Sligo Now Magazine

June 2014 • €2.00 • Issue 20

IF IT’S HAPPENING IN SLIGO

THEN WE HAVE IT COVERED!

100’s of Out and about photos plus loads more in our bumper 72 page edition!

N @ FASHIO L A V I T S THE FE CHECK

REEN G

E H T

ROCK’N D AT

E N SPOTT E E B

U O HAVE Y

S? E C A R

SLIGO

Y A W

O CAMINMING MARKETS SLIGO E H T

K E TR

RS U O V A L LOCAL F

BOO SLIGO’S

LEONIE

GARDENING WITH SUPERGARDEN MENTOR

CORNELIUS

SHENANIGANS THE STORY SO FAR

ISSN 2009-5422

WELCOME

contents

Your critical guide to events, culture, attractions and going out in Sligo

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S

8

ummertime and the livin’ is easy, try as I may I just could not stop humming this famous song line over the June bank holiday weekend. Blessed with glorious weather one couldn’t but sit back and soak up what hopefully is the beginning of summer.

Rock’n the Green got the festival season off with a bang. Bagatelle, Hothouse Flowers, Republic of Loose, The Quakers, Paddy Casey and many many more entertained the masses in a marquee on the Fairgreen in Collooney. Run by local people it was a weekend to remember and best of all in was all done in aid of two great charities Cystic Fibrosis and Northwest Hospice. A big well done to all on the committe and their sponsors

12 14 16

Sligo man Donal McLynn is a male model living the life dreamed by many. Signed to agencies in New York, Milan and London, he has worked for some of the biggest names in fashion. Kate Winter catches up with him on a brief visit home.

In this months bumper issue Sean Cunningham, landlord of the popular student bar and party venue, Shenanigans, shares some thoughts on life and business in Sligo over the past twenty years and into the future.

20

It's a sad truth that there are still businesses closing their doors in Sligo town from the pressures and financial strains of the recession.

And yet, there's a different kind of business booming in current climes. More and more enterprising individuals are taking themselves to the markets springing up locally to offer their crafts, wares and produce in an environment of community, positivity and growth. Find out more about them inside

23 28 32

Ballygawleys Big Brother is getting closer and as of going to print there are two housemates confirmed for what promises to be a great weekend. See more inside A big congrats to our resident gardening expert Leonie Cornelius on her recent win at Chelsea In Bloom. She did an installation for the dubarry brand and won a gold medal. Well done All this along with the usual photos of out and about, entertainment listings make it an issue not to be missed.

36 40 44 50 52 54 56 58 60 63

Seamus Casey - Editor

Cover Photo: Nicola Gillespie www.facebook.com/NicolaGillespiePhotos

contact us

Editor: Seamus Casey seamus@sligonow.ie Design: Stephen Finney steve@sligonow.ie Editorial: Kate Winter katewinter@sligonow.ie

Sales: Alan Gaffney alan@sligonow.ie Sales: Lisa Gilmartin lisa@sligonow.ie

Photography: Donal Hackett Nicola Gillespie Eavan McLoughlin Niamh Devaney Ruth Williams

OUT AND ABOUT Rock’n the Green Festival

SLIGO’S NEXT TOP MODEL Sligo man Donal McLynn is a male model signed to agencies in New York, Milan and London, who has worked for some of the biggest names in fashion.

OUT AND ABOUT 21 Outs EP Launch @ THe Swagman

AFTER DARK @ THE GARAVOGUE BAR

ONE TO ONE WITH SEAN CUNNINGHAM OF SHENANIGANS Landlord of the popular student bar and party venue, Shenanigans, shares some thoughts on life and business in Sligo over the past twenty years and into the future.

OUT AND ABOUT McHughs Bar Velvet Room Nightclub

WATCH THIS SPACE Emma Murphy - Locks and Lace SUMMER ACTIVITIES

WHATS ON IN SLIGO...

Your definitive out and about guide!

ELECTRIC GREEN

LOCAL FLAVOUR Sligo’s Booming Markets

GARDENING WITH LEONIE CORNELLIUS TREK THE SLIGO CAMINO WAY

HEALTH AND WELLBEING DIRECTORY WHATS COOKING OUT FOR DINNER - RESTAURANT GUIDE SERVICES DIRECTORY WINTERS NEW LEAVES SLIGO SCENES BY MARILIN NORTH

Published by: IBS Publications Limited Unit 7, NW Business Park, Collooney, Co. Sligo.

Tel/Fax: 071-9154538 Web: www.sligonow.ie Email: info@sligonow.ie

June 2014 • Sligo Now Magazine • Page 3

Aura Harbison & Peter Ganley

Sarah Flynn & Colleen Cavanagh

Aoife Anderson & Donna Taaffe

Michelle Tomas & Anne-Marie Munnelly

Three of the Five Piece band 'The Quakers' Alan McDonagh, Gavin McGowan & Fergal Gallagher

Roseanne Kelly & Manuela Caniglia

Graham Farrell, Erin Hunt & Barry White

Specialising in Bridal & Occasional Makeup

Aisling Leydon

Recently awarded Sligo’s Best Makeup Artist

Award Winning Professional Makeup Artist

June 2014 • Sligo Now Magazine • Page 4

1a Charles Street, Sligo • Tel: 087-2072112

Lynne Kilgallen, Orla McLean, Michelle Kilgallen, Catherine Clarke and Eimear Kelly

Rachel Cavanagh & Gráinne Kearns

Bagatelle

Sandra Wrynne, Nicole McManus & Emma Gallagher

Lisa Kerins & Lisa McGowan ?

Stephen Healy & Sandra Ganley

Fiona McGurran & Trish Masterson

Dracula PRP Therapy™ NEW & EXCLUSIVE to Ireland Sports Injuries, Hairloss, Acne Scars, Breast Volume Correction, Stretch Marks, Skin Rejuvenation, Facelifts Cosmetic Doctor Facial Injection Procedures, Migraine, Excessive Sweating, Teeth Grinding, Gummy Smile & Silhouette Soft Thread Facelift.

Lynne Kilgallen & Cathrine Clarke

Dermal Fillers Lip & Cheek Enhancement, Tear Trough, Ear Lobe and Nose Reshaping.

Chemical Skin Peel Smoker’s Complexion, Pregnancy Dark Spots, Pigmentation, Visable Pores, Dull Complexion and Excess Sebum.

Advanced Cosmetic Procedure Tattoo Removal, Blepharoplasty at the beginning and remove Milia, Skin Tags and Spider Naevus

June 2014 • Sligo Now Magazine • Page 5

Pedro Hanrique Costa, John Farrell, Tatiana Sakagami, Bianca Nasser and Marina Rique Cangiano

Maria Doherty and John Doherty

Olwyn Girsol and Elizabeth Rushe

Colm Condron and Oria Sweeney

Carolanne Rushe and Sinead Kirby

Bernardine McManus and Niamh Devaney

Traditional Music Every Friday & Saturday

Premiership Matches Shown Live in the Bar

CASTLE STREET, SLIGO • OFF LICENCE TELEPHONE: 071-9138900

WATCH LIVE SPORTS IN THE BAR

Stocking premium Irish, Scotch and world whiskeys, Armagnac, Quality Rums and Liqueurs Award winning wines ranging from €5 to €80

Speciality Beers and Wines

Excellent variety of quality Cuban Cigars Craft and World Beers stocked

Premiership Matches Shown Live in the Bar

Our friendly Staff can help you choose from our extensive range of wines and spirits

Call into us for the perfect Gift Ideas

Very few off licences will capture your imagination like Foleys, with its breathtaking range!

March 2014••Sligo SligoNow NowMagazine Magazine••Page Page66 June 2014

Ballina Salmon Festival 2014 50th Anniveary 6th-13th July 2014

With the summer fast approaching, work is well underway for the Ballina Salmon Festival’s Golden Anniversary which boasts a programme full of events for young and old alike. The fun kicks off on Sunday afternoon July 6th with the Teddy Bears Picnic, followed in the evening by “A Night in Reo”. The festivities continue throughout the rest of the week with The Garth Brooks experience in Hotel Ballina on Monday and a 10k fun run on Tuesday. Heritage Day on Wednesday gives festival goers a glimpse into the past, featuring various crafts people display their skills of Tinsmith, Thatching, Buttermaking and Woodturning to name but a few, all enjoyed amidst the traditional music and dancing plus more that fills the streets. The ever popular Garda Band will also be heard throughout the town and as a special treat this year, ‘Sliabh na mBan’; the historical armoured car that carried the coffin of the iconic Michael Collins will also be on display. It’s a Knockout is back on Thursday and Krazy Kart makes a comeback on Friday. The Mardi Gras is back by popular demand on Saturday evening followed by a spectacular Fireworks Display over the River Moy. It all winds down on Sunday with the River Duck Race during the day and International Night on the streets in the evening followed by music and a Garth Brooks tickets raffle in the Broken Jug. If all of this is not enough there will also be a separate programme of events and workshops tailored especially for children running daily. Ballina is the place to be this July and under the leadership of our chairperson Benny Walkin we hope to make this year our best yet with a week full of entertainment, excitement and memories of festivals gone by.

Other Events Saturday 5th - Liquid Motion Salmon Run Triathlon

Historical Walks By Local Historian Carmel Hughes FOC @ 11am Monday Tuesday Thursday & Friday meeting point The Font.

