Latest news with #TidyTowns
Irish Independent
a day ago
- Health
- Irish Independent
Around the Districts: Dromahair and Enniscrone-Kilglass
Cycle in Honour of Conor In memory of Conor Torsney, family and friends will embark on a 90km cycle taking in parts of Leitrim, Roscommon and Sligo on June 14. Please support our cyclists. All proceeds to the development of the Dromahair Community Park. North West Hospice appeal for volunteers for Sunflower Day. Sunflower Days in aid of North West Hospice take place from June 5 to June 6. If you could volunteer to spare an hour or two in your local area to help out with Sunflower Days, please contact North West Hospice at 071 9170523 or email fundraise@ All funds raised from Sunflower Days go directly towards patient care. Dromahair Development Association blotto draw Our blotto draw took place in the Depot on Tuesday, May 27. The numbers drawn were 03, 13, 16 and 26 and our jackpot of €7,850 was not won. Our five winners of €30 were Dessie McPartland, Caroline McCafferty, Julia McGuinness, Steven Kelly and Pat Kelly. Our next blotto draw will take place in the Depot on Tuesday, June 10, and our jackpot will be €7,900. Watch out for the QR Code stickers that are up in different locations around the village. They will give you quick access to the draw online. Get your envelopes now in local businesses, we need your support. Good luck and thank you everyone for your continued much needed support. Clean ups of Dromahair Village Dromahair Development Association/Tidy Towns hold clean-ups of the village of Dromahair every Wednesday for the summer months, meeting at the Depot at 7 p.m. If you would like to join our team of volunteers you can contact the Depot Office, Monday to Thursday 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. 071 9134986 or 085 8017943, leave your contact details and we will notify you of the next clean-up. Any help that you can offer would be greatly appreciated. Tidy Towns in Dromahair Tidy Towns season is upon us so it would be great if residents and businesses could keep an eye on weeds and litter on their own property through May onwards as we have a small group of volunteers and we really need your help. Rural Social Scheme Workers Location: North/Mid Leitrim. Jobs: Environmental, administration, social care and caretaking. Must have active family herd number with an active BISS application. Must be receiving a Social Welfare payment. For more information or to apply contact brianmcgloin@ or 086 8521791. Faragher-McLoughlin School of Irish Dance Irish Dancing Classes, boys and girls age 4+. Manorhamilton: Tuesday 5 p.m. to 8 p.m., Kinlough: Wednesday 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. and Garrison: Thursday 5.30 p.m. to 8 p.m. Contact Clare McMorrow TCRG 087 2720068, Aidan McLoughlin ADCRG 086 3811464 and Romai McMorrow 087 1179653. Registrations now open. ADVERTISEMENT Killenummery Community Centre Killenummery Community Centre this month Mondays. Line dancing with Gary 1 p.m. to 2 p.m., male female new session starting May 19 Great fun. Second Monday Men's Shed 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. second Tuesday Killenummery Women's Group 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. Wednesday midday new six-week chair exercise started May 7. Lots of chairs and space. With Sue. A great exercise class. Wednesday seven 30 to nine 30 bowls club. Male and female Thursday QQI level four gardening class. 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Thursday KWG presents a new six-week Block of chair yoga starts 15th with Grainne Adventure Gently. 5.30 to 6.30. Open to community. Last Friday in month Servers club Clothes recycling bank at centre Also R RETURN bin (orange) at centre. For just the R recycling bottles and cans. If you are out walking and find some discarded do drop them in. Helps with our fundraising and environment. Info on any of the above contact Thelma at 086 6017835. Join Killenummery Men's Shed as they host a special event in celebration of Men's Health Week 2025, running from June 9 to June 16. The gathering will take place at the shed on Monday, June 9, at 8 p.m. Enjoy light refreshments while attending an insightful talk by Caroline McCafferty, Psychotherapist (MBACP). All are welcome – come along for an evening of learning and connection. Ballintogher Enterprise Centre Music Classes in Ballintogher Enterprise Centre (F91 C2 HT) on Monday evenings. From 5.30 p.m. – Whistle/Flute/Concertina and Fiddle. Online booking or Contact 087 6645509. Speech and Drama Classes on Fridays – from age four years upwards. Irish Conversation Class for