A critical inspection report on a Sligo primary school has highlighted the dramatic fall in pupil numbers and the poor attendance rate.
Pick up a copy of today’s Sligo Weekender newspaper for more details.
Library service plan is opposed
A plan to amalgamate the library services in Sligo, Leitrim and Roscommon was opposed by councillors at a meeting of Sligo County Council on Monday.
Sinn Fein councillors Sean MacManus and Thomas Healy proposed that the council call for the “abolition” of the current proposals to amalgamate the three services.
They called for the County Sligo Library Service to be “maintained and protected as a local service for the people of Co. Sligo, provided by Sligo County Council”.
Cllr MacManus said they were “extremely concerned” with the proposal amalgamation.
“This is not just a Sinn Fein concern but is shared by many others including workers in the Library Service and their union IMPACT.
He said members working the service “have a genuine worry that these proposals will result in a loss of library services for the counties concerned”.
Cllr MacManus said: “In light of the quality of the library service currently being delivered it is incomprehensible why a proposal to amalgamate Sligo, Leitrim and Roscommon is now being pushed forward.”
He said that those behind this move had not set out any rationale for these proposals or indicated any potential savings which may be achieved.
“Indeed no discussions or consultations have taken place with the workers involved or with their trade union IMPACT”, he said.
Cllr Healy said there was also concern that the travelling service which went to rural schools would affected.
Concerns about the future of the library services was also expressed by Councillors Declan Bree, Marie Casserly, Jerry Lundy, Sinead Maguire, Margaret Gormley and Seamus O’Boyle and the motion from the two Sinn Fein councillors was adopted.
Abandoned foal given second ‘chance’ by ISPCA
A badly treated horse foal has been rescued by the ISPCA in Sligo.
The foal, who was given the name ‘Chance’, was recovered from the Clarion Road after reports of abondonment and neglect were made to the ISPCA.
The foal was suffering extensive wounds on both sides of the neck, which it is thought were over a week old, were only centimetres from the vertebrae in his neck.
It is hoped that the vertebrae will not become infected but he has a long road to recovery ahead.
Karen Lyons, an inspector from the ISPCA, described to the Sligo Weekender what state Chance was in when she came upon him.
“He was very, very weak and he had no head collar. In the holes there was swelling and a bad smell so we removed him from the area immediately,” she said.
The wounds to Chance are extensive, however, Karen said that he is “flying and recovering really well.”
The hope is to now find a home for the 7 month old foal. Chance was not micro-chipped and local enquires have not revealed an owner or what happened to cause such horrific injuries.
Anybody with any information is asked to contact the ISPCA’s National Animal Helpline in confidence on 1890 515 515.
Tierney’s pride in award-winning venue
Brendan Tierney is “delighted and proud” of the national recognition that 5th on Teeling has received this week.
Tierney is the current Marketing and Events Manager for the venue which was recognised at the Irish Music Rights Organisation (IMRO) awards in Dublin on Tuesday night.
“I’m delighted and proud of the venue, although I am still a bit shocked to have accepted an award,” Mr Tierney said.
“I went to the awards night to mingle and meet a few people and then next thing they call out our name for a special commendation award.”
“This is basically in recognition of our contribution to the live music scene in the North West and all the work we have put in to it in the last couple of years.”
5th on Teeling was nominated for a top accolade recognising Ireland’s favourite music venue, going toe to toe with some of the most widely known names in the country.
“We were nominated alongside some of the elite venues in the country like Whelan’s, Roisin Dubh and The 3 Arena which won the main award on the night, so to even be in the same company as them was brilliant in itself but to come away with something like this that recognises 5th on Teeling and Sligo is brilliant.”
Since it’s official opening in May 2012, the venue has hosted renowned acts such as Wheatus and The Strypes and Brendan and the rest of the team at 5th are working tirelessly to prepare more exciting gigs for 2015.
“Our next big night will be March 7 when we will have a trio of acts playing. It will be a mix of local and national talent and I am really looking forward to that.
We are always looking for acts and we have a few big ones on the way in the coming months, it is just a case of announcing them in due course and getting everything ready.”