Tuesday 8th Bagatelle, Hotel Ballina, Supported by Flatout Saturday 13th Tag Rugby (16+ years), Rugby Pitch, Creggs Road

Sunday 14th Ballina Agricultural Show, Showground's

Sunday 14th ‘A Bit of a Do’, a fun day for the family in the grounds of St Joseph’s Hospital

Ballina, County Mayo, T: 096-79814 e: info@ballinasalmonfestical.ie March 2014 • Sligo Now Magazine • Page 7 www.ballinasalmonfestival.ie

I

t's important for me to point out before we launch into this story, that Donal McLynn is without doubt the most handsome man I have ever shared airspace with. Blush-inducingly, goofygrin-inspiringly, indecently handsome. So what follows is the best I could do under the circumstances. Thanks for your understanding, now we may begin.

Donal is at pains to point out that he's just your average Sligo fella. One of the lads.

Second youngest of the nine McLynn children. When he was young, he wanted nothing more than to follow in his older brother Ross' footsteps and play professional football. School didn't hold massive appeal, and when he graduated, Donal decided that a trade would suit him better than the traditional university path.

Sligo man Donal McLynn is a male model signed to agencies in New York, Milan and London, who has worked for some of the biggest names in fashion.

Kate Winter catches up with him on a brief visit home.

As he explains: "I wasn't that into school and studying, I wouldn't have been the most academic of kids. I didn't really consider much in the way of college, the idea of coming out of four years of study with a career that I basically had to do, or even worse, an office job, turned me off. So instead I did four years of training in carpentry and got my qualifications in that. The way I saw it, it was a skill which I could use anywhere if and when I needed it as opposed to a career path I strictly had to follow."

Throughout his training, Donal played football for the county team and occasionally picked up some modelling work for EJ's Menswear, who regularly make a point of using local men as their models. He certainly didn't see modelling as a career at this point, rather a handy means for extra cash.

And while the football and modelling didn't necessarily go hand in hand, Donal took the regular heckling over his good looks in a lighthearted manner. "When I was playing football, I would often get ripped on by the other lads about how I looked.

June 2014 • Sligo Now Magazine • Page 8

I never really took it as a compliment or an insult, it was just a bit of craic."

It was Donal's decision to move to New York when he finished his carpentry training that changed his life's course entirely. He had no intention of moving to the Big Apple to pursue a career in modelling, or in carpentry for that matter.

Rather, to join some friends who were already living in the city ("the centre of the world") and working in the lucrative bar trade.

So taking his experience of working behind the bar in the family owned McLynn's in Sligo, which he soon discovered was not quite the same game as cocktail bars in NYC, Donal spent two years working and playing in the city. While he loved the buzz of the bar trade, he soon realised this was not a longterm plan for him.

"The hours were draining, and the lifestyle was really taking a toll on me physically.

That kind of work and those kind of hours will really age you, it's so hard to look after yourself properly under those circumstances."

In the summer of 2013, Donal took on a carpentry job for a friend, building a bar in Long Island, and finally started to listen to his girlfriend Vanessa, who had for some time been trying to convince him to give professional modelling a try.

He put together a profile on a well known model-contact website called Model Mayhem, and within weeks was on his first paid shoot. He relates the story with many pauses for raucous laughter...

"My first ever paid shoot was for a diet supplement pill and it was just ridiculous. At the time, I was a lot more muscular, built more like a rugby player. I was booked at a casting where I'd already had to strip down to my boxers, which was strange enough, but then on the actual shoot it got weirder. I had to get a spray tan, so I ended up standing there wearing nothing but a sock, getting sprayed dark brown, with no experience, no idea what I was doing and very, very nervous. I had to travel back from the salon to lower Manhattan and by the time I got to where the shoot was on I was so freaked out I was sweating like mad. My heart was pounding and my tan was running down me in big streaks and I just couldn't stop sweating. It got so bad that they made me take a shower in the middle of it. It was mortifying. I came out pale as a paddy, when I went in looking like a Spanish stud. But at the end of the day, I still got paid for it, which was the main thing!"

Despite these less than auspicious beginnings, Donal's career in modelling began to take off, seeing him ultimately signing with a New York modelling agency called Orb. Not the biggest agency in the city by a long shot, but the personal touch appealed to Donal.

PHOTOS BY NICOLA GILLESPIE / CLOTHING BY EJ MENSWEAR

When I was playing football, I would often get ripped on by the other lads about how I looked. I never really took it as a compliment or an insult, it was just a bit of craic."

June 2014 • Sligo Now Magazine • Page 9

And after he followed the advice from Tony, his new agent, losing a considerable amount of muscle mass and slimming down his physique, the results started to show.

Wilhelmina Models, one of the biggest international modelling agencies in the world, came sniffing around.

They had heard of him and wanted to meet. But as Donal explains, they had had their chance already: "I had met with Wilhelmina already and they hadn't wanted me. But now, after Tony had given me some good advice and worked with me a bit, they suddenly did. Who knows, maybe it all would have been different if I'd made the switch, but there were things about Wilhelmina that I didn't like. I liked the personal touch with Orb, the fact that the main guy, Tony, was looking after me, and I felt more comfortable with that. I don't regret my decision at all."

Donal worked as a professional model in the US until his visa ran out, after which, Tony from Orb Models organised a contract with a connected agency in Milan,

Major Models. It was a big life change and a massive wrench to leave behind the life he had built himself in New York, in particular saying goodbye to his girlfriend of over a year, Vanessa, but Donal was also excited, seeing it as a fresh start and a chance to really immerse himself in the world of modelling. Milan offered a whole new level of opportunity and competition. As Donal describes it: "Immediately in Milan there were 4 or 5 castings a day; it was full on. I was living in a house with several other male models, which was nice because we were all in the same boat. I was a bit disappointed for the first week because I didn't hook any jobs.

It was madness, getting sent to these castings and running around the city, not knowing which street was which, where I was going, what I was doing."

But Donal found his feet and in his second week in the city, landed a catwalk show with none other than Giorgio Armani. Along with a huge cast of models and crew, he walked in the basement showroom of Giorgio's own villa

June 2014 • Sligo Now Magazine • Page 10

in Milan, enjoyed the top-end model treatment of manicures and pedicures and a beautiful buffet for their enjoyment, and was seen by some of the biggest names in fashion.

Rather than see this as the huge coup that it was though, Donal is typically selfdepricating when he talks about the experience.

"The guys I was living with thought it was an amazing achievement for me to be walking in an Armani show in my second week there. But I would tend to be quite hard on myself naturally, and to want more. I did a few more big jobs, for the likes of Ralph Lauren and a big Italian cosmetics company, but at the end of the day I just felt the work was drying up, so I moved on."

Donal came back to Sligo for Christmas, and stayed around for a few weeks before plotting his next move to Paris.

But the French capital didn't appeal to him at all, so he returned home again, picking up a few jobs with EJ's again.

Since then, Donal has moved to London and signed to yet another agency, MOT

Models. He's pragmatic about the future, despite having those high expectations of himself. "I'll have to wait and see what happens. London is a little slow this time of year but it should pick up a bit in the Summer. And I can always do some bar work in the meantime if I have to!"

A man who is willing to work hard, take risks and make sacrifices to achieve what he wants, Donal McLynn doesn't like to blow his own trumpet.

Even when I point out that he hasn't even been working as a professional model for a year yet and has reached heights that most wannabe models could never dream of, he shakes his ridiculously handsome head at me and explains: "Look, I don't realistically see myself making it to the top of this game. I mean, it would be great and all, but all I really want is to make my family and close friends proud of me and feel that I'm achieving something."

Well, allow me to be the first to point out the obvious, Donal... MISSION ACCOMPLISHED.

Mary Foley, Olivia Byrne and Laura Mahon

Jane, James, and Andy Parsons

Laura Dunne and Ken Gunning

Kerrie and Paul Carroll Elaine Coghill, Connie Ballintine and Sylwia Uryga

Maeve, Briana and Robert McCormack

Lucy O'Hara and Michael Mooney

Sales, Service & Repairs for all Cars, Vans & Light Commercials

g kin toc RES S NowEW TY kes & N ll ma s l a for mode

June 2014 • Sligo Now Magazine • Page 12

Karen and David Tighe

Tel: 087- 61 88 000 Ballymote, Co. Sligo

Rachel Stout & Stephanie Healy

Enjoying the EP launch at The Swagman

Bethany Gayle, Lucy Robus & Emma Roper

Devin Toner, Ashley Thompson, Deren Roux & Stephen Barron

Niamh Igoe, Ryan Feehily & Hannah Lindsay

Daniel Smith, Ryan Gorvan, Hazel McCullagh, Emma Conlon, Kelly Burns & Aoife Whyte

MICHAEL

Amie Marren & Maya Clarke

TOM

KENNEDY CALLERY CERAMICS Tel: 071-9148844 Mob: 086-8253616

michaelkennedyceramics@gmail.com Market Street, Sligo

CERAMICS

Tel: 071-9197977 Visit the website: www.tomcalleryceramics.ie

GALLERY NO.6 OPENING SOON

June 2014 • Sligo Now Magazine • Page 13

after dark @ The

Garavogue Bar

Claire Giblins Hen Party

Mary Mitchell and Mary Davis

Michelle Delaney and Irene Larkin

Dee McGinn , Amy McKenna - bride to be and Paula Girr

Paul Carron and Caroll McCusker

Cathal Sheridans Stag party

Kate Starczan and Elwira Wrona

Alan Anderson and Eileen Gibson

TOMS TV • Competitvely priced sky repairs, box replacement and problem solving • Free-to-air one off payment • Saorview advice and installation • Digital aerials supplied and fitted • Maintenance, repairs and house moves

SLOW BROADBAND? For a limited period, I am offering a FREE, NO OBLIGATION Broadband Speed test to see whether anything can be done to improve your broadband speeds.

