A man has been sentenced today (Thursday) for the theft of an ATM in Tubbercurry in 2014.

Bernard Quigley (43) was convicted of stealing an ATM from the Bank of Ireland in Tubbercurry this week and sentenced to 7 and half years in prison with two years suspended.

He was found guilty of three charges which included criminal damage, theft and possession of a stolen item with the intent to commit a crime.

After a trial lasting three weeks, a jury of seven men and five women found Bernard Quigley guilty on three charges relating to the theft of the automatic teller machine in the early hours of the morning of January 29, 2014.

Quigley, a single man, for whom addresses at Branchfield, Drumfin; Teeling Street, Tubbercurry and a flat at Lisnaskea, Co Fermanagh were given, had pleaded not guilty to the charges.

He was charged with the theft of the ATM containing cash; with causing criminal damage to the front wall of the bank and the ATM and with possession of a stolen Komatsu digger at Teeling Street, Tubbercurry.

The trial had heard how a tracked digger, stolen from Reilly’s quarry at Chaffpool on the Tubbercurry-Gurteen road, was used to dig the cash machine out of the front wall of the bank and to load it onto a trailer.

Following reports from a number of witnesses, gardai were able to follow the trail of the van and trailer and the ATM was discovered still on the trailer, when it and the van used to tow it were found abandoned.

Judge Patrick Comerford sentenced Quigley to seven and half years for theft with two years suspended, four years for possession of a stolen item and seven and a half years for criminal damage caused to the Bank of Ireland in Tubbercurry with two years suspended.

The sentences will run concurrently and have been backdated to August 2014 when Quigley was first brought into custody.

A Sligo-based singer and musician who was given the rare privilege to play live on Sir Terry Wogan’s BBC radio show has described the broadcaster as a “warm character” and a “pure gentleman”.

Limerick-born Wogan died after a short illness on Sunday, January 31, surrounded by his family. He was 77. In a career spanning half a century, Wogan was most famous for his various stints on BBC Radio 2, the last of which, a weekend radio show, he retired from last year.

Dubliner Miles Graham, who has called Sligo his home now for a number of years, was asked to come on Terry’s weekend show in January of last year to play two of his own songs. He said the brief encounter with this veteran broadcaster left a lasting impression.

“When I met him, the man was as bright as a button,” Miles told the Sligo Weekender. “He was a real warm character, real warm, bubbly, smiles, just very welcoming.

“He brought these little cakes in and he was giving all the little cakes to the band and was just saying ‘Keep the blood sugars up boys!’ ..He just made you feel very at home and made me feel much more relaxed.”

For more see this week’s Sligo Weekender newspaper. In shops now.

Shore Shots, Ireland’s only combined surf and film festival is set to move west to County Sligo for 2016. The event takes place over the weekend of April 15-17.

Now in its fourth year, Shore Shots features surf films and video edits from the world of surf’s leading artists and athletes, with a special emphasis on the art and creative work inspired by the cold and ferocious waves around Ireland’s west coast.

Key film screenings will take place at The Model with various fringe events taking place throughout the weekend including surf photography exhibitions, food and surf trails, a surf market and beach yoga.

Key surfers, content producers and music makers who will be in Sligo as part of the festival include: George Karbus, Tim Nunn, Liquid Therapy, Easkey Britton, Barry Mottershead, Peter Clyne, Peter Conroy, DJ Donal Dineen and February & Mars.

The festival is now accepting submissions for this year’s event, and in celebration of being invited to the #AdventureCapital that is County Sligo, a new competition is being added to the film festival; Best Adventure Film, with short films from outside the world of surfing set to be accepted for the first time.

Commenting on the move to Sligo, Shore Shots Festival Director Aidan Ellis said: “The festival is in its fourth year, and having had a hugely successful run in Dublin, with many sold out shows during our time at the Lighthouse Cinema, we’ve decided to move the event to Sligo which is very much considered the natural home for surfing in Ireland.

“Many of Ireland’s leading surf videographers are based here, and Mullaghmore continues to be a subject in much of their work. We also have perfect surf breaks in Strandhill and Easkey.”

Allan Mulrooney, Sligo native and co-founder of Shore Shots welcomed the announcement: “This year’s festival is a really immersive weekend for fans of surf on the big screen.