Beginners/Improvers in Ballintogher Enterprise Centre – F91 C2 HT Thursday evening. commencing shortly. Supported by ETB. To register, please contact – 087 6645509 by return or email ballintogherhub@ Counselling – Low cost, confidential, community based counselling with Caroline McCafferty MBACP. CLMcounselling@ 087 4869755. Classes for 2025 in the Depot Jewellery Making coming soon to the Depot, part funded by MSLETB Limited spaces will be available, so to book your place and for more information contact the Depot Office at 071 9134986 or 085 8017943 Mon-Thursday 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Bike Maintenance Workshops – Come along to our Bike Maintenance Workshops, part funded by MSLETB, starting shortly in the Depot. The course will provide you with the skills to care and maintain your bicycle. To register your interest contact the Depot Office Mon-Thursday 10 a.m.-1 at 071 9143986 or 085 8017943 or Living With Dogs Talks by Tina – Are you having trouble with your furry friend? We are hosting a serious of short talks on the trials and tribulations of dog ownership with some tips and tricks in managing our delightful fur balls. For more information and to book your place contact the Depot Office 071 9134986 or 085 8017943 or email Pilates with Rory, parent and Toddler 11 a.m. North Leitrim Dance Class. Fab Fitness with Sue Pilates with Sue. Yoga with Amy. Knit Group, yoga with Gráinne, Karate. For further information on any of the activities contact the Depot office, open 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., Monday to Thursday. Contact us at 071 9134986 or 085 8017943. Notes Items for local notes to before 12 noon on Thursday please. ENNISCRONE-KILGLASS Notes Send your news and pictures to the West Sligo Family Resource Centre before midday on Friday or call 096 37444 or email enniscronetourism3@ West Sligo Family Resource Centre We are delighted to be supporting this new project, 'Where do we all belong?' Follow along on Instagram @wheredoweallbelong to see the lads travelling around Sligo, capturing people's stories. 'Where do we all belong?' is a socially engaged visual art project addressing loneliness in Co. Sligo. Dance Fun Dance classes with Carmel on Fridays 11 – midday will be on in June (6, 12, 20 and 27) before breaking up for the summer, Adult Art classes with Tracey (no teen art for June) 2 p.m. to 3.30 p.m. on in June as well before breaking for the summer... they (adult art and teen art classes) will be back in September... also wellness classes will be on in June before breaking for the summer. Sound bath on Thursday, June 12, breathwork on Thursday, June 26, and Shamanic Drum on Monday, June 7.30 p.m. start... also we have Suzie back with her very creative craft workshop on Monday, June 16, 12.30 p.m. to 3 p.m., please email events@ Enniscrone-Kilglass Community Games Congratulations to our under-11 tag rugby team who won their match, securing their place in the semifinal. Well done to both teams for a great game, and thanks to all the coaches involved. Condolences Our sincere condolences to the family and friends of the late TJ Cawley St Farnan's Drive, Dromore West, Co. Sligo peacefully, at his residence surrounded by his loving family. Predeceased by his parents Paddy and beloved husband of Tjietra and loving father of Ciarán and Tristan. Sadly, missed by his wife, sons, brothers Pat, Kieran, Seán and Desmond, sisters Mary and Stephanie, sisters-in-law, brothers-in-law, nieces, nephews, wider family circle of friends. May He rest in peace. Kilglass Parish Community Centre: Attention Leaving Cert Students. Need a quiet place to study? We're offering free study desks at the Hub perfect for focused revision in a calm environment. You'll get: A quiet space to concentrate. Free Wi-Fi. Complimentary tea and coffee. Spaces are limited and booking is essential. Please use the following booking form: Enniscrone blotto May 25. Blotto jackpot €4,000. No jackpot winner. numbers were: – 17, 29, and 31. €25 winners: Martin Reape. Patrick Gillespie. Séamus Duffy. Ben, Rian and Paidi Byron. Jackpot for the next draw on Sunday, June 1, McNulty's Bar will be €4,200. West Sligo Athletics Club Congratulations to our Mixed Distance Relay competitors who represented Co Sligo at the weekend in the all-Ireland finals. The boys made themselves, their area and county proud, with the under-12 team winning bronze and the under-14 team silver. Well done boys. Congratulations Congratulations to Eoghan Rua Ladies' Football Club, who just won the clubs very first Division 1 League title. Congratulations to all the girls and their dedicated management on