Contact Tom on 086-1574453 or 071-9169122 • Email: tomstvsligo@gmail.com • www.tomstv.ie

PHOTOS BY NICOLA GILLESPIE

Sean Cunningham, landlord of the popular student bar and party venue, Shenanigans, shares some thoughts on life and business in Sligo over the past twenty years and into the future.

June 2014 • Sligo Now Magazine • Page 16

W

e opened up here in 1997. It used to be The Pheasant Lounge before us. I got the name from an article I read at the time in the Irish Times. Mary Harney was giving out about Bertie Ahern and his 'shenanigans' and I shouted out to Trish "What do you think of Shenanigans?" and that was it, really.

At the time it was a small, dark, local pub; sports and darts oriented. I worked with its strengths and there were always great daytime drinkers.

People who played darts and supported celtic football club.

I started darts competitions and I sponsored a local team, Cranmore Celtic at the time, too. Just lots of little things to get the people through the doors. We had a pool table upstairs as well, which brought in a younger crowd quite consistently.

I was leasing for the first five years and then I got the option to buy in 2002, when I decided to reinvent the place. I closed for just over two weeks and did a big job.

We made it more modern and made the transition to going for the student trade.

While it was difficult switching between the old crowd and the new, it was a good move.

It took off. We were very busy, and became a very well known student bar in the town. At that time, students had money. There were a lot of them out there, they came to the pub early and spent whatever they had on drink.

All you had to do was put on a few promotions for them, provide good music and make sure the environment was one of fun. You have to let the rope out a little bit when it comes to students, they need to be able to go a little bit wild and they'll keep coming back if they know you've a positive attitude towards them. We had times where they were up dancing on tables and bars and causing mayhem. I was always there though, watching from the door. Rag Week and Graduation week were phenomenal. The pub really was punching above its weight for a few years during the boom.

In 2007 I decided to reinvent again. A hairdressers and a B&B on either side of me became available so I decided to go for it and extend. We reopened much bigger and completely remodelled, in September 2008, as one of the greenest pubs in Ireland. We're at least

twenty years ahead of our time in that regard. We have geothermal underfloor heating, rainwater harvesting, aerated energy windows, magnetic touch kitchens, timed light fittings; everything was designed to minimise environmental impact.

We re-opened with a new restaurant upstairs, intending to go for the dining crowd, the weekend drinking trade and still keep the student trade as much as possible. But it wasn't the best timing, as that was when things were just starting to change. For two years we did manage to do what we'd set out to regarding keeping the students and the weekend trade. There was a slight decline, but the pub was still doing well. The restaurant didn't work out. It lasted less than two years, and it was a hard lesson to learn, but it was like everything else. The business tells you its own strengths and you have to listen. The food side of things wasn't our strength. And with the recession, and the dwindling numbers of people with money to spend, trade just collapsed. So we changed things around and made that whole upstairs area all about gigs and private parties.

There's a lot of competition out there at the moment and a small market. It's a tough game. And as a student bar, times have changed. When it was booming, they were out early and they spent plenty of money. But over the past few years, they don't have the money to spend. They're buying their drink in Tesco and off licences and they're drinking at home (predrinking as they call it) and then they're coming down to the pub at 11 at the earliest, drunk already, before heading off to a club or something. We get max an hour of their time and money. We still get the crowds in, thank god. They like the bar. Just not for long enough! That's the challenge of the moment. And our weekend trade has suffered because now we're predominantly known as a student bar.

It's been a difficult old run, this recession, Not just for us but for all the businesses in Sligo. You can see in the town the level of stress it's caused.

And I don't think Sligo is performing as it should be, as it could. The reality is that Sligo is a moribund town. Don't get me wrong, I think we're the Riviera of Ireland. God gave

us beauty and scenery that's better than any place else in the world as far as I'm concerned, but we don't have the people in this town to take advantage of that. If I were to compare Sligo to a car, I'd say it was the best car in the world, but nobody has the keys and nobody is willing to drive it.

There's a lot wrong with this town, and nobody seems capable of working together to right it. We need people of real ability and most importantly we need somebody at the table of government fighting for Sligo, because we're getting the worst of it at the moment. The town suffers a lot because the businesses in this town don't work well together. There's some good marketing going on, and the arts and culture and music scene are doing quite well by all accounts.

Team Sligo did a great job with the #WhoKnew campaign, but the regular Joe Soaps and the actual business people in this town aren't contributing or benefitting from that really.

We have a ridiculous traffic problem, a lack of decent signage... We're asking the visitors to come in, but when they get here they're completely left to fend for themselves. That said, one good thing is that the tourist office is now in the centre of town. They used to say about this town that you'd need a map to buy a map!

In my opinion, the best thing to happen to this town in the last two years is the work of Tidy Towns. I'm not involved at the moment, but I would have been involved in the development of it. 'Together for Sligo' was a group made up of twenty odd of us business people about two years ago; myself, Fergal Quinn, Michelle Henry, Martin Foley and lots of other good local heads. Some great ideas came out of our midst, and the Tidy Towns committee was a product of one of those meetings. I think it will actually be the saving grace of this town.

I've always said, Brand Sligo needs to come first.

Everyone's in an individual mindset at the moment, rather than a collective.

Particularly the business side of things, possibly because everyone's just trying to keep their heads above water. But a collective effort is what we need; everyone in this town working together to make Sligo better.

June 2014 • Sligo Now Magazine • Page 17

Bernice Coggins, Natasha Keenan and Louise Toland

Bartenders at Lillies

Sinead McKiernan and Aisling McMorrow

Sandra Feeney and Gerry Grahams

Sarah Flynn , Laura Mullaney and Michelle Judge

David Adams and Claire Waldron

Dee Henry, Matthew Hinton and Jimmy Hinton

Yasmina Rahmoune and Tommy O Donoghue

Brian Keane and Stephanie Mah

€2500

COLLeGe Fee GiVeAWAY!

eJ’s WiLL PAY YOuR WAY THROuGH COLLeGe!

A

PuRCHASe YOuR DeBS/GRADuATiON SuiT iN eJ MeNSWeAR AND YOu'Re iN THe DRAW.

s the saying goes "time waits for no man" and as you go through life there are certain things that seem to have a way of reminding you that you are getting older, something I realized recently when a pop-up on my computer informed me that the rubic cube is celebrating its 40th birthday. There was a sudden realization that I was 13 yrs of age when this phenomenon hit the world scene and had people perplexed for days, months, and some perhaps never solved the complex cube.

So, with the passing years you may have had children and as in my case you might even have grandchildren and with that comes certain rewards and responsibilities.

One of those is the education

for your children which we, as parents, can provide in the natural setting of home, and then primary school and then high school and later if they choose a college course that continues their education.

But of course all this, and especially the latter, comes at a cost. So on the back of last year’s college giveaway EJ Menswear has announced that the mega giveaway is back for 2014. At a recent press conference held in EJs the owner, Eamonn Cunningham, announced the good news: "we had a huge response to the giveaway last year, and the final competition attracted a big interest from all over the North-west. It’s a great start to college life for any young person and it could be you.

The student fee giveaway, which is worth €2,500, covers all colleges in Ireland and abroad. Basically, you choose the college and EJs will finance the rest. Parents who

Photos by Michael Mc Gurrin

menswear

are in tough financial straits can look to paying some of their bills in the comfortable knowledge that their child is receiving the best possible 3rd level education courtesy of EJ Menswear.

So if you are contemplating buying a suit for any particular event you can fill in the form supplied and nominate your son, grandson, daughter, granddaughter, niece, nephew, any relative that is about to embark on a college course or on a second year.

This is a thoughtful gift in these difficult years. So come in and select a suit from our extensive range which caters for all ages and sizes. We have from a 34 to 54 and all in between, and we have short, regular, and long fittings. We have a popular selection of colours and a complementary range of shirts and ties to match, and added to this is a new range of bow-ties which are increasingly becoming more popular, in check, plain, polka dot, and paisley patterns. We look forward to your company and don't forget to fill in that form. It really SHOULDNT BE MISSED!!

Bank Building, Grattan St, Sligo. Tel: 071-91-70824

OPEN 7 DAYS THURSDAY TILL 7PM, SUNDAY 2-6PM • www.ejmenswear.ie

Fióna Ni Cheallaigh and Deirdre Ní Cheallaigh

Áoife Mc Govern, Tracey Carroll, Rebecca Brady and Steph McNamara

Lisa Gallagher and Deirdre Brennan Curran

Kate Breathnach and Mary Glennon

Katie Codd

Tara Buzz Gallagher and Lisa McGowan

Michelle Henry, Deirdre Killalea, Aisling Kerrigan, Edel Mc Goldrick and Tara Buzz Gallagher

Explore the wonderful landscape of Lough Gill on-board a traditional open boat with Lough Gill Tours.