Swell Summit ‘takes off’ at Sligo Airport
The ‘sold-out’ sign went up early on the Swell Summit held in Sligo Airport in Strandhill on Saturday last.
A venue which used to welcome visitors to the North West, did so once more, even if this time the visitors arrived by land, not by air.
And the Sligo audiences were inspired by a day of presentations, workshops and fun networking as digital marketing experts from Google, the founder of the world’s biggest surf forecast website and best-selling WB Yeats illustrator Annie West spoke about their specialities.
They were among the lineup of speakers at the unique seaside event for tech and media firms, creatives and start-ups.
Organiser of the event Aoife Porter said “Sligo’s chest has definitely puffed out a little from our conference in an airport beside the sea. Hopefully this is just the beginning and anybody who was there will get to say ‘I was at the first Swell Summit’.”
Shona Heffernan of Sligo LEADER Partnership, funders of Swell Sligo, said they hope the event and its spectacular location will help to enable the start-up, tech and creative communities in Sligo.
Among the local speakers were entrepreneurs George Mullan of SIS Group and Mark Walton of VOYA, former 02 marketing chief Damian Devaney and David Kenny of US online retailer Overstock whose development team is located in IT Sligo’s Innovation Centre.
Star of the show was the venue; Sligo Airport and its stunning backdrop provided the perfect talking point for the creative event.
Swell Sligo is funded by Sligo LEADER Partnership under the LEADER Rural Development Programme.
If you didn’t get a chance to attend this time, make sure to visit www.swellsligo.com for future updates, or follow the hashtag #swellsummit
Fresh prince Neil takes new tour to Sligo
Offaly comedian Neil Delamere spoke to the Sligo Weekender’s Luke Henderson about loving Sligo, gigging in Ireland and being heckled by Weekender editor Robert Cullen.
See the Entertainment section of today’s Sligo Weekender newspaper for the full interview.
Group play trad with a twist
Irish traditional music can get lost in the mix of our modern society, with new pop music out every day, so when something extraordinary in the world of trad music comes along, it should be celebrated.
This Is How We Fly is a Irish traditional band with a twist of contemporary influences. The four-member band brings a new life to Irish traditional music, each member different in his own way.
This Is How We Fly perform in The Model on Sunday, February 15 at 6pm (note the early evening start time).
Members of This Is How We Fly include Caoimhin O Raghallaigh (fiddle and hardanger fiddle), Sean Mac Erlaine (Clarinets and live electronics), Nic Gareiss (percussive dance) and Petter Berndalen (drums and percussion) who all bring their own vibe to the group, each of them coming from different backgrounds and music traditions.
The group includes three different nationalities too – Irish, Swedish and Appalachian.
Old music in a new environment is certainly something to check out.
Tickets are on sale from The Model box office on 071-9141405 or online at www.themodel.ie for €16 (€12 concession or €8 for under 18s) for their performance in The Model on February 15 at 6pm.
New Mayor of Tubbercurry crowned
THE new mayor of Tubbercurry assumed office this week.
Pat Kilcoyne has taken the crown of mayor following on from the Tubbercurry’s last mayor, the late Joe Masterson.
The mayoral election in Tubbercurry was held to raise funds and make improvements to GAA facilities in the town, with all the money raised from events organised by those in the mayoral race going back into Tubbercurry GAA club.
Speaking to the Sligo Weekender following on from his victory, Pat Kilcoyne talked of his delight.
“Joe Masterson, a good GAA man, was the last mayor so there is a bit of prestige to it. To be honest it is all about fundraising for the club. I raised a bit more money than everyone else and that it how I ended up mayor,” Pat said.
The penultimate night of the mayoral election was held in Killoran’s Lounge in Tubbercurry last weekend, with much anticipation from those gathered to find out who would take up the mayor’s office.
“There was a bit of craic about it and everyone wanted to find out who raised the most money. We had a table quiz on the night and had 22 tables so it was well supported, as were the other events that were ran so it was great fun on the night and they announced me as the winner and put a chain around my neck and it makes feel you important on the night,” Pat said.
