NEWS ROUND-UP
‘Great news’ for Lough Talt households
The fact that options were being looked at to supply 10 households around Lough Talt with water from the new treatment plant was welcomed as “great news” by a local councillor at a Ballymote-Tubbercurry Municipal District meeting.
Councillor Martin Connolly had asked that with the new treatment plant at Lough Talt now in operation that the county council in conjunction with Irish Water do a feasibility study with a view to supplying the 10 households around the lake who are currently using untreated water. Cllr Connolly said that at present the houses were supplied directly from the lake. He was told by acting chief executive Tom Kilfeather that Irish Water had said they were delighted to hear that people wished to avail of the treated water from the newly upgraded plant but they said that the situation with these houses sits with the rural water department in the council.
Mr Kilfeather said there were a couple of options through which connections could be made. The most viable was most likely forming a group water scheme and then applying for a connection.
Cllr Connolly said: “That is great news. They will be glad to hear that.”
Louise fills in for Shay Byrne on Radio 1
A Sligo town native has taken temporary charge of an RTÉ radio programme.
Louise Heraghty is in the hot seat for the Radio 1 show, ‘Rising Time’, filling in for regular host Shay Byrne.
She has swapped the television screen for the airwaves for the week, having become a familiar fixture in living rooms across the country as one of RTÉ’s regular weather presenters. She also has previous experience behind the microphone as a sports reporter on RTÉ 2FM a number of years ago.
‘Rising Time’ is on every weekday from 5am to 7.30am.
‘The Kid’ to fight in Spain
Professional boxer Aaron ‘The Kid’ Gethins is set to finally return to the ring for a bout in Murcia, Spain next month. ‘The Kid’ has not been in action since February 2 and has seen prospective matches cancelled this year due to upheaval relating to the Covid-19 pandemic.
He has been added to Celtic Clash 11 card, a regular boxing event on which Gethins has made his previous pro boxing appearances in various Irish venues.
He will face the Nicaraguan-born Spanish veteran Michael Isaac Carrero, whose record stands at 13 wins, 58 defeats and six draws. Welterweight Gethins, who recently turned 21, has enjoyed an unbeaten start to his professional career, scoring four wins from four bouts, all on points.
The show is scheduled to take place on January 23.
Plan for skills centre for retrofitting
A centre of excellence for retrofitters is due to open in the North West in 2021.
It is one of four developments scheduled for regional education and training board centres – Mayo, Sligo and Leitrim ETB, Limerick and Clare ETB, Laois and Offaly ETB and Cork ETB.
It is hoped that 2,000 people will be skilled in retrofitting across the next decade.
The centres of excellence were announced by the Minister for Further and High Education, who said retrofitting provides huge employment opportunities.
“Retrofitting involves making homes more energy efficient and helping you to save money on your electricity bills,” he said.
“The government has set ambitious targets to retrofit 300,000 homes by 2030 but we need to ensure we have the workers to deliver it.”
“I am announcing we will establish four centres of excellence – four centres to train 2,000 people in retrofit skills, including Near Zero Energy Buildings (NZEB) skills. If you are a worker in the construction area and you want to upskill in the area of green skills, then this could be for you.”
Fionn and Cuan on RTÉ’s New Year’s Eve show
Two Sligo performers will be performing on RTÉ’s New Year’s Eve Countdown Show tonight, Thursday.
Fionn McMorrow and Cuan Durkin will be ringing in the new year with performances on a packed line-up for the show, hosted by Kathryn Thomas and Deirdre O’Kane. Cuan, son of Ward’s Pharmacy proprietors Pat and Nicola Durkin, will treat viewers to a some melodies which earned him viral fame as a busker in Dublin this year, which led to a role in a panto in the UK. Meanwhile,Cartron’s Fionn will perform a dance routine as the clock strikes midnight, accompanying singer-songwriter Lyra’s rendition of her single ‘New Day’.
Fionn is no stranger to our television screens, having made it all the way to the final of Ireland’s got Talent in 2019 and also appearing on the BBC’s The Greatest Dancer. The NYE Countdown Show will be broadcast live from 10.45pm on RTÉ One.
‘Steep drop into drain a concern for motorists’
A steep drop into a drain on a road near Ballymote was causing concern to motorists, a Ballymote-Tubbercurry Municipal District meeting was told.