Departing from the centre of Sligo town we travel along the Garavogue River for 30 minutes to reach the beautiful lake of Lough Gill made famous by W.b.Yeats and the lake Isle of Innisfree. With its surrounding mountains and many wooded islands, a must see for any visit to Sligo. Other services available include fishing trips, bird watching, photography, island visits & picnics.

Only €20 Per Person / Kids Go at Half Price / Group Rates are available / We can take up to 8 Passengers per trip

For Booking or Enquiries Call Lough Gill Tours on 086-7777375 • www.loughgilltours.com

Erasmus Students Party

Elaine Duffy's Hen party

Bernadette McPadden and Elisha Gaffney

Beca Hunt and Laura Bradley

Hungary's No 1 DJ - DJane Nadine!.

Colleen Blessing & Deirdre Blessing Scollen

Sinead Ni Mhuineachain, Cora Bennett and Aoife Ball

Denisa Okrucka's Hen Party

Patricia Dias

Aaron Fallon and Dec McNamara

AFTER DARK

Caroline, Seamus and Cathal Casey

Lorna and Eva Middleton

Jean Corbett, Kay Leydon & Carmel Flynn

Cillian, Julie, Rachel and Aoife Feehily

Mary Fahey, Patrick O'Connor, Sharon Fahey, Erin O'Connor, Brian Fahey

Cassie Callaghan, Callie Collum & Connie Callaghan

Cathy Tobin and Cathy McCarthy

Killian Doherty, Ciara Doherty, Bridget Doherty, Hamel Mostafa, Aoife Doherty, Ahmed Mostafa

WATCH THIS SPACE

A BRIEF ENCOUNTER WITH SLIGO’S UP AND COMING STARS

Emma Murphy – Locks & Lace

Hair, Hats and Happiness Your background is in hairdressing, where you're very accomplished, tell us about that.

I started out in the hairdressing industry at the age of 14, twenty-several years ago, although cleaner and general skivvy were more words I would have used to describe my job then! My years to follow in this amazing and competitive industry lead me to work in all types of salons. Some brilliant, some not so, but they all paved the way for me to become the stylist I am now. I spent my college days in my hometown of Bristol. I worked with great people and got to do a lot of training in London and beyond. I moved across the water in 2004 and I've worked in some truly amazing salons in Sligo in my ten years here. I've been able to do some amazing courses too. One of which was my colour masters in Dublin, which I passed with distinction.

And your hat-making?

When and how did that start?

It actually started when I made some headpieces for my own wedding. We were on a budget but I still wanted to feel like a princess. So I put my creativity to use and started work on my own and 3 bridesmaids headpieces. I got great fulfilment and feedback from them. That was when Locks and Lace was born – I just didn't know it yet. I started doing hats and headpieces for family and friends as gifts for birthdays and special occasions and a little later I set up at a few markets to showcase my designs.

What made you decide to bring them together, and how is the blend of the two working out for you?

After the birth of my beautiful baby I found it harder and harder to juggle all my passions and started to lose my working passion and true love of making

people look and feel amazing. I had to get back on track, and not wanting to give anything up I decided to take the bull by the horns and start up my dream business blending my three passions together; healthy, nourished, stylish HAIR, classy and glamorous HEADWEAR, and HAPPINESS – no matter the budget we all deserve to feel a million dollars.

What's the best part of working from home? And the worst?

The best thing about working for myself is getting to express my touch of style, and treating my clients to the best of my ability, offering them an environment in which they feel right at home.

The only down side to working on your own is not having people to bounce ideas off; the buck stops with me. But I'm truly lucky to have an amazing hubby and friends who back me all the way.

Any plans to branch out further?

I'm offering a bespoke package for anyone with a special occasion or outfit, where I'll work one on one to create perfect hair (upstyles, blowdry, etc) and hat or headpiece to complement any look.

I mainly work to order but you can also find me every Sunday at the Strandhill People's Market with my embellished and woolly creations. Please do drop by for a chat!

TopforTips Skincare

Muireann's Here to help Do you have a Beauty or Make up question you would like answered.

E-mail me at beautybymuireann@hotmail.com or find me on facebook at MakeUpbyMuireann

Q: How do I match my foundation and tan so I don’t end up with a pale face and dark body? - Molly

A: Normally I suggest using tan on the face but I understand that some tans are thick and heavy so this is not always possible. If you want to match your tan and face evenly then you will need to purchase your foundation while wearing the fake tan. You should test the foundation on your chest and make sure it is a perfect match to the tan. It is also important when applying your matching foundation to blend the product into your hair line and over and behind the ears ensuring no pale patches of skin are visible.

Q: I love the idea of wearing red lipstick but I don’t want it to look to outrageous and I also find it hard to get an even look, any tips please? - Alannah

A: There are many shades of red and it can be hard to find the right one for you. Test a few different shades and there is generally a shade that will compliment your skin tone and even make your eye colour stand out more. If you are using a colour that is a bit bold and you feel uncomfortable then you could tone it down by applying a lighter colour over the top. Don’t forget to exfoliate and moisturise lips before applying your lippie as these bright bold colours will not work well for dry or chapped lips. One last tip, always use a lip liner as this will stop lipstick bleeding and give greater definition to the lips.

Lorraine Street and Corina Lynch

Backawater Jack Band members - Jane Tansey, Ann Brennan and Maeve Gallagher

Ryan Bohan, John Connolly and Eugene Gilgunn

Carmel Devaney and Gerry McGoldrick

Peter and Josephine Kenny

Paul Wilson, John Ryan and Nick Dimes

Susan, Gabriel and Andrew Flannery

June 2014 • Sligo Now Magazine • Page 25

Caroline Rooney, Catherine Clarke and Stephaine Sproule

Emer Cullen and Catriona Bellew

Emma and Leah Duggan

Laura Melaugh and Claire Buchanan

Emily Drury and Gemma Carter

Elaine Hegarty and Ornagh Rynn

Mary Gaffney and Eileen Rossiter

Shantelle Williams, Megan Callaghan, Louise Ward, Aoife Kilmartin, Shaina Coffey and Aisling McCullagh

Mark Hatton and Sarah Duffy

Loretto McGuire, Evonne Harnen, Teresa Foley

Pottery Classes @ Lynda Gault Ceramics

Lower Quay Street, Sligo

Learn To Scuba Dive Try Dives Daily Gone Fishing...

Daily 2 Hour Fishing Trips

Courses run on Tuesday or Thursday evenings from 7-9pm and will last for 4 weeks.

Many aspects of Pottery including hand building, throwing on the wheel and decoration will be covered, after which you will have your functional and decorative pieces to bring home.

All Levels from beginner to to advanced are welcome.

For more info please contact Lynda or Leslie at the Studio between 12pm and 6pm on 071-9114155 or out of hours on 086-8094257, you can also email info@lyndagaultceramics.ie

Coleman Music Visi t or Centre G ,C .S urTEEn

O

liGO

• Traditional Music Experience including Audio Visual Exhibition • Music/Gift Shop

Traditional music, song & dance Complimentary tea/coffee Wed & Sat –July/August 9pm Adm. €10 Family €20

Open Mon-Sat 10am-5.30pm www.colemanirishmusic.com Tel: 071-9182599

SCUBA DIVING CENTRE and FISHING BOAT CHARTER

Horse Riding for all the family in Grange, Co. Sligo

Offshore Watersports Mullaghmore, Co. Sligo mail@offshore.ie www.offshore.ie Declan 0876100111 Michal 0851228303

Open 7 Days a week 1 Hour Beach Ride 2 or 3 Hour Beach and Bog ride Unique 4 hour ride to our private Island Lessons for all ages

Island View Riding Stables, Grange, Co. Sligo Tel: 071-9166156 • Mob: 086-1956615 Email: islandviewridingstables@gmail.com Web: www.islandviewridingstables.com

AIRE approved

Est 1997

SLIGO'S ONLy PAINTBALL COMPLEx

ONLY €R2S5ON R PE Just bring PEyour friends & enemies!

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Inc 100 FREE PAINTBALLS ‘An Equestrian Establishment with a difference’ • Lessons for all ages and levels of experience on school horses or riders own horse • Dressage & showjumping training to advanced level • Off road trekking in scenic Ox Mountains • Training shows, camps, 4 week intensive courses, clinics and Student training.

