Latest news with #DonalGilroy
Yahoo
18-05-2025
- Yahoo
Community 'devastated' over young boy's fatal drowning
There is shock and devastation in the community near a County Sligo beach over the death of a young boy who got into difficulty in the water on Saturday. A local councillor, Fianna Fáil's Donal Gilroy, said news of the young boy's death had caused great sadness around Lissadell Beach. The boy has been named locally as seven-year-old Alan Singh, from Ballisodare, County Sligo, Irish national broadcaster RTÉ reported. The alarm was raised shortly after 15:30 local time on Saturday when a member of the public spotted the boy in the water. He was airlifted by an Irish Coast Guard helicopter to Sligo University Hospital on Saturday afternoon in a serious condition, gardaí (Irish police) said. He later died in hospital. Gardaí said investigations are ongoing. Prayers were offered for the boy's family at nearby Maugherow Church, with parish priest Fr Tom Hever telling RTÉ that people were devastated by the news. Mr Gilroy said local people were shocked, adding that Lissadell Beach had attracted "big numbers" during the recent spell of good weather. "People are devastated to hear that a little boy has lost his life and our thoughts are very much with his family at this time." A woman who was on the beach with her children when the boy got into difficulty said "everybody was happy here playing and absolutely loving the fine weather". "We seen the helicopter coming and noticed then that someone was performing CPR on a person a good bit away from us," Suraya McDonald told RTÉ. "But by that stage, the helicopter had landed at the scene. It all happened pretty quick." She added: "It's heartbreaking and I don't think anyone could ever understand how anyone would feel in that situation."
Irish Independent
13-05-2025
- Business
- Irish Independent
Council sets out the key role festivals and events will play in Sligo over the next five years
This follows a wide stakeholder engagement process and is the culmination of a review that examined the broad spectrum of festivals and events taking place in the county all year round and best practice elsewhere. It acknowledges the key role that festivals and events play in the tourism offering in county Sligo and facilitates the delivery of a planned and coordinated approach to supporting festivals and events. Cllr Declan Bree, Cathaoirleach of Sligo County Council, welcomed the strategy saying: 'This strategy values the huge commitment from the community as well as the business and creative sectors and I want to extend appreciation to all the festivals and event organisers, and organisations with a role in festival delivery, who have contributed to the development of the strategy and the stakeholder engagement process. 'You have helped shape this document by your insights and experiences from a practical and lived perspective.' The strategy, in setting out an implementation plan for the next five years, looks at a range of important issues in addition to funding such as marketing, capacity building and training, programme development as well as governance. The Chair of the Sligo Local Community Development Committee, Cllr Donal Gilroy, said:'It is significant that the LCDC could approve LEADER funding to help fund the development of the strategy and the success of the strategy will be enhanced by inter–agency and cross community collaboration.' This strategy, setting out a hierarchy of festivals, sits within the transformative Fáilte Ireland WAW marketing campaign and the County Sligo Destination and Experience Development Plan, as well as the Sligo 2030 vision. Chief Executive of Sligo County Council, Martin Lydon commented that 'Festivals and Events are a huge driver for the economic, community and social fabric of our society. 'We are fortunate in Sligo to have an outstanding array of festival and events which complement and animate new public realm and tourism infrastructural projects delivered by the Council'.
Irish Independent
25-04-2025
- General
- Irish Independent
Sligo to receive €370,000 to protect its archaeological monuments
Five Sligo projects are to benefit under CMF 2023 as follows: Aughanagh Church, Ballinafad. Co. Sligo - €100,000 for phased conservation works. Moygara Castle - €100,000 for emergency stabilization works to the southwest tower. Enniscrone Castle - €118,671 for phase 2 conservation works to complete essential structural repairs. Court Abbey, Lavagh - €30,000 for the preparation of a conservation management plan for the site. Killaspugbrone Church & Graveyard - €22,263 for the preparation of a conservation management plan for the site. Welcoming the funding announcement, Cllr. Declan Bree, Cathaoirleach of Sligo County Council said: 'I am delighted to see Sligo benefitting under the Community Monuments Fund 2025. The funding will help protect our wonderful archaeological heritage and make it more accessible to the many who cherish it. It will also provide much needed support to local communities, private custodians, as well as archaeologists, conservation architects, stone masons, and other professional trades. Conservation projects rely hugely on broad community support and the availability of traditional building skills, the Community Monuments Fund brings these aspects together for the benefit of our heritage and the wider community.' Cllr. Donal Gilroy, Chairperson of Sligo Heritage Forum added:'The phenomenal impact and success of the Community Monuments Fund is a result of the close working relationship between the Department's National Monuments Service and Local Authorities. Working in partnership with local communities, they highlight the important role of communities when it comes to cherishing and caring for our outstanding heritage. We are very grateful to all of the custodians and community groups who work tirelessly with us under this fund to care for Sligo's heritage.' The Community Monuments Fund supports a range of initiatives to conserve, maintain, protect and promote local monuments and historic sites. This investment safeguards monuments for the benefit of communities and the public. It does so by enabling conservation works and repairs as well as building resilience through protecting monuments from the effects of extreme weather and climate change. The scheme also encourages public access and improvements to the presentation of local monuments. Welcoming the investment, Minister Browne said: 'I am delighted to announce these awards under the 2025 Community Monuments Fund. The importance of our archaeological heritage cannot be overstated and this fund has a very real and profound impact on the custodians and communities in our cities, villages, towns and countryside. ADVERTISEMENT Learn more 'I sincerely thank the owners of archaeological monuments for their dedication to the preservation of our wonderful heritage. This investment will ensure that our built heritage can continue to be enjoyed by local and visiting communities, as well as acting to create work and preserve important traditional skills in towns and villages right across Ireland' Minister of State O'Sullivan added: 'Since this fund was first introduced in 2020, it has invested €25.5 million in communities nationwide. It is now a bedrock of our support for archaeological heritage across the country helping conserve buildings as varied as churches, round towers, castles, forts, barracks and abbeys. 'This scheme helps to build robustness in our heritage against the extremes of weather, addressing key actions in our Climate Adaptation Plan as well as under Heritage Ireland 2030. These awards also deliver jobs for the heritage sector and traditional skills craftspeople, providing thousands of hours of employment every year.'
