Tive Queen open in welcome
To underline that point, the recently held St Patrick’s Day Festival which was staged over the St Patrick’s weekend at the Square was something of a ‘soft-launch’ for the Queen Maeve Square and proved a huge success with more than 4,000 people in the Square on the Sunday night for the headline act - Jenny Greene - which underlined the ability of the space to cater for an event of that nature and a very large crowd.
In terms of not offering parking cars in the space, Mr Flynn says the reaction from the business community has been “very positive”.
Another potential talking point was the name chosen for the project - Queen Maeve Square. When announced there was some concern but this was quickly dissipated as the people behind the project had undertaken a research process to establish what would be an appropriate name for the space which would work on local, national and international levels.
Ms Clarke said they and Fáilte Ireland had gone to great lengths in arriving at an appropriate name for the Square. Fáilte Ireland did undertake extensive research, not just in the context of what name would work locally but it was also looked at how the name for the Square would work if it was being promoted nationally and internationally. Queen Maeve Square was top of the list at all times in terms of options.”
For those arriving for the first time this weekend to enjoy the new Queen Maeve Square, there are lots of interesting features to look out for, the large Sligo sign perhaps the most obvious is sure to become a focal point. As you walk up Stephen Street your eye will be drawn to it, and it becomes a signature image which will be photographed extensively by visitors.
Another feature sees the Sligo coastline etched in stainless steel and it will feature Wild Atlantic Way stop off points along the Sligo coastline which will be identified with an uplighter in the ground. This will be a lovely feature for children in particular who will follow
Brian Flynn and Dorothy Gillen look over the plans in Queen Maeve Square. the lights from Enniscrone to Mullaghmore and will outline a little piece of the geography of Sligo.
As you walk out of the Square to Stephen Street you will come across a series of ‘bookmarks’ and these are information points about Sligo and its history. There will be four information points along the way.
The ‘bookmark’ titles are: Atlantic Crossings, which talks about famous people on the international stage coming here and people leaving here going elsewhere; Merchants, Priests and Freedom Fighters will detail many famous people from this area; The Mists of Time bookmark will explain Sligo’s landscape. The fourth bookmark, entitled ‘Wild Dreams’ will detail Sligo’s writers and artists. All four of those will attract huge interest.
In addition to the coastline feature there will be a lectern with a map, designed by artist Annie West which depicts the Sligo coastline and there will be information on the Wild Atlantic Way with that map.
One of the other features is a projector which will display images on the ground which will essentially work as a screen. This will be used to depict images of Queen Maeve and there is a facility to show logos such as the Sligo.ie logo, the Queen Maeve Logo and the Wild Atlantic Way logo (marking the tenth anniversary of the Wild Atlantic Way).
Large parasols will also animate the square and will be of great assistance for outdoor dining to the hospitality businesses located there.
Customers will be able to sit and enjoy the ambience in an outdoor dining setting.
With warmer weather expected for the Bank Holiday weekend, the opening of the Queen Maeve Square and the hosting by Sligo County Council of the Queen Maeve Festival seems to have been well timed.
A spectacular development which enhances Sligo’s town centre, the council is very excited to see the Square opened and hopefully to see people from near and far enjoying what has been correctly described as an “utterly transformative” project.
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