CALL FOR GROUP RATES

T: 071-9134585 • M:087-2405714

SligoExtremePaintball@Gmail.com www.sligoextremepaintball.com

1 April - 7 November inc.

Qualified trainer (BHSAI, HSI & FETAC) Resident rider with proven competition record Homebred schoolmaster horses Horses & ponies for sale from Beezies Stud Top class, all weather & customer friendly facilities

Call Simone: 087-6793696 / 071-9184207

Andrew O'Grady, Carmel Collery, Enda Collery and Claire Collery

Una Young and Aine Mac Dermott

Eamon and Martina Casey

Miriam Cunningham and Monica McHenily

Cecilia, John and Leah Logan

Mark Elliott and Nicola Maguire

Connor and Louise McCullagh

Claire Collery, Niamh Collery, Mary Whitney and Patricia Collery

Stephen Gannon & Bernadette McCaul-Gannon

Gerry and Celia Clarke

Open: Monday - Friday 11-9 • Saturday 11-7 • Sunday 2-5

PROFESSIONAL TANNING AND SLIMMING STUDIO

• Burn Fat, up to 1500kcl in 30 min • Reduce Cellulite • Drop 1 clothes size in one month

SPECIAL OFFER: 20x30min plus FREE 5x30min rollomassage... €130 BOOK YOUR FREE 15min TRIAL ON 0871123622

TANNING • FREE birthday tan • Every 6th tanning /course FREE

SPECIAL OFFER FOR ALL JUNE every day from 11-1 1 min Tanning only 50c PRICE LIST FOR TANNING COURSES 30min. €20 • 40min €25 • 70min. €45

Telephone: 086-6211792 • Mobile: 087-1123622 Quayside Shopping Centre (Second Floor), Wine Street, Sligo

Mon, June 9

MUSIC

Dj Ryan G - Shenanigans Rackhouse Pilfer: McGarrigles Cathy Jordan from Dervish: Strand Bar Trad night: Teach Murray in Gurteen Live Music: Shoots Industry Night: Garavogue Open Mic with Dean Mahon & Rory O'Dowd: The Dunes Tavern, Strandhill

Tues, June 10

MUSIC

Trad Sessions 10pm Shoot the CrowsThe Electric Sibin: The Swagman

Blue Stack Open Mic: McGarrigles Live Music: Shenanigans Trad Session: Roisin Dubh, Gurteen Luke Mitchell from Home and Away: Shenanigans

Wed, June 11

No Crows - Shoot the Crows Grooveology: Swagman Trad Session: McLaughlins Open Mic @ Fureys Trad night: Border Collie White Gorillas: Fiddlers Midweek Madness with Open Mic: Fureys Blues Jam Night Garavogue

IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO BE LISTED HERE, EMAIL info@sligonow.ie

Thurs, June 12

MUSIC

Trad Session: Earleys 241 drinks with Dj Scruffy Duffy: Garavogue Trad Session: Shoots Trad night: Earley's Gerry Grennan and Resident Djs from 10pm McHughs Midnight Sessions - Live Band and 2 for 1 Drinks 5th On Teeling Blind Fox: The Swagman Hugh O’Neil: Fureys Trad Sessions - Shoots

BEALTAINE @ THE MODEL A TALE TO TELL

A national cultural festival celebrating creativity as we age. The Model’s festival this year is truly intergenerational.

Free / Thursdays 8th May – 12th June.

An opportunity for Grandparents and Grandchildren (9 – 14 years) to work together to write and illustrate an adventurous story and bind this tale into their very own hand-made book. A true family heirloom!

Booking essential as places are limited to 7 children (plus Grandparents)

Fri, June 13

MUSIC

2 For 1 Fridays! 2 For 1 Drinks - 5th On Teeling Live Music 10pm: Snug Live DJ: Shenanigans Accoustic Session 10pm - Fureys Dj Ambros: Rafferty's Live Music - Fiddlers Top of The Pops Garavogue

That Friday Feeling with Resident Djs - McHughs Trad Night: TD's Bar Trad Night: 10pm: Foley's Trad night: Durkins Ballinacarrow: Resident Dj Shenanigans Blackwater Jack - Hargadons Curly Bobs - Kennedy's

Fun Music Quiz: The Dunes Tavern, Strandhill Trad Session 8-10 PM The Harp

IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO BE LISTED HERE, EMAIL info@sligonow.ie

Rachel Allen @ The Hawkswell Theatre

Sat, June 14

MUSIC Live Music - 5th On Teeling Live Music: The Pier Head, Mullaghmore Live Music 10pm: Snug Trad Sessions 8pm Fureys Live Music: TD’s Regan James 10.30 PM The Harp Vinyl Night with DJ FLESH - Rafferty's bar

Live Music: Swagman Gerry Singer: Pier Head, Trad Night 10pm: Foley's DJ - Fiddlers

Smash Hits: Garavogue Live DJ: Shenanigans Smile - Kennedy's Bar Live DJ: Cullens The Saturday Sessions with Resident Djs McHughs Jesse Conlon - The Irish House Seamie O’Dowd Owenmore Inn

IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO BE LISTED HERE, EMAIL info@sligonow.ie

Rachel Allen was brought up in Dublin and left home to study at the Ballymaloe Cookery School. After graduating she worked in the kitchens at Ballymaloe House. Rachel is now a busy TV chef, author, journalist, mother, and teacher and continues to work at the cookery school where she found her passion for teaching. Rachel has become a well-known figure in the food world with her best selling cookery books, television programmes and food writing. Rachel’s style of cooking is above all practical - simple but delicious food, ideal for family and friends. Her influences are both regional and global. The BBC describe her as an "Irish cooking queen" and Good Food magazine believe she "has put Irish cooking on the map in recent years." Sat 14 June, 8pm / €25

June 2014 • Sligo Now Magazine • Page 32

Sun, June 15

MUSIC Live Music: The Pier Head, Mullaghmore Sunday Mass: McGarrigles Smile: Kennedy's Bar Bluemoose unplugged session: Garavogue Seamie O’Dowd Owenmore Inn The Sunday Special with Resident Djs - McHughs The Quakers / 21 Outs: Swagman Kieran Quinn & Seamie O' Dowd - Hargadons

Trad night: Donaghy's The Shindiggers 6-8 pm The Harp Sunday Vegas with Scruffy Duffy - Fiddlers Live DJ: McHughs Trad Night: TD's Bar Trad Night: 10pm: Foley's Quakers: Garavogue Live Music: Belfry Live DJ: Shenanigans Traditional Folk Session 6pm: Snug Jazz Ladds: 1pm The Clarion Celtic Note - Irish House

PICK OF THE WEEK

Solas @ The Hawkswell

Solas is the quintessential Irish-American band recording and touring in the circuit today.

Eighteen years ago, in a manner befitting their name (Gaelic for "light”), Solas burst onto the Irish music scene and instantly became a beacon – an incandescent ensemble that found contemporary relevance in timeless traditions without ever stooping to clichés. Through fresh and unexpected arrangements of age-old tunes, compelling originals and covers, and unparalleled musicianship, Solas continues to define the path for the Irish music world and drive the genre forward. “…among one of the most exciting bands anywhere in the world.”

Wed 18 June, 8pm €20/18conc. €15 Friends

Mon, Mon,March June 16 18

MUSIC

Rackhouse Pilfer: McGarrigles

Trad Session: Shoots Live Music: Fureys Industry Night: Garavogue Open Mic with Dean Mahon & Rory O'Dowd: The Dunes Tavern, Strandhill

Thurs, June 19

MUSIC Trad Session: Earleys 241 drinks with Dj Scruffy Duffy: Garavogue

IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO BE LISTED HERE, EMAIL info@sligonow.ie

Tues, June 17

MUSIC

Trad Sessions 10pm Shoot the CrowsThe Electric Sibin: The Swagman

Blue Stack Open Mic: McGarrigles Live Music: Shenanigans Trad Session: Roisin Dubh, Gurteen Luke Mitchell from Home and Away: Shenanigans

Wed, June 18

MUSIC

No Crows - Shoot the Crows Grooveology: Swagman Trad Session: McLaughlins The White Gorrilas: Fiddlers The QT: Swagman Open Mic: Fureys No Crows: Shoot the Crows Trad night: The Border Collie in Tourlestrane: Open Mic: Fureys

Trad night: Earley's Fireside Sessions: Barrys Gerry Grennan & Guest (10pm): Hargadons Papa Blues Band Swagman

Rocketman: Fiddlers Alternative Rock and Metal: The Clarance Trad Session: Shoots Gerry Grennan and friend - Hargadons Hugh O’Neil: Fureys Gerry Grennan and Georgie Gorman in Residence - Hargadons Resident Djs from 10pm McHughs

Fri, June 20

PICK OF THE WEEK Sat, June 21

MUSIC 2 For 1 Fridays with Meb Jon Sol - 5th On Teeling.

John L: Foleys

MUSIC

Anything goes Hargadons

Live Music: The Pier Head, Mullaghmore

Live DJ: Shenanigans Out Of Towners: Fureys Live Music - Fiddlers That Friday Feeling with Resident Djs - McHughs

DJ PC: Swagman Trad Night: TD's Bar Trad Night 10pm: Foley's Trad night: Durkins Ballinacarrow Kevin & Eddie: Kennedy's DJ Ambros: Rafferty's Tom Eaton & Amy Conroy: The Dunes Tavern, Strandhill Trad Session 8-10 PM The Harp Accoustic Session 10pm - Fureys Vivian O’Louglin @ 7 pmOwenmore Inn

Miles Graham & Vinyl Live Music - 5th On Teeling.