Cllr Dara Mulvey had asked that the council consider erecting a safety barrier at the junction between the R293 and the L1501 roads at the old Sligo road in Ballymote, where he said “recent drainage works and a steep drop are causing concern to motorists”.
Acting chief executive Tom Kilfeather told him that the recent drainage works along the R293 had not affected the verge width. He also said that putting in a safety barrier along this section of road would be costly due to the length of the barrier required and there was no funding at present to carry out this work. Cllr Mulvey said that a “few people had gone in there and it was a fair drop down into the drain”. “I would ask that maybe it could be looked at again,” he said.
Supporting, Cllr Gerard Mullaney said the problem was it being at a junction and the road not being aligned. “People shoot off fast from the junction and there is a corner there,” he said.
‘Rural rail network must be fast-tracked’
Sligo MEP Chris MacManus has welcomed a vote in the European Parliament to designate 2021 as the European Year of Rail and said the “rural rail network must be fast-tracked”.
Mr MacManus said: “It is clear to see that as in the midst of a catastrophic climate crisis, that rail is the future of transport. Rail transport is a sustainable, innovative and safe mode of transport, with a cross-border dimension.” He said that campaigns to deliver the Western Rail Corridor and the Navan to Dublin line have been widely welcomed by the public and would provide a much-needed service to these communities. “The European Year of Rail must lead to the fruition of these projects and put rural rail-networks front and centre in our infrastructure plans for Ireland,” he said.
The Sinn Féin MEP outlined the importance of what he called a “for the people” attitude. “Rural Ireland desperately needs modern infrastructure that is efficient and green. I will continue to call on the Irish government to use EU transport funding and investment in rail in the Midlands North West region,” he said.
TD Feighan welcomes 2021 roads funding
Minister of State and local TD Frank Feighan has welcomed the 2021 allocation of roads funding for County Sligo. He said he was deighted to see the total allocation of €40,045,685 for national primary and secondary road in County Sligo (which was reported by the Sligo Weekender last week).
Mr Feighan said: “I am delighted to see such a strong allocation for Sligo roads for next year. This represents a significant increase from previous years and will further enhance Sligo.” He welcome a further €25m for the Collooney to Castlebaldwin N4 development project which is due to be completed in mid2021 and also €4,750,000 to complete the ongoing work on the northern side of Hughes Bridge widening scheme. He said another highlight of this allocation was €3,250,000 for 2.5km of the
N16 (Manorhamilton road) at Lugatober for re-aligning several severe bends on this dangerous section of road. He thanked Transport Minister Eamon Ryan and Minister of State Hildegarde Naughton who he said had “ensured a strong allocation of funding for roads in 2021 despite the ongoing demands on exchequer funding due to the Covid-19 crisis”.
“I look forward to some more important funding announcements in 2021 from Ministers Naughton and Humphreys under other transport and rural development schemes such as walk ways and safer pedestrian access to schools,” Mr Feighan concluded.
JP’s family present cheque for €44,000
Family members of the late JP Duffy presented a cheque worth €44,084.59 to charity last week. The recipient of the cheque was Croí Heart and Stroke Charity for which the fundraiser ‘Run to Ruislip’ was held. The challenge was to cover a distance of 858km distance within the travel restrictions which were in place at the time. The distance was set at this as it would cover a route which would take in Fr O’Hara park in Curry, Croke Park in Dublin and Ruislip in London.
These grounds were all significant in the life of JP Duffy, a well-known businessman, GAA player and coach who passed away in 2019 after falling ill during a race in Mayo.
25 cent bet earns €8,250
A punter in County Sligo bagged an incredible win just before Christmas after a Lotto bet worth only 25 cents overcame massive odds to win over €8,000.
BoyleSports said the anonymous punter placed the tiny bet via their online account for the main EuroMillions draw, picking out four numbers to land at odds of 33,000/1. The customer chose the numbers 2, 10, 16 and 50 and all four numbers rolled out, winning them a payout of €8,250.25.
BoyleSports spokesman Lawrence Lyons said: “We send huge congratulations to our Sligo customer who made light work of 33,000/1 odds for four numbers just in time for Christmas. A bit of loose change has really gone a long way, so hats off to them for dreaming big.”