“There will be screenings held at The Model centre’s cinema on Saturday, live music gigs, and a programme of creative happenings from art exhibitions and workshops taking place around Sligo town and county over the weekend. We will have additional programme announcements over the coming weeks.”

Further details on the programme and how to book tickets, from €30pp, are available from www.shoreshots.ie or by following
@ShoreShotsFilms on social media.

If her mum, the late Maisie McDaniel, was the queen of Irish country music, then Lisa Stanley could rightly be considered her successor.

The talented Sligo singer, who is now based in the UK, has followed in her mother’s footsteps into a life of music and performing.

And now Lisa is to embrace television the way her mother did 50 years ago. Lisa will host “The Lisa Stanley Show” on Keep It Country Music TV (SKY Channel 261).

Lisa grew up singing in her native county and throughout Ireland. Her fantastic voice meant she was in demand as a performer, touring with some of the biggest names in Irish country music throughout the island of Ireland and all over the UK.

Lisa moved to England a few years ago, setting up home in Bilston near Wolverhampton with her parter Stuart and daughter Sofia.

She previously co-hosted the Phil Mack International Country Show for five years, but now has her own programme.

Lisa is the daughter of Maisie McDaniel and Fintan Stanley. Maisie was one of the first female superstars of the Irish music industry, featuring regularly on TV and enjoying huge success at the height of the showband era.

Of her new show, she said: “Both my parents were very successful in the Irish music business so it only seemed natural for me to go into the business also.

“We started a country music TV show called The Phil Mack International Country Show. Within a years of starting, the show had become so popular that we started running country music weekends in England, Ireland and then tours to Nashville.” Her new show, she added, “will feature top class videos of all the country stars from the USA, UK, Ireland and further afield, from the newest chart toppers of country music to the all-time legends. “I’m very excited, it seems like the natural next step forward for me. I’m hoping it will prove to be popular and that people will enjoy the show.”

You can catch “The Lisa Stanley Show” on SKY Channel 261 on Friday evenings at 10.30pm, repeated on Saturday afternoons at 2pm.

Over 365 poems, over 365 readers, but 365 days with one poet. The poet of course is Yeats and the venue was Hargadon’s on O’Connell Street.

Brainchild of Joe Grogan and a number of others who frequent Hargadon’s, the daily readings were a ritual that author, journalist and broadcaster Kieran Devaney was to the forefront of, organising readers and poems in the place he refers to as ‘the office’.

“It was Joe Grogan’s idea. A few of us wanted to mark the occasion of Yeats’ 150 birthday so we said why not do a poem a day for the whole year?” Kieran said.
Despite being heavily involved in the running of the daily readings, Kieran believes it was a team effort.

“It wasn’t just me. Joe asked a few people to help out like the bar staff here, Eileen Monaghan, Morgan who took over from Joe, Annie
West as well was a great help and kindly provided illustrations for where the readers read from,” Kieran said.

Some of the more notable readers included movie star Joanna Lumley, Táiniste Joan Bruton, politician Eamon Gilmore, writer Theo Dorgan, playwright Malcolm Hamilton, government minister Brendan Howlin and many more.

However, the readers were more diverse than just those in the public eye.

“We had everyone, from people walking around Tesco, to the bar staff, to poets laureate of England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales. We also had artists like John Beehan the sculptor and Kevin Barry the writer so there was no shortage of volunteers,” Kieran commented.

The delivery was not always in just the spoken form. Some readers decided to act out the poem or sing it according to what poem they chose.

“We had people singing them, acting them and we had one guy who did the ‘Song of Wandering Aengus’ who brought a trout he had bought in Tesco! We had poems read in French, Japanese and Chinese so there was a real mix,” Kieran said.

On the final Day of the Yeats’ readings, it was fitting that Damien Brennan, a Yeats’ connoisseur who regularly hosts Yeats themed dinners, read on the final day.
And all of it was documented in the Yeats Diary.

Musican and activist Bob Geldof is in County Sligo today, Thursday, to film scenes for a new two-part documentary on W.B. Yeats and the Easter Rising.

The documentary series, called “WB Yeats by Bob Geldof”, will explore Yeats’ poetry in the context of the Irish War of Independence. One of his most famous poems “Easter 1916” explored the rising, ending with the iconic line “A terrible beauty is born.”

