The Dunnes Stores workers have demonstrated real leadership to every low-paid worker in the country, a demonstration in Sligo on Friday evening was told.
Sligo athlete putts with golfing hero
The Team Ireland golfers competing at this summer’s Special Olympics in Los Angeles receieved a major boost to their preparations when they attended the Irish Open at the weekend.
Yeats-inspired garden wows President and public at Bloom
Sligo gardener Lorely Forrester wins Gold Medal at Bloom 2015. Two other Sligo winners as well.
Hospice sunflower fundraising starts today, Thursday
Spread some sunshine and wear your Sunflower for North West Hospice Sunflower Days in aid of North West Hospice get underway today, Thursday, June 4, and continue right through to Saturday.
Druid bring their Bard production to Hawk’s Well
All in one over two days:
DruidShakespeare comes to the Hawk’s Well Theatre from Tuesday, June 9 to Saturday, June 13 inclusive.
Given that it is over five hours in duration, Druid and the Hawk’s Well have decided to offer the unique opportunity to see the play solit over two nights or all in one performance.
Part One is staged on Tuesday, June 9 at 7.30pm. Part Two will be on Wednesday, June 10 at 7.30pm.
The production will then be produced in its entirety on Friday, June 12 from 5pm and on Saturday, June 13 from 2pm.
There will be two intervals in the full-length performance, bringing the full event to six hours in lenght.
Tickets for the individual parts are priced at €30 (26 conc) each. Tickets for the Friday and Saturday runs are €60 (€52) each.
You can book them through the Hakw’s Well box office on 0719161518 or online at www.hawkswell.com.
For an interview with Director Gary Hynes see a copy of this week’s paper- in shops now.
Blue Raincoat present a summer of Yeats plays
Blue Raincoat Theatre Company will present 60 performances and events in Sligo this summer, running from June 21 to August 8.
Casserly says North West is “worth fighting for”
North Sligo independent councillor Marie Casserly will formally launch her bid to be elected to Dail Eireann in Barry’s in Grange on Sunday night.
Explaining her decision to go for one of the four seats in the new Sligo-Leitrim constituency in the next election, she said she felt it was “the next natural step” for her.
“The north west needs an independent voice to shout for it in Leinster House.
“If I’m lucky enough to be elected I will shout for the north west and I will keep shouting for it.”
Cllr Casserly, who was elected to Sligo County Council for the first time last year, believes that the region is not getting what it deserves in terms of investment.
“There have been lots of promises, but I think it is time we started demanding more and focusing more attention on this region”, she said.
She said that there were a lot of people working very hard at community level throughout the region and she believed there was a lot of potential in the north west, which she felt “passionately” about.
But she felt there was a huge gap between what was being done on the ground and what was happening at national level.
“Sometimes it feels like we are in a parallel universe.
“People are working very hard but they are getting very little help”, she said.
A post-primary teacher at St Mary’s College in Ballisodare, she said that she realised that she would also have to work on national issues such as education and health.
But she said that she would be “unashamedly promoting the north west”.
As to her chances of being elected, she said that independents were doing very well in the opinion polls.
“I think people are crying out for change” she said and acknowledged that it was going to take “a lot of hard work”.
“I am more than happy to take that on as I feel the end result will be worth it,” she added.
She said the north west was “worth fighting for”.
“That is what we need to do to keep jobs here and to keep our kids in our communities.”
Strong criticism of summer closures to Sligo libraries
There has been strong criticism of the announcement that the three full-time libraries in the county will face a series of temporary closures, of up to almost three weeks.
Sligo County Council has said that it is facing “a short term problem in staffing its branch libraries”.
The council say that due to the severe staff shortage, there will be a series of limited, temporary closures which will impact on all of the full-time branch libraries in Sligo town, Tubberycurry and Ballymote.
“In order to keep all libraries open with the restricted staffing numbers available, it may be necessary to redeploy existing library staff to the various branches with the result that some branches may not have sufficient staff for short periods”, a council statement said.
Council Chief Executive Ciaran Hayes was keen to emphasise that “this should not in any way be interpreted as being an indication of the Council’s intention to close any library”.
“The fact is that the measure is being taken in the short term in order to keep our libraries open.
“This issue is under ongoing review in the context of the Council’s Financial Plan and the Workforce Planning process, and we are continually engaging with the staff and their trade unions to achieve a resolution that will meet the needs of our customers and will be achievable in terms of staffing requirements”, Mr Hayes said.
