NEWS ROUND-UP
‘Use drug cash for addiction services’
Councillors have called for the redirection of money seized from the drugs trade to be redirected into addiction services.
Cllrs Marie Casserly and Sinéad Maguire submitted similar motions at this month’s meeting of the council where they requested that that the council contact Minister Helen McEntee to make provisions for confiscated monies to be used proactively on a local level.
Cllr Marie Casserly outlined several addiction services, youth organisations and community initiatives which combat the effect of addiction on the communities such as Sligo Social Services, The Crib, Drugs Task Force, Northside Community Centre and Youth Action Project Sligo.
Cllr Sinéad Maguire said the aforementioned services play an important role in the life of those dealing with addiction problems and that the amount of money seized in Sligo would make a significant difference to tackling the problem if it was appropriately redirected.
“I work with addicts firsthand and saw the manner in which drugs destroy families and communities and the services outlined by Marie are absolutely vital to those trying to get out of addiction,” Cllr Maguire said.
“In the last two months alone, almost €500,000 has been seized by Gardai and that funding would provide incredible support to those agencies and others available. It would be poetic justice that the blood money earned through this trade would be returned to fight the plague of drugs in our communities.” Sligo County Council agreed to support the motions.
Time at the Well recipients are announced
The Hawk’s Well Theatre has announced the recipients of its annual ‘Time at the Well’ residency scheme.
‘Time at the Well’ is the
Sligo theatre’s performing artists support scheme offering a workspace and resources to creative practitioners with a new project that needs floor time for development.
This year’s residents are musician Cathy Jordan, instrumentalist John McCarthy and actor and playwright Niamh McGrath.
Cathy Jordan, familiar for many as the voice of trad band Dervish, will use her residency to collect Sligo songs with a view to a performance of the finished body of work in the Hawk’s Well in the future.
She said: “I am delighted to receive this short ‘Time At The Well’ residency at the Hawk’s Well Theatre to write a new body of work based on people and places of Sligo. Having spent such an intense and extended length of time in the area due to lockdown, I have been inspired to work on material which will hopefully bring to life through song, some of the breath taking beauty of the area and the characters who dwell, or have dwelled in this amazing gateway county.” Roscommon’s John McCarthy’s comes from a family of trad musicians and grew up in what he describes as “a golden era for the music” in 1970s London.
“I am thrilled to have received this residency. I have long had ambitions to explore the combination of the banjo with uilleann pipes, and this will afford me time and space to explore this partnership with accomplished piper, Mike McGoldrick. I will researching, reflecting and composing. “I will give the project the care, time and attention and envisage it will take on a life of its own and present a whole new avenue of performance opportunities and promote traditional music in an innovative way”.
Enniscrone actor Niamh McGrath, meanwhile, has been influenced by what has transpired during the pandemic, and the unique turn of events that affected her “bubble of one”.
Explaining her one woman show, she said: “Niamh is in a Covid bubble of one. The house is spotless, she has an unused virtual yoga subscription, and she has alphabetised the spice rack... again.
“But Zoom, sour-dough and 5k strolls take their toll on her isolation brain, and on day 34, while contemplating re-grouting the kitchen tiles, her brain answers back.”
No crossing in Geevagh
A councillor has has expressed his disappointment that a pedestrian crossing for a road in Geevagh is not being pursued.
In a motion at Monday’s meeting of Sligo County Council, Cllr Gerard Mullaney asked if there was any plans for safe crossing on the R284 road.
A report from senior engineer Tom Brennan indicated it would be “difficult to justify” a pedestrian crossing in Geevagh due to the “low number of pedestrians crossing the road at a specific location.”
He added that the area engineer will examine the location.
Cllr Mullaney said that contrary to the report, the road receives regular footfall for a variety of reasons and also indicated that the area’s infrastructure has not changed in three decades despite an increase in housing.
“I am disappointed with the reply which states that there is not enough pedestrians crossing the road in Geevagh to justify a crossing in light of the fact there is over 25 new houses built on the Highwood road – all of whom have to cross the road for national school, creche, chapel and health centre. Infrastructure in Geevagh hasn’t changed in 30 years despite the new houses so I think due consideration should be given.”
The motion was supported by Cllr Martin Baker who said: “it is a very dangerous stretch of road. While improvements have been carried out, a crossing is definitely needed there.”
He also added that the road is also used for access to the community field and playground.
Veronica gets Volunteers in Sport award
Sligo-based Veronica Murray received national recognition for her dedicated work with Special Olympics Connacht this week.
She was presented with the Sligo award at this week’s virtual Federation of Irish Sport Volunteers in Sport awards. Veronica has been a volunteer with Special Olympics since 1995 and is the Bowling co-coordinator since 1998, organising many area and regional bowling events during this time.
Veronica was described as “one of those quiet, unassuming people that just gets the job done and to a very high standard”.
“She has seen Special Olympics develop over the years and has grown and adapted with it. The variety of roles she has taken on over the years is remarkable, and the time, expertise, energy she has given to the organisation is to be commended. Veronica has undertaken training in the Games Management System (GMS) so she could use technology to improve the experience for the athletes at events.
“She also delivers the ‘Introduction to Training Practices’ coaching course for Special Olympics. Everything Veronica undertakes is always with the athletes in mind. She has a great understanding of their individual needs and just loves having fun and ensuring they are enjoying themselves, while developing and improving their skills both on and off the field of play,” the judges stated.
The Volunteers in Sport Awards, which are supported by EBS Mortgage Masters, were created to champion the contribution, commitment and dedication of the army of 450,000 volunteers across the country who go above and beyond by giving their time to Irish sport and physical activity each year. These volunteers dedicate some 37.2 million hours of volunteering across the country’s 13,000+ sports clubs and associations every year.
Towards the end of 2020, members of the public, as well as sports clubs and governing bodies, were invited to nominate an individual whose contributions to sport has made a real difference to their community, club or county. The nominations and award recipients were selected by a judging panel consisting of 11 individuals drawn from sports administration, the volunteer community and media, including former Director General of the GAA Paraic Duffy, RTÉ broadcaster Marie Crowe and CEO of CARA Niamh Daffy.