Geldof has long been a fan of Sligo’s most famous writer and has often talked about the influence it has had on his own art. The former Boomtown Rats frontman even recited several of Yeats’ poems in recordings for the British Library.

As part of the Yeats150 celebrations last year, Geldof told Discover Ireland: “I can’t imagine my life without travelling around with one of [Yeats’] books and he’s always stood me in good stead. When words fail, his words will do.”

The 64-year-old has written this new documentary series with the help of Yeats historian and scholar Roy Foster. It is a joint RTE-BBC production and will consist of two hour-long episodes.

Geldof arrived in Sligo yesterday, Wednesday, having earlier visited nearby Lough Key in Boyle, Co. Roscommon. He is expected to visit Yeats grave in Drumcliffe and a number of other sites related to the Nobel poet today.

The documentary is part of an extensive line-up of programming from RTE revolving around the centenary of the 1916 rising. Their big-budget period drama series “Rebellion” debuted on RTE One on Saturday night, January 2.

A broadcasting date for “WB Yeats by Bob Geldof” has not yet been announced by RTE.TextBut he said that the money they had got this week does not address the damage to roads caused by the floods.

“We have put in an estimate of €1.75m for work needed to repair mostly regional and local roads.”

He said that the council would be hoping that they would be receiving extra to cover this when they get their allocation of money for roads maintence at the end of this month or early February.

Mr Kilfeather said they would also be looking at submitting applications for flood prevention schemes, such as the dredging of the Owenmore river, to the OPW.

“There are certainly flooding problems arising from the Owenmore but you would probably be looking at spending half a million euro to do anything major with it. However, I don’t know how far up the national priority list schemes like that will be.”

He said the same would probably apply in other situations throughout the county where a small number of houses were affected.

A Monster Table Quiz fundraiser for independent Cllr Marie Casserly’s General Election campaign which was due to take place in the Sligo Park Hotel and be hosted by Eamon Dunphy tonight, has been cancelled.

The RTÉ Investigates programme has made false allegations against me that I wish to address

publicly:

In late October I was contacted by a woman called ‘Nina Carlsson’ who claimed to be a representative for

an investment company looking to build wind farms in the Sligo area. I agreed to meet her for a quick chat

in the foyer of the Sligo Park Hotel but on the morning of the meeting she changed the venue to a room in

the Great Southern Hotel. I wanted to meet this lady in a public place and it was RTÉ who arranged that the

meeting take place behind closed doors. For the past number of weeks my solicitor has been repeatedly

requesting RTÉ to broadcast the entire footage filmed at that meeting as the edited footage does not give a

fair and honest account of the conversation that took place between myself and this undercover reporter.

On at least 13 occasions during the course of the conversation I told the reporter that the planning process

was an impartial one and that no-one could guarantee her company success and I said to her “If you are

asking can I go into the council if you apply for planning permission or if you apply for planning and I can go

to them and do something with the officials or, I can’t”.

It has been repeated in the press in the last couple of days that I offered to act as an intermediary for this

company in return for an investment in a business I was planning. I never sought payment of any kind from

this undercover reporter for assisting her. During our conversations the undercover reporter on 9 occasions

referred to money and payment to me and I repeatedly said at least 14 times that I wanted no payment from

her. I told her “The way I work anything you ask me to do, I will do for the benefit of Sligo”, “And I don’t want

any fee or nothing like that for anything I do for you. Right?”, “I will work with you yes. It will cost you

nothing. I am not looking for anything out of it”, “I will work with ye. Free gratis and for nothing”.

RTÉ has stated that I proposed an investment be made by this fictitious company in a business interest that

I had in return for assisting them in the planning process. I completely deny this allegation. I repeatedly

said that I wanted no payment for assisting them in the pre-planning process. During the course of my

conversation with the undercover reporter I said I was a businessman and I mentioned that I may have a

potential future investment, that I was thinking of getting some investors and that it may be a family member

of mine that ends up investing rather than anyone else. I repeatedly stated in the follow up call with the

undercover reporter that if we did go into business together in the future that it would be “totally on a

business nature, everything above board” and that “I would never even contemplate looking for money from

anybody… you have to have a business plan …..and you have to sign an agreement that you are going to

pay back”. The reality of local government is that most elected representatives carry on business interests

outside of their roles as a county councillor in order to make a living. I am an auctioneer and a small local

businessman. I am extremely proud of my local area and like most local business people I am keen to see it

thrive economically. It will be clear to anyone who viewed the RTÉ programme that I did not go to that

meeting dressed to impress a potential business partner. I at all times believed I was meeting this lady for a

quick chat in a public place to act on behalf of local interests and I felt that as a councillor I have a duty to

assist potential investment opportunities for my locality. I made no promise of success to this reporter and I

sought no reward.