However, Councillor Declan Bree said that the decision “will set off alarm bells for all those who support the public library service.”
Referring to a statement to the media from the Chief Executive of the Council that the measure is being taken in the short term in order to keep our libraries open, he said: “I am at a loss to understand how you can close libraries in order to keep them open.
“The reality is that the management of the County Council has been aware for some time that the issue of resources for the library service needed to be addressed. The staffing levels and resources provided to the library service in county Sligo is well below the national average and the reality is that the service in Sligo is the Cinderella service of the County Council”, he said.
And Councillor Margaret Gormley said she feared that “this is the thin end of the wedge, that they will close on a temporary basis for a start and then come with the final blow.”
She was also disappointed that they were starting in South Sligo, which she said “proves my point the rural areas are not getting fair play. We are discriminated against once again”.
The Independent councillor said that while she fully agreed the staff were entitled to holidays, she didn’t accept that they had to close down the service.
Cllr Gormley called on all TDs and Senators for the area to “do their part to have the Minister address the funding difficulty Sligo County Council finds itself in”. TextThe planned periods of closures for the three full-time libraries in the county are:
Tubbercurry: From Tuesday June 9 to Saturday June 27 inclusive. Open Library will operate its usual hours.
Ballymote: From Tuesday July 14 to Friday July 31 inclusive.
Sligo Central Library: From Tuesday August 11 to Saturday August 29 inclusive.
Wedding plans in Kathryn’s future following Yes result
Delight, relief and excitement followed the announcement of the marriage referendum result for Sligo-based student Kathryn Nea.
Kathryn and her partner Amée Dunne are both studying in St Angela’s college in Sligo and were vocal members of the Union of Students in Ireland (USI) ‘YES’ vote campaign.
“We are absolutely over the moon. It still hasn’t fully sunk in yet but we are really delighted,” Kathryn told the Sligo Weekender.
The simple message of the ‘Yes’ campaign to pare down the issue to a vote for equality was something that Kathryn felt swung the vote.
“I have always felt that everyone is equal and everyone should have the same rights as everyone else. It [Yes to Equality] really highlighted the campaign and showed during the campaign that we were not all equal,” Kathryn commented.
On Saturday as results came in from around the country, Kathryn admitted that she had for the first time begun to feel she was equal to others in heterosexual relationships.
“When the tallies started to come in I felt something within me for the first time which was that I was really equal. I felt that the people of Ireland had come together for an equality issue and that is what swung their decision when they went into the vote on Friday. On Saturday I felt I could walk with my head held high and it was an amazing feeling. Equality was a massive, massive component of that.” Although all the major political parties were encouraging a Yes vote, for Kathryn, the referendum on same sex marriage transcended party politics.
“It was not a political issue. I think it was more of a social issue. It was about equal rights and it gave families an opportunity to sit down and talk about equality and in that regard it opened up dialogue between the younger and older generations to speak about it,” she said.
Before last Friday’s vote Kathryn was nervous, however this week she feels that it is time for her and Amée to begin planning for their life together.
“Last week was such an emotional week. We were canvassing and had an amazing response to it. But then last week Amée and I were walking down Mail Coach Road and we seen the posters for the No side and it was difficult to look at some of it,” Kathyrn said.
For Kathryn her attentions will now turn to marrying Amée, whom she hopes to marry in her hometown of Mullingar in September, 2016.
From the Sligo Yes to Equality branch, Chris MacManus was also celebrating:
“Yes Equality Sligo are delighted with the outcome of the referendum, both locally and across the state and want to thank everybody in the County who came out and voted Yes last Friday. We knocked on over ten thousand doors and engaged with many thousands of Sligo people in towns and villages across Sligo.”
Sligo town voted through the referendum with a total of 57.6 percent in favour of Yes to 42.4 in favour of No.
Meanwhile Sligo County carried the referendum with 53.2 in favour of Yes and 46.8 in favour of No.
The overall Sligo results were 54.2 YES, 45.8 NO.
Tubridy brings radio show to Rosses Point
Having visited Strandhill last year, Ryan Tubridy brings his RTE radio show across the bay to Rosses Point on Tuesday, June 9.
Tubridy, who was in Sligo town on Monday of this week in preparation for next month’s visit, will set up his RTE 2fm Roadcaster at County Sligo Golf Club in Rosses Point.