their win. Congratulations to our Kilglass Enniscrone United Football Club players on their successful relay team, Sligo at Community Games running all-Irelands today. Under-12 Cohen Reynolds and Brendan O'Meara – bronze. Under-14 Matthew Coen – silver. Enniscrone Beach Clean Up Our annual beach clean-up starts up again on June 1 from 9 a.m. to 9.45 a.m. meeting at the Lifeguard tower, gloves, rubbish pickers and bags will be provided, 01/06, 08/06, 15/06, 22/06, 29/06, 06/07, 13/07, 20/07, 27/07, 03/08, 10/08, 17/08, 24/08, 31/08 all help would be greatly appreciated. Pier Swim The Enniscrone Pier Swim sponsored by Coleman Electronics is back this summer, taking place on Saturday, June 21. With four distances, ranging from 500m to 3km, and a Children's Event, this event tailors to beginners and those more experienced in the water. Kilglass Enniscrone United Football Club KEUFC are delighted to announce that Phase II of our grounds upgrade was completed this week with the installation of our new state-of-the-art LED floodlights. This now means that the club can host evening games going forward and also gives us more capacity to train. The floodlight installation followed Phase I, which was the conversion of the old grass pitch to all Weather astro. The club would sincerely like to thank all the volunteers who helped us with this project, through fundraising, grant applications and lots of other tasks undertaken. A huge thank you to all our sponsors, without whose help we would never get these projects off the ground. Our floodlights were installed by Electric Skyline Ltd and we would like to thank Darren, Fergal, Jason and Dec for their expertise and commitment to doing a top job. Huge thank you to Seán Egan from Seán Egan Electrical, who done all the electrical connections and as always has been a massive help to the club whether carrying out works or advising us on the best approach. Thank you to our engineers OMD Design for their excellent work as always and finally thanks to Bendan Byron for his assistance in the procurement stage of the project. We hope that all our players and community enjoy using our fantastic facilities for many years to come. KEUFC are hosting Sligo Rovers FC summer Camp. August 18 to August 22, boys and Girls 10.30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Our club will hold a FAI camp this year at Michael McGowan Park from July 21 to July 25 Boys and Girls 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. FAI Camp can be booked online now.
Irish Independent
3 days ago
- General
- Irish Independent
Wexford integration event hears how ‘volunteering breaks down barriers and builds trust'
One thing which has evidently helped newcomers to feel part of their new communities is volunteering. In several community groups, migrants and refugees are among the most dedicated volunteers – Wexford Tidy Towns being just one positive example with volunteers of all different nationalities and backgrounds. Integration Through Volunteering was the topic of a special conference hosted by Wexford Volunteer Centre during National Volunteering Week. The event featured three dynamic panel discussions with over 80 people in attendance. Speakers included community leaders from across Wexford, government representatives, local authority representatives, and volunteers from refugee backgrounds who have made powerful contributions to their new communities since arriving in Ireland. Keynote speaker on the day was Dr Salome Mbugua who is the CEO of the Migrant Women's Network Ireland and has over 20 years' experience working with under-represented groups in Europe, Africa and internationally. Also present was Mayor Catherine 'Biddy' Walsh who spoke of the importance of diversity, inclusion and community action. This conference was the result of months of research, supported by funding from the Ireland Against Racism Fund, St. Stephen's Green Trust, and the New Communities Integration Fund (Department of Rural and Community Development). 'What we've seen time and again is that volunteering creates genuine connections, it breaks down barriers, builds trust, and gives people purpose,' said Eva Law, Centre Manager at Wexford Volunteer Centre. 'This conference was about bringing those stories to light, recognising the challenges, and working together to find practical, community-led solutions.' Wexford Volunteer Centre aims to continue its work in this area and the next steps will include turning their research into a white paper and designing training programmes to support both volunteers and community organisations with inclusive practices and cross-cultural understanding.
