Sligo remembered those from the county who died in World War One with a dignified procession of more than 600 people and the turning of a sod for a new memorial garden on Sunday.
 
An estimated 5,000 men from Sligo (or of immediate Sligo origin) fought in that war and war records research by local historian Simone Hickey shows 602 of these men lost their lives during the conflict or subsequently because of the injuries they suffered.

Five civilians from County Sligo, including two women, also perished. They were aboard the mailboat, the RMS Leinster, which was sunk by a U-boat shortly after it left Dún Laoghaire (then known as Kingstown) on October 10, 1918.
  
To recognise and acknowledge the loss of all 607 lives, Blue Raincoat Theatre Company decided to organise a large scale public arts participation event.

And so on Sunday morning 607 people, men and women dressed mainly in civilian clothes representative of 1918 and each representing someone from Sligo who had died in the war, were lined up in formation by members of the army on Wine Street.

Then at 11.11am (the time the Armistice came into effect on November 11, 1918) they moved off and walked from there by way of O’Connell Street, Grattan Street, Teeling Street, to the war memorial on Pearse Road, where a short ceremony, including reading of letters from soldiers, was held.

Church bells throughout the county were also rung at the time.

Later at a sod turning ceremony for a new World War One commemorative garden took place at Cleveragh Regional Park.

The sod was turned by Cathaoirleach of Sligo County Council, Councillor Martin Baker.

Prior to the sod turning, music was provided by the Sligo Concert Band and that was followed by a short ecumenical prayer and a poetry recital.

At the end of the ceremony two pipers played a lament.

The impact of what became known as the Great War on Sligo town and the county was huge with 28% percent of Sligo men of military age (18-40) signed up over the 2104-18 period.

See this week’s Sligo Weekender newspaper for a two page spread on last Sunday’s events. In shops now!

Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald yesterday, Wednesday, attended an event in Sligo to the centenary of the end of the First World War.

She was one of a number of dignatries, local politicians and staff and students from Sligo Grammar School who attended a special act of Remembrance and Reconciliation at Calry Church of Ireland church on The Mall.

The event was organised by the Grammar School to mark 100 years since the end of the First World War and is the fourth year a similar service has been organised by the school.

Also attending the service were Lord Lieutenant for County Fermanagh, Viscount Brookeborough and German Ambassador to Ireland Frau Deike Potzel, who with Deputy McDonald all laid wreaths as part of the ceremony.

Deputy McDonald laid a wreath on behalf of Irish soldiers killed in the war while Viscount Brookeborough laid a wreath on behalf of Allied soldiers and the German Ambassador on behalf of all soldiers.

President of the Royal British Legion, Midlands Counties and Kildare Branch, David Gibson-Brabazon and Paul Stephenson laid a wreath for the Royal British Legion, Republic of Ireland.

Members of the Defence Forces, the United Nations Veterans Association and the gardai, as well as staff members and pupils from Sligo Grammar School also laid wreaths.

Dean of Elphin, Afron Williams led the ceremony and a two minute period of silence was observed in memory of the fallen.

The act of Remembrance and Reconciliation was followed by a tree planting ceremony.

Deputy McDonald spoke to the Sligo Weekender about the significance that events such as these have in bringing people together.

“I was delighted to be invited by Sligo Grammar School and it was a very inclusive event. The theme of reconciliation and commonality was best underscored by the telling of the story of Winifred Carney who would have been one of James Connolly’s closest associates and her friendship, love and marriage to George McBride [a unionist] and their maintaining of their position and integrity and yet living a happy life and marriage together,” Deputy McDonald said.

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

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A story in the Sligo Weekender two weeks ago has saved a local business €70,000.

The front page story in our October 18 edition was in relation to a warning from Sligo-based Garda Crime Prevention Officer Sergeant Jim Fox for people to be vigilant following an increase in email fraud in the area.

The story told how one local business man almost lost €25,000 in a scam.

It was one of a number of cases reported to gardai of attempts to extract money from people in Sligo via email.

This week Sergeant Fox related how the Weekender highlighting his warning had saved a local business a big loss.

“Last week I got a phone call from a secretary in the local business telling me that she had been doing a transaction online and because of what she had read in the Weekender had avoided been scammed.”

The firm were doing a transaction and €70,000 was going to be transferred.

“They got an email to say that the bank account that the money was to be sent had been changed but as a result of what she had read in the Weekender, the secretary checked the email address and realised that it had been changed.”

Srgt Fox said that thankfully the warning had been a “huge success”.

“But for the woman having read the warning in the Weekender the business would have been out €70,000”.

The Crime Prevention Officer re-iterated the warning to people to be careful.

“It looks like Sligo is being targetted at the moment. I also work in Leitrim and there have been no reports of any similar incident there”, he said.

Srgt Fox said that what the scammers are doing is hacking into people’s emails and monitoring them and if they see a financial transaction is going to take place they send an email which will appear similar to the person that the business is dealing with it but will be slightly different and there will be a change in where the money is to be sent to.

“People should ensure that their software and firewalls are up to date and if they are are to transfer money and they get an email telling them there is a change they should phone the person they are send ing the money to to ensure that it is correct,” he said.

By Alan Finn

A new housing development in Sligo town was officially opened last week, while the sod was turned at another.

Fr O’Flanagan Terrace, in the Forthill/Holborn Hill area, was launched last Friday morning in a small ceremony attended by new residents, local council officials and Minister for State at the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government, Damien English, who cut the ribbon.

The scheme was a €3.7 million development which will consist of 22 units, including houses and apartments, and they have been designed to be extremely energy efficient.

It is the largest social housing scheme of its kind to be completed in Sligo for a number of years.

The Minister for State said: “There is always a great sense of achievement when a project like this is finished. It’s about providing good quality housing to our citizens, and you should take pride in the good work you are doing.”

Minister English was also on hand to turn the sod at the Knappagh Beg site on the Strandhill Road, while projects in Rosses Point and Collooney were also announced, which will bring the accumulative figure for all of these developments to €15 million for a total of 66 new units.

“When Rebuilding Ireland was launched, we asked local authorities to accelerate the pace of housing delivery,” he said.

“I am pleased that Sligo County Council are responding to that request. Over the next few weeks, Sligo County Council will have 66 new units on site for delivery in 2019/20. The Council are also bringing forward proposals for another 149 new units at various locations. Real progress is being made under Rebuilding Ireland and these projects today offer testament to that,” the Minister said.

The Lough Talt Public Water Supply has been lifted with immediate effect, it has been announced this morning.

The boil water notice was put in place on February 5 following a detection of cryptosporidium during routine sampling at the water treatment plant.

Following a consultative meeting yesterday evening (Wednesday, October 24) between Irish Water, the HSE and Sligo County Council it has been agreed to lift the notice with immediate effect as there have been no reported cases of illness in the community and zero detections recorded since the end of August.

In the meantime, Irish Water have said they will continue to monitor this supply closely for the presence of cryptosporidium.