Gracious in victory, Tubbercurry’s new mayor was quick to praise his fellow contestants in the mayoral race.
“Fair play to all the contestants. Michelle O’Hara, Paddy ‘Axel’ Foely, Stephen Gilmartin and John Murphy. We had all sorts of different events on from pool competitions to table quizzes to concerts and plays.
All the events were well supported by the local community and everyone bought into it,” Pat commented.
There was over €30,000 raised over the course of the Tubbercurry Mayoral election.
The funds raised will be used to repair the stand at Kilcoyne Park and make further developments to Tubbercurry GAA Club.
Susan McCann brings festival to Sligo
She toured nursing homes in County Sligo last week to meet, greet and entertain the residents and returned to her base in County Down, leaving behind many happy people, who enjoyed her singing of songs, with which they could identify.
Now, Ireland’s First Lady of Irish and Country Music, Susan McCann, is all set to storm Sligo when she takes her first ever Susan McCann Country Music Festival to the Sligo Park Hotel for a weekend of music, song, dance and lots of nostalgia.
The three-night event kicks off on this Friday night and continues non-stop to the early hours of Monday morning. It will be music to suit all tastes with 4 hours of cabaret and dancing nightly and a social dancing jamboree on Sunday afternoon which should suit GAA followers from the Sligo v Fermanagh game at Markievicz Park.
Friday Night sees Susan welcome the legendary Margo to the Yeats County as her “special guest” and join her on stage with Country Harmony and one of Sligo’s best known entertainers, Tony Marren and new singing sensation from County Tyrone, Cliona Hagan.
Saturday Night it’s Susan, “Queen of Country”, Philomena Begley, Country Harmony, Tubbercurry’s Kieran Lundy , who performs a widely acclaimed “Tribute to Jim Reeves” Show and Cliona Hagan.
Sunday Afternoon (4 – 7 pm) social dancing takes over with the very popular T R Dallas and some “surprise” guests. The curtain comes down on this spectacular event on Sunday Night when once more Susan introduces the cream of country music on stage to join her in another 4 hours of superb entertainment.
Former Eurovision star, Muriel Day is making her first Sligo stage appearance in about 30 years and judging by the reaction from her performance in Westport last April, everyone is in for a real treat.
Susan and Muriel will be joined by UTV presenter and singer Hugo Duncan, Country Harmony and Cliona Hagan.
This weekend long festival is expected to be one of the most popular musical events ever held in the city and due to the huge interest it has generated, all bedrooms at the Sligo Park Hotel are completely booked out and other local hotels reporting brisk business.
A limited number of show tickets will be available at the door nightly, priced at only €20 each for 4 hour shows.
Ocean FM will be broadcasting from the hotel from 11am to 2 pm on Saturday with popular presenter, Paschal Mooney and Irish TV will capture the action over the weekend. Enquiries Tel 094-9255000.
Sligo actress in ‘Red Rock’
Sligo actress Elva Trill is set to feature in next week’s episode of the hit TV3 drama “Red Rock”, airing on Wednesday, February 11 at 8.30pm.
The twice-weekly drama series has proven a huge ratings-winner for TV3. It revolves around a garda station caught in the middle of two warring families in a fictional Dublin suburb.
In the episode on February 11, Elva plays damsel in distress Charlene Waters who catches the eye of Garda Sean Holden when her car is stolen.
Elva, who hails from Ballymote in Sligo, but now lives in Dublin, plays damsel in distress, Charlene Waters. She catches the eye of Garda Sean Holden (David Crowley) when her car is stolen and he shows up at the scene with fellow officer Adrijan Kosos (Boyko Krastanov).
While Sean is busy working on his chat up lines, we discover that the Charlene is hiding a big secret.
And the Sligo actress will also be on the big screen before the year is out, because she has just been cast in the feature film ‘The Secret Scripture’ alongside an all-star cast including Rooney Mara, Theo James, Vanessa Redgrave, Eric Bana, Jack Reynor and Tom Vaughan-Lawlor. The film is based on best-selling novel by Sebastian Barry and directed by the legendary Jim Sheridan.
For the full story, including reaction from Elva Trill, see the Sligo Weekender.