Irish Examiner
23-05-2025
- Science
- Irish Examiner
Colm O'Regan: AI scraped my novels, but why? Does it want to describe the inner workings of an imaginary Tidy Towns group?
Artificial intelligence — Lookit, you can't avoid it. Here are a few words to get you through if you are ever stopped by the AI police. AI, machine learning, neural networks, and large language models. I've used these interchangeably like bog/marsh/mire/fen/swamp. But they're not all the same thing. Artificial Intelligence is the overall idea of a computer system that can simulate human intelligence. This means it can learn new things. Machine learning is a type of AI where computers learn from data. A neural network is a technique of machine learning that mimics how the brain learns. That's the stuff that does image recognition so that's why your weird photo was rejected from Facebook. And a large language model is a type of neural network trained on squillions of words and grammar rules, and data from the internet so that it can answer you like a smart human can. ChatGPT is an example of a large language model. That's the thing you used to write your CV. LLMs have a rake of stuff in their brains that they're using to write answers for you. This is the training data. A lot of this has been scraped from the internet but also books, art, etc. Including my own books. Finding my novels scraped by AI, at first I couldn't possibly figure out what use it would have to build up the large language models' ability to describe the inner workings of an imaginary Tidy Towns group. But now, looking at the infiltration of Tidy Towns Facebook groups with AI-generated profiles, the whole thing is starting to fit together. Just like all of us, AIs can have bias. And just like all of us, our bias depends on what we've been told. That bias can lead us to say some stupid stuff. AI systems reflect the prejudices in their training data. If it was trained on biased data, it can act in biased ways. Shite in, shite out. Soon you'll hear about AGI, artificial general intelligence. This is where a machine is smart enough to match or be better than humans across all types of intelligence. We're not there yet, but already it is said that the next version of AI will be smart enough to do a PhD. The joke doing the rounds is that the version after that will be smart enough to turn down a PhD and maybe go working because its head is melted from research. Speaking of education, there's a huge concern in college about using AI to cheat. Academics are at a loss to know how to detect it. The only answer I think is to increase the level of in-person practical assessment. Maybe take a tip from the Fianna. There was no essay to be written for joining them. Jumping over a branch as tall as yourself, running under a knee-high stick, and plucking a thorn from your foot as you run at top speed was considered the entrance exam. If you hear the 'Turing test' thrown around, it's a test to see if a machine can fool a human into thinking it's also human. AIs recently passed a very hard version of it. 'Very hard' is a technical term. I will not be taking follow-up questions. You'll see talk about regulation and 'guardrails'. Guardrails are the rules built into AI to stop it from being harmful, but you'll probably need another AI to enforce it and … shur they know each other as they went to school together. It'll be the Celtic Tiger banks all over again. Finally there's hype — fierce excitement about what's coming, given by people who have a stake in you being as concerned about this as possible. For more on that, why not sign up to my fun AI safety course called AAAAA!-I. Cash only. Colm is not hosting an AI course. Yet. He'll be doing comedy at Coughlans on Sunday, May 25, until an AI replacement can be found.