Having viewed the programme last night I can understand why people feel angry at what they saw. I am

angry also. The edited footage does not represent the true nature of the meeting between myself and the

undercover reporter and this is why I have repeatedly asked RTÉ to broadcast the entire conversation. I

apologise wholeheartedly for the fact that my statutory declaration for 2015 was not filled out correctly and I

have now amended this declaration. I also regret ever mentioning any potential future investment

opportunity as I now recognise that the way that the conversation was edited makes it seem as if I was

seeking a personal benefit when I never was. I at all times believed I was meeting this reporter in a public

place to speak about a local matter and I repeatedly told her, during and after this meeting, that I never

expected or requested any payment for that assistance. RTÉ has accused me of being in breach of Section

247 of the Planning Act 2000 and I unequivocally deny this accusation. I am now considering all of my legal

options in relation to this matter.

It is with regret that after so many years with the party I have now been forced to sever my ties with Fianna

Fáil. For the sake of my family and supporters I regret that my involvement with Fianna Fáil has meant that

the media have decided to misrepresent me in this case rather than focusing their attention on the two

elected representatives featured in the programme who did in fact seek payment for themselves. However,

my main concern is, was and always will be County Sligo. I have had an active role for a long number of

years in various local community groups and public life generally and I hope that the people of Sligo will

allow me to continue to be active in those areas into the future.

-Councillor Joseph Queenan

8th December, 2015

A new IDA advance facility in Sligo is part of a strategy launched in Sligo on Monday to create an extra 28,000 jobs in the North West/North East region by 2020.
Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation Richard Bruton was at IT Sligo to officialy launch the Action Plan for Jobs for the region, which encompasses Sligo, Leitrim, Donegal, Cavan, Monaghan and Louth.

The plan is aimed at delivering 10-15% employment growth in the region over the coming years.

Apart from the new IDA advance facility at Finisklin Business Park, which it is hoped will be available next year, a number of other initiatives are suggested for Sligo with a view to creating jobs (see separate story, below).

But there was no indication in the plan as to how many of the suggested 28,000 extra jobs in the region would be in Sligo.

The plan recognises that the region suffered badly in the crash, with employment falling by 50,400 from 2007 to the end of 2012 and the unemployment rate at that time rising to 16.6%.

The impact on the construction sector in the region was particularly significant, given that it accounted for 14% of employment in 2007 and over 20,000 construction jobs were lost between 2007 and 2011.

Minister Bruton said he believed that based on all the evidence and the “strong buy-in for the process up to this point it is realistic to target 28,000 additional jobs in the region by 2020”.

The Minister said: “Jobs are growing right across the country, but they are growing faster in some regions than in others. That is why we have put in place the €250million regional jobs strategy, to support regions to play to their strengths and accelerate jobs growth in every area.

“The North East/North West is a region which had historic problems with unemployment, but over recent years thanks to the ingenuity of its workers and businesses it has performed extremely strongly.

“Since we launched the national Action Plan for Jobs in early 2012 over 20,000 extra people are at work in the region, making it the third fastest growing region in the country in employment terms.”

Mr Bruton said he was convinced that with the right support from Government through the North East/North West Plan, and by continuing the collaborative approach right across the region, they could deliver 28,000 extra jobs over the coming years.

Among the 152 actions in the plan to be delivered in the region as a whole over the period 2015-2017 include:
– Achieve an increase of at least 25% in the number of start-ups.
– Increase the number of IDA investments by 30-40% up to 2019. This will result in a minimum of 61 additional projects for the region.
– IDA will also aim at securing potential “second site” investments from companies who already have large scale operations in Dublin.
– And in the tourism sector – a new Shannon-Erne Blueway and further development of initiatives around the very successful Wild Atlantic Way.