This is just one of a series of outside broadcasts which will see Ryan Tubridy focussing on the Wild Atlantic Way, encouraging Irish holidaymakers to get out and discover the wonders of Ireland’s western seaboard.
The 2FM team have a busy schedule as the popular host broadcasts live from Westport, Co Mayo (Monday, 8 June); Rosses Point in Sligo (Tuesday, 9 June) and Dunfanaghy, Co. Donegal (Wednesday, 10 June) interviewing local tourism businesses from the surrounding area and discussing some of the many activities and experiences available to anyone travelling along the western seaboard.
Fáilte Ireland is encouraging everyone to come out and attend the broadcasts. Eva Dearie from Fáilte Ireland, said: “Spectators coming down to watch the broadcast in Rosses Point can expect to see plenty of festivities including cooking demonstrations and of course plenty of prize giveaways.
The show will broadcast from 8:45-11am on Tuesday, 9 June.
Sligo royal visit could cost €300k to €500k
The royal visit last week could cost Sligo County Council between €300,000 – €500,000 and the government will be asked to foot the bill because of its extraordinary nature.
The council is still calculating what was spent in ensuring that everything was shipshape at all the public venues visited by Princes Charles and his wife on Wednesday week last.
When this is completed the council will be making a submission for funding from central government.
The Council will argue that it treated the event as a separate project rather than as part of it’s annual work programme.
“This was due to the national and international nature of the visit, the significance of the Sligo element to Anglo/Irish relations and the ongoing embedding of the Peace Process”, a council spokesperson said.
“The event was of a size, scale and importance that it required a project management approach rather than inclusion as part of the Council’s annual work programme, which is informed by the financial resources available to it.”
The spokesperson said that the reason that an application for funding had not already been made is a result of the short lead-in time for the event following its announcement by Clarence House.
Council CEO Ciaran Hayes has said that overall spending would be at least €300,000 and could be as high as €500,000.
He also described the money that had been spent as an “investment for Sligo”.
Mr Hayes said that the county should reap the rewards through more tourists.
The costs to the council include landscaping, footpath and road repairs, crowd control barriers amd marquees.
There was also quite a lot of work carried out both outside and inside The Model.
There is also likely to be a bill for overtime for council employees.
Join Eimear McBride in conversation at the Hawk’s Well
Eimear McBride’s debut novel, “A Girl is a Half-Formed Thing” won the coveted Goldsmiths Prize in 2013 and the Baileys Women’s Prize for Fiction in 2014.
Join Eimear for an intimate conversation with Eithne Hand at the Hawk’s Well Theatre on Thursday 11th of June at 5.30pm. This event is free of charge.
You can book your place by calling the Hawk’s Well Theatre Box Office on 071-9161518.
“A Girl Is A Half-formed Thing” was adapted for the stage and directed by Annie Ryan and was the sold-out hit of the 2014 Dublin Theatre Festival featuring award-winning actress Aoife Duffin (Moone Boy) in a career-defining role.
Eimear McBride was born in 1976 in Liverpool to Northern Irish parents. Aged two she and her family returned to Ireland and her childhood was mostly spent in Tubbercurry.
At fourteen they moved again to Castlebar. In 1994, at seventeen, she went to London and spent the next three years studying acting at Drama Centre. Much of her twenties were spent temping and travelling. At twenty-seven she wrote A Girl is a Half-formed Thing. It won the 2013 Goldsmiths Prize, was shortlisted for the 2014 Folio Prize and won the Baileys Women’s Prize for Fiction 2014. She moved to Cork in 2006, and Norwich in 2011, where she currently lives with her husband and daughter. She is working on her second novel.
Eithne Hand is an award winning radio producer and writer. She has written and produced four radio dramas for RTE Radio. Her radio documentary, Voicejazz, won a Prix Italia for Best Work on Music. She was Head of RTE Radio 1 from 2003- 2006. She is the Curator of the First Thought Talks Strand of the Galway Arts Festival and as an independent producer she works with Gay Byrne on his Sunday Jazz programme on RTE Lyric FM. She is the producer with Loco and Reckless Productions of The Man In The Woman’s Shoes by Mikel Murfi. Eithne was a board member at the Hawk’s Well Theatre from 2007 -2014
This event is free of charge. Please call 071 916 1518 to book your place.