Dj Raff: Shenanigans Seamus & Friends: Foleys Eoin Troy & Grainne Trad Sessions 8pm Fureys Rock'n'Roll Circus 10.30 PM - The Harp Vinyl Night with DJ FLESH - Rafferty's bar

Live Music - Owenmore Trad Night 10pm: Foley's Live Music 10pm: Snug Curly Bobs: Kennedy's Live DJ: Cullens Mass - Garavogue Eugene Cunningham The Irish House The Saturday Sessions with Resident Djs McHughs

Sun, June 22

MUSIC Miles Graham: 5th on Teeling Out of towners 9.30pm Fureys Sunday Mass: McGarrigles Smile: Kennedy's Live DJ: Shenanigans

Jazz Ladds: 1pm The Clarion Bluemoose unplugged session: Garavogue Live Music: Owenmore The Sunday Special with Resident Djs - McHughs Vegas Night with Scruffy Duffy: Fiddler's Trad night: Donaghy's Traditional Folk Session 6pm: Snug Celtic Note: The Irish House Live Music: O’Connor’s Ballisodare The Shindiggers from 68pm - Harp Tavern Kieran Quinn & Seamie O' Dowd Hargadons MASS @ MCGARRIGLES Sunday Mass is back to its original roots, new musicians every week with the crowd encouraged to join in

IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO BE LISTED HERE, EMAIL info@sligonow.ie

June 2014 • Sligo Now Magazine • Page 33

Mon, June 23

MUSIC

Dj Ryan G - Shenanigans Rackhouse Pilfer: McGarrigles Cathy Jordan from Dervish: Strand Bar Trad night: Teach Murray in Gurteen Live Music: Shoots Industry Night: Garavogue Open Mic with Dean Mahon & Rory O'Dowd: The Dunes Tavern, Strandhill

Tues, June 24

MUSIC

Trad Sessions 10pm Shoot the Crows The Electric Sibin: The Swagman

Blue Stack Open Mic: McGarrigles Live Music: Shenanigans Trad Session: Roisin Dubh, Gurteen Luke Mitchell from Home and Away: Shenanigans

Thurs, June 26

MUSIC Trad Session: Earleys 241 drinks with Dj Scruffy Duffy: Garavogue Trad Session: Shoots

Trad Session from 9pm: Snug Hugh O’Neil: Fureys Fireside Sessions: Barrys of Grange Live music: Gormleys Rocketment - Fiddlers Live music: Foleys Trad :McLaughlins Midnight Sessions - Live Band and 2 for 1 Drinks 5th On Teeling Alternative Rock and Metal: The Clarance Gerry Grennan and Georgie Gorman in Residence - Hargadons Resident Djs from 10pm McHughs

Wed, June 25

No Crows - Shoot the Crows Grooveology: Swagman Trad Session: McLaughlins Open Mic @ Fureys Trad night: Border Collie White Gorillas: Fiddlers Midweek Madness with Open Mic: Fureys Blues Jam Night Garavogue

IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO BE LISTED HERE, EMAIL info@sligonow.ie

Trad Sessions - Shoot the Crows

Fri, June 27

MUSIC

2 For 1 Fridays! 2 For 1 Drinks - 5th On Teeling.

John L: Foleys Out Of Towners: Fureys Live DJ: Shenanigans “Live & Late” Garavogue

That Friday Feeling with Resident Djs - McHughs Live Music - Fiddlers Trad Night:10pm: Foley's Trad Session from 9pm: Snug Eddie & Friends Hargadons Eoin Troy: Kennedy's

Live music: Swagman Open Mic Original music night: The Dunes Tavern, Strandhill Trad Session 8-10 PM The Harp Accoustic Session 10pm - Fureys

IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO BE LISTED HERE, EMAIL info@sligonow.ie

Knee Deep @ The Hawkswell

Sat, June 28

MUSIC

Preachers Son & EDFT (Live Bands) - 5th On Teeling Seamus & Friends: Foleys Trad Sessions - Fureys Live Music: TD’s Trad Session: Roisin Dubh Gurteen Live DJ: Shenanigans

BackWater Jack: Morans Queen Bee: Pier Head, Mullaghmore

Trad Night 10pm: Foley's DJ - Fiddlers Live music: Gormleys Suggar Rush: Kennedy's Live Music - Owenmore Live music: Earlys Live music: Garavogue Trad Session from 9pm: Snug Live music: Swagman Live DJ: Cullens Vinyl Night with DJ FLESH - Rafferty's bar The Saturday Sessions with Resident Djs McHughs The Duggan Brothers 10.30 PM - The Harp

Australia’s hottest new circus company takes the art form to a whole new level. Using traditional and contemporary circus techniques, Knee Deep is a spectacular display of choreography, acrobatics, trapeze and aerial stunts, full of incredible physical skill, brute strength and exquisite beauty. Casus, with their breathtaking and fragile display of skills and performers who test the very limits of the human body, are the next generation about to take the world by storm. This is a show about relationships in which the performers are constantly pulling each other up and pushing each other down. They try to stand tall by clambering on each other's shoulders, reaching the sky. Sun 6 July, 8pm

June 2014 • Sligo Now Magazine • Page 34

Sun, June 29

MUSIC

Sunday Mass: McGarrigles Lunchtime Jazz with the Jazz Ladds: 1pm The Clarion Bluemoose unplugged session: Garavogue

Live Music: Owenmore The Sunday Special with Resident Djs - McHughs Trad Session: Snug Vegas Night with Scruffy Duffy: Fiddler's Trad night: Donaghy's Traditional session all musicians welcome: Fureys

Live music: Swagman Celtic Note - The Irish House Special guests & Dj Live DJ: Shenanigans Out of towners 9.30pm Fureys Kieran Quinn & Seamie O' Dowd - Hargadons The Shindiggers from 6-8 - Harp Tavern

PICK OF THE WEEK

The Way We Were @ The Hawkswell

A special evening celebrating Sligo History and the men and women who came before us. Expert speakers will lead you on a journey into Sligo’s past. We will begin by sharing tips and tricks on how best to research your family tree. Then we will turn the clock back one hundred years and reveal the Sligo of bygone days. You will learn of the incredible conditions and events that affected your ancestors' lives. On the centenary of the First World War we’ll discover the fate of the men who left Sligo to fight on the frontlines.

A fascinating evening with insights about our shared Sligo past.Mon 23 June, 7.30pm Tickets include complementary tea or coffee.

Mon, June 30

MUSIC

Open Mike Night: Furey's Trad Session from 9pm: Snug Trad night: Donaghy's Live music: Shoots Rackhouse Pilfer: McGarrigles Industry Night: Garavogue Open Mic with Dean Mahon & Rory O'Dowd: The Dunes Tavern, Strandhill

Thurs, July 3

MUSIC Trad Session: Earleys Trad Session: Shoots

Cuban Dawn: Swagman Trad night: Earley's Fireside Sessions: Barrys Gerry Grennan and friend - Hargadons The Rocketmen: Fiddlers

MUSIC

Trad Sessions 10pm Shoot the Crows Craic Addicts: The Swagman

IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO BE LISTED HERE, EMAIL info@sligonow.ie

Wed, July 2

MUSIC

No Crows - Shoot the Crows Grooveology: Swagman Trad: McLaughlins Dj Lee Ward: Shenanigans Midweek Madness with Open Mic: Fureys Trad night: Border Collie Open Mic: Fureys White Gorillas: Fiddlers

MUSIC 2 For 1 Fridays! 2 For 1 Drinks - 5th On Teeling.

John L: Foleys

Anything goes Hargadons

Live DJ: Shenanigans Out Of Towners: Fureys Fergal Harman: Fiddlers “Live & Late” Garavogue That Friday Feeling with Resident Djs - McHughs

Tues, July 1

Live Music: Shenanigans Trad Session: Roisin Dubh, Gurteen Trad Session: Fureys Banging Yolks: Chasin’ Bull Bundoran

Fri, July 4

241 drinks with Dj Scruffy Duffy: Garavogue Hugh O’Neil: Fureys Gerry Grennan and Georgie Gorman in Residence - Hargadons Resident Djs from 10pm McHughs

DJ PC: Swagman Trad Night: TD's Bar Trad Night 10pm: Foley's Trad night: Durkins Ballinacarrow Shave or Dye & 8pm Owenmore Inn DJ Ambros: Rafferty's The McAndrews Fiddlers Tom Eaton & Amy Conroy: The Dunes Tavern, Strandhill Accoustic Session 10pm Fureys

Sat, July 5

MUSIC

Norman Jay - 5th On Teeling.

Live Music: The Pier Head, Mullaghmore

Dj Raff: Shenanigans Seamus & Friends: Foleys Trad Sessions - Fureys Live Music: TD’s Francie Lenehan and The Stratpack - Harp Tavern

The Connectors – SKA band: Rafferty's Live Music - Fiddlers Live Music 10pm: Snug Curly Bobs: Kennedy's Mass - Garavogue Unstable: Fiddlers Road Angel & Big Papa Blues Band (Live Bands) Free Adm. Happy Hour 10-11pm - 5th On Teeling Vinyl Night with DJ FLESH - Rafferty's bar

FREE DELIVERY SERVICE TO BALLISODARE & COLLOONEY (only in May) Main Street, Collooney 07191 18010

Sun, July 6

MUSIC Live Music: The Pier Head, Mullaghmore Sunday Mass: McGarrigles Live DJ: Shenanigans

Lunchtime Jazz with the Jazz Ladds: 1pm The Clarion Bluemoose unplugged session: Garavogue Live Music: Owenmore

The Sunday Special with Resident Djs - McHughs The Strap Pack, After Off The Hook: Kennedy’s Out of towners 9.30pm Fureys Kieran Quinn & Seamie O' Dowd - Hargadons

Trad night: Donaghy's The Quay Street Band Harp Tavern Celtic Note - The Irish House

June 2014• Sligo Now Magazine • Page 35

S

ome of you have been introduced to us before. We are two girls, Vanessa Scanlon and Amy Conroy, living in Sligo and a few months ago the lovely Katie Winters approached us for an interview. Since then the editor of Sligo Now has offered us our biggest challenge to date. This is different to our other challenges and is happening right here every month. We are delighted to announce that we will be giving you a sneak peek into life with Electric Green every month in Sligo Now.