Irish Examiner
13-05-2025
- General
- Irish Examiner
Council refuses to install dog fouling bins in East Cork town
Council officials have flatly refused to put designated dog fouling bins in the biggest town in East Cork, despite an abundance in smaller towns in the region. There are 75 litter bins and 15 dog fouling receptacles in Cobh, while there are 46 and 10 respectively in Youghal. However, there are just 23 litter bins and no dog fouling bins in Midleton and council officials are refusing to introduce the latter unless some voluntary organisations like Tidy Towns offer to clean them out. The decision has been described as totally unacceptable by independent councillor John Buckley, who's also a noted volunteer with the local Tidy Towns. Mr Buckley said Midleton is being blighted by dog fouling, especially on popular walkways in Broomfield and on the Northern Relief Road. Mr Buckley said: 'People are dumping dog poo in these areas and it's attracting vermin. We have just 23 litter bins of which most are in the town centre and we don't have any dog poo ones. Midleton has the biggest population in the East Cork region, which is growing all the time. It makes no sense at all. He said he couldn't accept the council offer to put in two dog fouling receptacles only if volunteers came forward to clean them, as council workers provide that service in the other two towns. Labour councillor Cathal Rasmussen, who lives in Cobh, said he couldn't understand the council's stance in Midleton. 'We've even put in an extra couple of these bins in Cobh this year,' he said. Mr Rasmussen pointed out that when his municipal district was in charge of the very popular 'People's Park' at Haulbowline, council officials somewhat unexpectedly refused to put dog fouling bins in there. He said that a huge number of dog walkers visit the park and the lack of such bins is leading to pet owners dumping filled bags into shrubbery and also into the harbour. Youghal-based independent councillor Mary Linehan Foley said that while they have these bins in her town and provide free poo bags to locals, they still have issues. 'People are still flinging the bags onto bushes and trees. I mean what kind of person actually does that? Sometimes you can provide all the bins in the world, and they don't work,' she said. Midleton-based Fine Gael councillor Rory Cocking said that the problem in his town emanates from people walking their dogs for long distances and 'get sick and tired of holding the bag for so long they just fling it away' as they don't have the designated bins in which to dispose of them. Fianna Fáil councillor Ann Marie Ahern suggested that the council put up warning signs about fines for culprits at the areas in Midleton which are being blighted by dog fouling. Council officials said they will consider doing this but remain adamant that their policy as regards to putting in such bins is that people should carry their pet's droppings home and dispose of them in their own bins.
Irish Independent
10-05-2025
- Business
- Irish Independent
Regeneration of Arklow town centre could be aided by preserving Dominican friars' legacy
Founded by St Dominic in 1215, the Dominican order, under the instruction of the chief butler of Ireland, established an Abbey in Arklow in 1264. The grounds of that abbey extended over 100 acres in the townland, which is evident in local area names like Abbeyville, Abbeylands and Abbey Lane. The priory or abbey itself occupied eight acres, two of which were used by the friars and would have included a church, resident buildings and a kitchen, while a cemetery and kitchen garden would have also been part of the priory design. Eager to acknowledge this legacy, Arklow Tidy Towns volunteers approached the Chamber of Commerce to propose a project that would both highlight the Dominican order's history and add to efforts to regenerate Arklow town centre and support the local economy. As Tidy Towns volunteer Sandra Duffy explained, plans include a stone replica of the emblem of the Dominicans at the newly refurbished Abbey Lane, while an 'edimental' garden area with an edible/ornamental planting will reimagine the former kitchen gardens there, which will be introduced into a selection of raised beds. 'We approached the Arklow Chamber with the idea that we wanted to remember the Dominican Friars that came to the town in 1260,' she said. 'They were the first educators in the town, the first preachers in the town, and brought some semblance of Christianity to the town. 'When the council upgraded the Abbey Cemetery, repaired the wall and put the old stone wall back, it was reminiscent of the former abbey. So, we in Tidy Towns wanted to reintroduce that forgotten heritage while making the lane more attractive for people walking from the car park to the Main Street. 'The Chamber liked the idea and came on board to sponsor the project, particularly as it's an initiative to regenerate an area linked to Main Street and would help support businesses in the town. 'Main Street is trying to recover from years of neglect and years of lack of development, but now with the wastewater treatment plant opening up, we're hoping that would bring a huge injection of interest, small businesses and residents to the town,' she added. 'So, we're trying to create different offerings for people, to show them a little bit of heritage, and also to enhance the landscape of the town centre with more pedestrian experiences that are unique. 'We're really focusing on dressing the town in anticipation of these developments and enticing new businesses into the town by making it more attractive. 'A big thanks to the Chamber for their continuous support, which is such a vital resource for us. We simply could not survive without it. When the coffers are bare, they always come through for us.' Declaring their pride at supporting Arklow Tidy Town's vision with a recent donation, an Arklow & District Chamber of Commerce spokesperson said: 'This contribution reflects our Chamber's commitment to supporting community-led efforts that enhance Arklow's cultural and historical landscape. 'Well done to the Tidy Towns team for their continued dedication to preserving and beautifying our town.'
