THE Sligo-Leitrim Garda Youth Achievement Awards were held for the sixth consecutive year in the Glasshouse this week.

The awards, which were spread across four categories – the Judge’s Awards, District Awards, Group Award and Overall Winner – are sponsored by the Sligo Credit Union and promote volunteering and achievement in youths from the Sligo-Leitrim Districts.

In attendance were the winners along with friends and parents, members of An Garda Siochana involved in community policing, Chief Superintendent Aidan Glacken, Barry O’Flynn from Sligo Credit Union and the Caitheoirleachs of both Sligo and Leitrim County Councils- Cllr Seamus Kilgannon and Cllr Finola Amrstrong-McGuire.

“There is an awful lot of work that is done in communities which is not seen as glamorous or is recognised. It is important for us to take stock and recognise this work and achievement by so many people in communities to make the place they live a better place,” the Chief Superintendent said.

For more coverage from the ceremony, see this week’s Sligo Weekender for our two page feature – in shops now!

Alternatively, you can purchase an online edition here

A Sligo man is at the centre of the row this week over the government’s Strategic Communications Unit, which has been described by a fellow Sligo man as “Leo The Vain’s Unit”.

John Concannon, originally from Sligo town, is the Director of the unit which was set up by Taoiseach Leo Varadkar to streamline government communications and make it more efficient.

However, TDs from across different opposition parties have called for the disbandment of the unit and Deputy Pearse Doherty of Sinn Féin has called for John Concannon along with the Taoiseach and the Secretary General of the Department of the Taoiseach to appear before the Public Accounts Committee to answer questions on what he described as “the government’s vanity project.”

Sligo-Leitrim TD Marc MacSharry from Fianna Fáil was also damning this week in his view of the Strategic Communications Unit.

In the Dail on Tuesday, he labelled it “The Leo the Vain unit.”

For more on this story, see this week’s Sligo Weekender newspaper – in shops now.

Alternatively, you can purchase an online edition here

By Alan Finn

Since Sligo Rovers’ inception there has been a plethora of Scouse players who represented the club.

Dixie Dean, Chris Butler, Chris Rutherford and John Dillon are just a few – but it could be argued that no Merseyside native left their mark on The Bit O’Red quite like Danny Ventre.
SW Body: Ventre spent seven successful seasons at The Showgrounds from 2007 to 2013, joining the club from Accrington Stanley, a club where a certain Rovers manager was a teammate of the midfielder.

“Paul Cook had a big influence on my move here, I played with Paul at Accrington but he was coming to the end of his career and I was just starting mine. He invited me over for a game in Dublin, we played Shamrock Rovers in Tolka Park and after just coming over to have a look to see what it was like I ended up staying for seven years.”

During Ventre’s time at the club, Rovers were quickly turning a lot of heads with their style, which saw Rovers steadily climb closer and closer towards silverware.

“It took a couple of years for us to settle, but you could always see the style of football Cookie was prepared to play and the type of players he was bringing in was only going to push us on in terms of winning cups and the league. There was a natural progression with us, we went from third, to second to winning the league while also playing in a good few finals. You knew all of this was coming because the calibre of signings just kept getting better and better and it was just a great time to be involved.”

For the full interview with Danny Ventre, see this week’s edition of the Sligo Weekender newspaper – in shops now!

Or you can purchase the online edition by visiting https://www.magzter.com/IE/Datascope-LTD/Sligo-Weekender/News/