I

n case you missed our interview, here is a quick summary, we went to secondary school together in the Ursuline College, we went to college in different places, and we have both just recently returned home. We both love Sligo and we decided we wanted to do something to showcase that and what is happening here. This is where the idea of monthly challenges came from.

So far we have created a website, had a month of sobriety that one half passed with flying colours and the other failed because of dinner with a Hollywood celebrity, we have had a very successful fundraiser for the Donal Parsons Trust, performed at an open mic night in Fureys Pub and in June we will be taking aerial dance lessons with Fidget Feet Production

Vanessa Scanlon &

company. You may have noticed that the May challenge has not been included because it is top secret for now!

Organically an Electric Green Personality Of The Month came about.

This is our way to showcase some people that we admire. They are brilliant at what they do be it mum, entrepreneur, helping out the local community, to boxing professionally.

We look forward to introducing you to some of Sligo’s finest businesses and people while we throw ourselves in the deep end and challenge ourselves to do things that we have never done before.

Our challenges to date have seen us do everything from establish our blog and develop social media

Amy Conroy

June 2014 • Sligo Now Magazine • Page 36

channels to organise a night time walk in aid of charity and more recently duet at a well known open mic night in Sligo town. Following the success of our Open Mic debut together we will be holding an informal one for everyone to challenge themselves with on the 6th of June from 9pm sharp in the T&C Club, Teeling Street.

Over the coming months we will be giving you the low down on our latest challenges and keeping you up to date with what’s around the corner for Electric Green.

May Our May challenge is top secret for the moment.

We both decided we wanted to do this challenge after a number of different options were discussed.

What we can tell you it is related to music and that it will definitely put our organisational skills into practice! It will be happening after the magazine goes to print so please keep your eyes open for clues on our blog including our Facebook and Twitter pages as to when and where it will take place.

June For our June challenge we will be flying high and taking aerial dance lessons with Fidget Feet. Fidget Feet Aerial Dance Theatre is Ireland’s foremost Aerial Dance Theatre Company. The company choreograph amazing indoor and outdoor work including performance for theatres and festivals and have become widely recognised for their unique interpretation and fusion of aerial dance, music and video art.

Every year Fidget Feet run Aerial Dance Fest which is now in its 5th year and which will be held between the 30th of May and 22nd of June 2014 in Letterkenny, Co. Donegal.

This festival paves the way for anyone who wants to try their hand at aerial dancing and has something to suit any ability.

To celebrate their 5th anniversary they are aiming to set their very own Guinness world record for ‘Most People Performing Aerial Silks’.

For more details please visit http://www.irishaeriald ancefest.com/ Suffice to say we are really looking forward to learning from the masters and fulfilling the childhood dream of flying without wings.

SUMMER CAMPS

Activities: Lark in the Park, Treasure Trails, Basketball, Fun Floats, Crazy Kayaking, Bouncy castles Football Team Games and much much more!!

• 7th July - 11th •14th July - 18th • 21st July - 25th • 28th July - 1st Aug • 5th Aug - 8th (Bank Hol Week) • 11th Aug - 15th • 18th Aug - 22nd Aug Camp Fee €60.00 per child €110 for two children Camp time 10am - 3pm

Telephone: 071-9160539 Cleveragh, Sligo Email: regsport@gmail.com

Pre Junior Certificate Irish Camp: Monday 16th - Friday 27th June 2014 Voldiste San Aingeal'- Irish Camp Coldiste San Aingeal is designed to greatly enhance students' speaking and listening skills with the Irish Language to prepare them for Junior Certificate This 2-week Irish Camp includes a full timetable of fun activities all through Irish. Activities include: • Music • Drama • Cooking and Baking • Creative Textiles • Teen Tech fun • Sports • Stand-up Paddle Boarding • Lakeshore activities ... and lots more All facilitators are highly qualified and experienced Irish teachers.

Time: 10am - 3.30pm daily Cost: €240 per student €450 for 2 students from same family *Free return shuttle bus from Sligo Town to College daily More information and online applications forms available at www.clie/activitycamps

Alternative Summer Camp: Monday 30th June - Friday 4th July 2014 or Monday 7th - Friday 11th July 2014 Aimed at 9-15 year olds, our Alternative Summer Camp is all about having fun while learning life skills at the same time. You will be exposed to an exciting range of training & learning while having fun and making new friends. This all takes place within a college environment where facilities are usually only available to third level students! We have state of the art clinical skills facilities, food labs, science laboratories, computer suites and lots more...

Activities include: • Teen Tech Fun • Fit for fun • Crime Scene Investigation (CSI) • Creative crafts • Cooking & Baking fun • Lakeshore activities • Getting prepared for a part time job • Horticultural fun • GPS Treasure Hunt on campus Time: 10am - 3.30pm daily Cost: €125 per student €230 for 2 students from same family €340 for 3 students from the same family *Free return shuttle bus from Sligo Town to College daily More information and online applications forms available at wwvv. cll. ie/ activitycamps

Exciting 4 day Robotics Camp for 9-14 year olds

Adventures with Art in the Outdoors

Monday 14th — Thursday 17th July (inclusive) 2014

8 -12 year olds Monday 14th - Thursday 17 July (inclusive) 2014

Experience the wonder and excitement of designing and programming robots in a fun learning environment. Develop Android apps to control and command your robot!

What's involved in the camp?

• Introduction to robotics / programming • Building robots • Visual programming • Introduction to android programming • App development • Remote control your robot and remote control car Time: 10.30am - 3.30pm daily Cost: €90 per student • €160 for 2 students from same family *Free return shuttle bus from Sligo Town to College daily More information and online applications forms available at vvvvvv.clie/activitycamps

Four days of fun and creativity where you will use a variety of at techniques including • Puppet making • Clay modelling • Cyanotype Photography • Papermaking • Beautiful boats • Willowweaving • Huts, hornes & mini worlds Time:10.30am - 3.30pm daily Cost €90 per chid €160 for 2 children (same family) Free return shuttle bus from Sligo Town to college daily.

More information and online application forms available at www.cll.ie/activitycamps

Y

eats Group Celebrate 5 Successful Years and €6 Million Worth of Business.

The Yeats Chapter of BNI are celebrating the 5th anniversary of their successful networking group. The networking group which is made up of local professionals from a variety of backgrounds have generated over 15,000 business opportunities for its members at the 250 meetings it has held since its formation in 2009.

The Yeats Chapter which meets every Tuesday morning at 6.45am in The Radisson Blu Hotel, Rosses Point, help each other grow and promote their businesses. All members of the group act as a sales force for each other by passing new business and giving referrals, amounting to €6million in just

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five years. Members of the group support more than 250 jobs locally.

Speaking of the group’s achievement Celene Kilgannon, Chapter Director said “We are delighted to be celebrating five extremely successful years of networking as the Yeats BNI Chapter. Being a member of the group makes you realise that there is no end to the yield word-ofmouth networking can offer when you decide to make it work for you. All of us have grown in this chapter together and we all take delight in each others success which is what BNI is all about. It is fantastic to come here to network and meet with people who have become great friends and celebrate in each other’s achievements. We

Music Generation Sligo Summer Camps usic Generation Sligo Summer Camps offer a variety of exciting music camps throughout June & July with experienced musicians and tutors. Camps include general music and song activities for all ages and abilities with Anything Goes, Sligo School of Rock, Cairde Arts Festival Percussion & Song Camp and Singskool as well as an Orchestral Adventures Camp for young children who have at taken instrumental classes for at least a year. Music Generation Sligo also brings camps for more experienced young musicians in composition and performance with Dervish, West Ocean String Quartet and Sligo Jazz Project Youth Academy. Camps take place in Ballymote, Coolaney, Grange, Sligo Town & Tubbercurry where Music Generation Sligo has partnered with the South Sligo Summer School to offer discounted tickets to Composition Workshops & Masterclasses. Check out the brochure on www.musicgenerationsligo.com.

Summer Camp bookings are through the Hawk’s Well Theatre. Book online www.hawkswell.com Tel: 071 916 1518 Music Generation is a national music education programme for children and young people, initiated by Music Network, funded by U2 and the Ireland Funds. MGS is part of the network of local music education partnerships established under this programme, funded and managed locally by Mayo Sligo Leitrim ETB, Sligo County Council, Sligo Education Centre, Sligo County Childcare Committee, Cranmore Regeneration and the local music sector. www.musicgenerationsligo.com/071 913 8306/MusicGenerationSligo@msletb.ie

have all helped each other to grow our businesses with BNI and I look forward to many more years of doing the same!”

The Yeats Chapter welcomes

all business people to come to a meeting as a guest. If you would like to find out more and grow your business you can visit www.bni.ie. Or call Celene on 086 0246593”

Cheque presentation to Sligo Cancer Support Services

Pictured from Left to right are: Committee members of Chartered Accountants Northwest Society - Ornagh Rynn, Gary Reynolds, Elaine McBride, Stephanie Scanlan (Sligo Cancer Support Services), Mel McKeown and Catherine Young.