A malnourished and wounded dog was found abandoned in Hazelwood this week in a case described as one of the worst ever seen by a Sligo animal rescue group.

The canine, named Hazel by her carers, was discovered lying in a hedgerow and unable to walk by a passing couple on Monday in the popular nature park.
She is currently receiving medical treatment in a foster home where she is understood to be recovering well.

“We have been in operation for seven years and this has to be right up there with the worst cases we have dealt with. She was very close to death,” said Dorothy Kilgallen of Sligo Animal Rescue.

“She had very badly infected wounds on her hind legs and a lot of cuts and abrasions all over her, but nothing too infected like the ones on her hind legs which are our biggest concern at the minute.”

Hazel’s condition shows that she had suffered for a prolonged period of time and was dangerously underweight by at least 9kg.

“She was found (on Monday), but it would have taken quite a while for her to get into that state, that doesn’t happen overnight or even after a couple of weeks, that would have happened over the course of a number of months. She is also terribly underweight at just 6kg when she should be between 15-18kgs for her breed and height.”

Some recent high profile cases as well as the Irish ‘Animal Rescue’ TV series shows that incidents like this are still very common across the country and Dorothy believes it may be worse than ever before.

“She is today’s news, but in a week’s time she will be forgotten because there will be another dog in another county (in a similar state) and the reality is things just aren’t improving at all, things are actually getting worse.”

This case also provides a stark reminder of the annual plea urging people not to give pets as Christmas presents. Abandoned and unwanted “Christmas pets” has been a problem both nationally and internationally for many years where families have either received an animal they did not want or were incapable of caring for.

Sligo Animal Rescue has dealt with animals in this all too familiar scenario in the past, recounting one particular case of a pup being found tied up on Christmas Day.

“We generally don’t see the Christmas puppies being brought into us until around April-May time. They are at a stage where they are five-six months old and still might not be house broken or still chewing the chairs and skirting boards or they are howling because they are left at home on their own all day. You might get one or two in the days following Christmas who were given to someone as a surprise present, but that person didn’t want them. For example we found a puppy tied up in Doorly Park two Christmases ago and I would say that happened because someone was given a puppy as a surprise but they didn’t want it.”

In an attempt to prevent Christmas pets being picked up in Sligo, Dorothy confirmed that the voluntary group does not allow adoptions throughout the month of December.

“As a rule we do not allow dogs to be adopted in December unless somebody has already been on the list and are unable to collect their pet until this month. We don’t give any animals out as a present and that applies all year round – we do not home animals as presents. Ever.”

Despite this, Dorothy revealed that at least ten enquiries were made in the last week alone about booking kittens and pups as Christmas presents.

2016 will mark the centenary of the Easter Rising and so there will be a broad programme of cultural events and projects taking place nationwide.

Sligo Stories is a project devised by the Hawk’s Well Theatre. The project seeks to collect stories about Sligo circa 1916, in particular those that refer to Sligo Gaol and its environs as well as general stories about life in Sligo at that time.

To this end, the theatre have brought together a group of Cuairteoiri – volunteers from the community who are locating, interviewing and recording the stories of those who have accounts relating to this time, both first-hand accounts as well as those that are passed down through families and friends, painting an informed picture of what life was like in Sligo at this time.

The theatre’s Cuairteoiri are reviving the Irish tradition which was known as “to go on Cuairt”, whereby people visited neighbours and friends and told stories.
These stories will then be used as research material for a piece of theatre that will be created by the Hawk’s Well Theatre and their Actor in Residence, Bob Kelly.

Originally a member of Sligo Youth Theatre, Bob Kelly studied theatre at the prestigious Ecole de Jacques Lecoq in Paris. He has performed at The Louvre, The Abbey and at The Royal Ballet School. He is a regular collaborator with Blue Raincoat Theatre Company, and in 2012 was nominated for an Irish Times Theatre Award for his work with them on “The Poor Mouth”.

The team at the Hawk’s Well Theatre have also been in contact with Irish embassies abroad as well as other societies that embrace the Irish diaspora, casting a wider net to ensure the broadest possible collective experience.

It is not too late to get involved in Sligo Stories. If you have accounts that relate to Sligo at the turn of the last century, or if you know of family or friends in Ireland or abroad who might have interesting stories to tell, contact the Hawk’s Well team at sligo@hawkswell.com