lives in seclusion from society which is a reflection on the solitary and devotional nature of craft.”
Each year the winning and commended entries take part in the RDS National Craft Awards Exhibition during the Discover Ireland Dublin Horse Show.
Prior to the opening of the Horse Show, the Exhibition will open to the public free of charge from 10am to 5pm, Tuesday July 28 to Friday July 31, with late opening on Thursday until 7.00pm.
The Exhibition is also open during the 2015 Dublin Horse Show, August 5-9.
The Hamilton Gallery will host a two month-long exhibition featuring the works of eight Sligo-based contemporary visual artists.
Brian Leyden, Bettina Seitz, Ambassador David Cooney, Nuala Clarke, Conor Gallagher, Leonora Neary, Cormac O’Leary, Kate Mac Donagh
‘Of This Place’, which opened on Thursday last, is being run as part of the year-long celebrations of the 150th Anniversary of the birth of William Butler Yeats.
The artists showcasing their talents were inspired by the same landscape as the famous poet and recently saw their work on display at the El Ateneo in Madrid, hosted by the Yeats Society Madrid and the Irish Embassy.
The event was attended by Irish Ambassador to Spain, Mr David Cooney and his wife, Geraldine O’Kelly who is originally from Sligo.
A catalogue, written by Brian Leyden, will accompany the exhibition where visitors can read about the inspirations for the various pieces on show by each artist.
Nuala Clarke, Conor Gallagher, Cormac O’Leary, Brian McDonagh, Leonard Neary, Kater MacDonagh, Bettina Seitz and Michael Wann are the featured artists for the exhibition. ‘Of This Place’ runs until Monday, August 31.
The Tread Softly festival will present three entertaining and very different events at the end of this month, bookings for which are available right now through the Hawk’s Well Theatre.
FIDDLE: The Kane Sisters, Yvonne and Liz, will play at the Hawk’s Well on July 20.
Kicking things off is the Storytelling event “Legend” in the theatre on Tuesday, July 28. Admission is just €5. The doors open at 8.30pm and storytelling gets underway at 9pm.
“Legend” is an open mic storytelling night. The public are invited to join in alongside some special guests including the spellbinding Neil Horgan.
The theme, inspired by the Tread Softly festival, is Love. Bring yourself and your story along, put your name in the hat and cross your fingers and toes. The only thing worse than getting up, is not getting up.
All are welcome; born raconteurs, those who want to test their mettle, actors, musicians, performers and anyone who likes a good night out.
Let the seeds of your story start to perculate now. You can visit the theatre website (www.hawkswell.com) to avail of some storytelling tips. Contributors should aim for roughly five minutes of storytelling.
On Thursday, July 30, the Hawk’s Well will play host to not one set of siblings, but two. The Kane Sisters and the Hayden Brothers will perform from 8pm. Admission is €18 (€15 concession) and a special price of €9 for those under 18.
There’s nothing quite like the intense musical understanding of family members who draw from the same well of inspiration.
What better siblings to celebrate the concept of ‘two peas in a musical pod’ than Liz and Yvonne Kane from Connemara, and Cathal and Steven Hayden from Pomeroy.
Fiddlers all, these sisters and brothers have wonderfully different fiddling styles and are accompanied by John Blake and Seamie O’Dowd respectively.
Traditional Irish fiddle-playing sisters, Liz and Yvonne Kane, are from Letterfrack, Connemara, Co. Galway. They released their third album Side by Side in July 2010. They released their debut album The Well-Tempered Bow in 2002 followed in 2004 by Under the Diamond.
Cathal and Steven Hayden grew up in Pomeroy, Co Tyrone, an area immersed in traditional music. From a musical family they have the tunes in their blood.
Cathal played with Arcady and is a founding member of Found Men and a Dog with whom both of the brothers now play. They are currently recording an album.
On the last day of July, Friday 31, at 8pm Tabby Callaghan, backed by a band of superb local musicians led by Kieran Quinn, will deliver a night of the smoothest music around.
“Swing Sligo” reignites the Swing era which dominated American music, dance and fashion for a decade from the mid 30s. Bringing the big band sound back to life, Tabby will be at his smooth, swaggering, show-stopping best. Tickets cost €18 (€15 concession) and a special price of €9 for those under 18.
Tickets for all these shows can be booked through the theatre box office on 071-9161518 or online at www.hawkswell.com