Eamon Tighe, Conor McCormack, Melanie-Rose Drew, James McCormack, Cara Mc Grath and Claire McGettrick

Heather Danielle Crocock and Katie Rooney

Kelly O Sullivan, Emer Martin and Grace Kivlehan

Greta Kumutaityte and Shannen Hurd

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Lorraine Griffin and Michelle Gavin

THE TOFFS COCKTAIL MIXOLOGIST TEAM - RORY, MITKO AND COLIN

Tropical Punch

40ml Bacardi 10ml peach schnapps, Mango and passion fruit pure, Strawberry syrup, a dash of lime, and Orange & Pineapple Juice

t Toffs Nightclub we find the consumer has becoming increasingly selective in their choice of drink and cocktails have really shot up in popularity. We have adjusted to the change in the market and now have two bars in the club with another in the Belfry that specialize in making cocktails. We have a team of cocktail mixologists that are fully trained and constantly work together in formulating new mouth-watering recipes for our customers. Mitko has won two Connaucht competitions and was runner-up in a national competition. He has been working on cocktail mixology for over 7 years now and flairing of cocktails for over a year. He loves thinking 'outside the box' making cocktails and recently came up with the very unique Rihanna cocktail presented on a dry-ice base - a really breathtaking cocktail

Local

Flavour SLIGO'S BOOMING MARKETS

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By Kate Winter

t's a sad truth that there are still businesses closing their doors in sligo town from the pressures and financial strains of the recession.

And yet, there's a different kind of business booming in current climes. More and more enterprising individuals are taking themselves to the markets springing up locally to offer their crafts, wares and produce in an environment of community, positivity and growth. The idea of 'Shop Local, Eat Local, Support Local, Enjoy Local' is fast

becoming a popular mantra for Sligo folk. And it's no wonder with the fantastic offerings right on our doorstep. Kate Winter explores some of the best.

Sligo IT Farmers Market

The Farmer's Market at the IT every Saturday, 9am to 1pm, is a longstanding and much loved feature of the Sligo foodie scene. Offering up the finest in organic and artisan produce, with stallholders immensely loyal and consistent in their attendance, this is a market

to bring your own shopping trolley to, and stock up for the week.

While there are always a few craft stalls dotted throughout, the main focus here is food; raw, organic, fine ingredients for you to take home and cook up something special. There's organic meat and fish on offer alongside fresh, locally grown organic vegetables (all different shapes and sizes, sweet and tasty, and if you're lucky, still carrying some of the fine Sligo soil that nurtured them to this point!), herbs and spices, hand crafted cheeses, delicious baked goods and mouthwatering chutneys,

jams and preserves that, of course, you just have to sample as you pass.

Established and successful businesses like Bluebell Organic Farm, Ballisodare Free Range Eggs and Trimilawn Farm Herbs tout their produce alongside small, independent producers and growers, and everyone is enthusiastic in their support of the market itself and each other. The Leitrim Flowers stall adds great colour and the scent of fresh cut blooms to proceedings, and the tempting aroma of crepes cooking wafts over from Philippe Huel's stand. All this just a stone's throw from the centre of town and with ample free parking – if you haven't been yet, now is the time to skip the humdrum of the weekly supermarket dash and pop out to the IT for a real Sligo grocery spree.

Benbulben Craft Village Farmer's Market

June 2014 • Sligo Now Magazine • Page 36

One of the most established and varied markets in Sligo, this Rathcormac gem is not to be missed. Open every Saturday, from 10am to 2pm, why not spin straight out after a visit to the IT Market?

PHOTOS BY NICOLA GILLESPIE

Situated in the rapidly expanding Benbulben Craft Village (formerly known as Branley's Yard), where there are already several talented and personable craftspeople such as The Wickerman and Wildheart Silver ready to welcome you into their permanent workshops, this market offers cover and protection from any and all types of Irish weather, as well as having the delights of the Vintage Lane Cafe on hand nearby. There is an instant buzz in the air as you enter the yard; it's busy and friendly and full of charm and colour. On any given day you might meet an author signing copies of his new book (JP Rogers, for example, who will keep you enthralled with tales of his escapades) or a youngster playing ukulele in the corner, or a knowledgeable herbalist willing to offer sage advice about your heath (Iona Herbal – very interesting).

There's an abundance of tasty foodstuffs on offer, as well as fresh meat, veg and fish stalls, but the real star of this show is the range and standard of crafts. The tiny scenes created by 'Microcosm' are endlessly captivating, the stained glass and woodwork on show impressive, the clothing and jewellery offered up by 'Terrestrial Angel' like stepping into another time.

This is a market that knows what it's doing; the stallholders are mostly long term, the banter is relaxed and entertaining, the atmosphere confident and convivial. And even if you are only here to browse, it's definitely going to brighten up your Saturday.

Strandhill People's Market

The newcomer to the bunch, Strandhill People's Market only launched at the start of May. Founded and organised by the Mulrooneys, a family with many years of promoting and contributing to the Strandhill community behind them and strong local support, it runs from 11am to 4pm every Sunday.

This market is already a vibrant and welcome addition to the scene. With a strong push for 'something different' to offer, you never know what you'll find at the stunning shore location, with the wild Atlantic providing a beautiful backdrop and skilled musicians busking all day.

Already, we've seen a towering climbing wall erected for kids to play on (supervised, of course!), mini craft classes, charity stalls, surf equipment going cheap, adventure sports packages on offer and many, many different hot food stalls

and handcrafted goods available too. With a steady stream of visitors all day, and a throng of after-mass attendees, this has got to be the most social of all the markets in Sligo.

Delicious coffee is on hand from the cute little Driftwood Coffee Cart, and hot cup in hand, people can be seen sitting at the on-site benches having a natter, or loitering by their friend's stall, just whiling away a lovely, lazy Sunday afternoon. While Allan Mulrooney, one of the founders of the new market, insists that the aim has been to start small and get ever bigger and better, it's clear to see that this one has started with a bang, and is already showing signs of being a destination market from far and wide. Watch this space.

Other Co Sligo Markets

Sligo Flea Market is another hot tip, still running the odd

Saturday in The Model, with a fabulous selection of bric-abrac, collector's items, crafts and artwork on offer, as well as rails and rails of colourful and unique vintage clothing, shoes and accessories. With the Model Cafe serving distinctively delicious food and beverages in the atrium, a quick bargain hunt through what's on offer here before lunch is always a good idea.

A little further afield, but also well worth a look, is the Beltra Country Market, 10-12 on Saturday mornings, in a lovely old community hall. Members and contributors can only sell what they have made, produced, or grown themselves, ensuring a truly local experience for all. As well as the great produce for sale, the market runs a busy schedule of events year round, such as feltmaking and pottery workshops and seasonal specials like Christmas decoration making.

Whatever your preference or location in County Sligo, it's clear to see there's a lot on offer from enterprising and creative local people. What could be a better way to spend your weekend than to contribute to their success?

For more information, most of the markets mentioned can be found on Facebook with detailed listings of stallholders and events.

June 2014 • Sligo Now Magazine • Page 37

Sean O'Donovan, Philip Plower, Michael Marshall & Laura Brennan

Mary, Rachel and Declan Stout

Marsha Fleming & Brett Cox

Roisin McDaid & Ruta Balezentyte

Elissa O'Dowd, Sonia Norris, Marie Whelehan and Ciaran Sinnott

Noirin Hennessy & Sinead Dolan

George & Alana Quinlan

Julie McHugh, Holly McHugh, Megan McHugh & Robyn Reilly

Davin McGowan & Brian Devaney

Rachel Stout, Marsha Fleming, Diarmuid Woods, Rebekka Duffy, Aisling Mooney

Inpired Planting @ BLOOM

Is colour the trend of the season? Award winning garden designer Leonie Cornelius outlines the latest planting trends inspired by Ireland’s top designers

Words and Photos: Leonie Cornellius

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admit it. I have the Showgarden bug. As a garden designer here in Ireland, Bloom in the Park, the festival on the June Bank holiday weekend is the most prestigious place to exhibit your skills. Bloom, brought to you by Bord Bia, is Ireland’s answer to the Chelsea Flower show and is a wonderful celebration of Ireland’s top Garden Design, delicious food and family fun.

I have created showgardens at the festival in both 2012 and 2013 and the competition is a true challenge with tight schedules, real budgets and all the stress associated with building a showgarden. By exhibiting here you are not only showcasing your skills to the public but the designer is also entering into a serious competition which is judged by a panel of experts in the field, including some Chelsea judges. When the crowds start pouring in and you feel that you are creating a little bit of heaven for people to enjoy and get inspired by for their own spaces, you finally know all the stress has been worth it.

Much like the Chelsea Flowers show, Bloom visitors go

to the festival to get ideas and to see what trends are happening in the garden world. It’s amazing how horticulturally knowledgeable many visitors are at Bloom.

Phrases such as “I love how you have combined your Iris chysographes with your Stipa tenuissima” are not uncommon at Bloom and shows that the public loving your design is more than just a fancy.

This year I took a year out from building a showgarden and decided to visit Bloom in the Park to just enjoy it from a spectator and a writer’s point of view. Though I did have slight withdrawal symptoms, for me creating showgardens is addictive, I did enjoy seeing the inspiring designs immensely. From urban rock star cool to the subtle natural approach, every style and trend was represented. Bloom really has a wealth of inspiration and design ideas.

Here are some of the planting combinations and trends that particularly appealed to me.

Colour Colour was one of the main trends this year and we had two very distict schools of thought. Where Kevin Dennis’s best in large category gold garden had limes green acers juxtaposed with the bright purples and turquoises of his graffiti and Marion Keogh’s bold and happy colour splashes were trending colour choices. In Chelsea I saw the Gucci garden exploring colour in just this way. The result was a rewarding combinations of joyful colour. Fun and elegantly childlike in appeal.

However, there was also a different colour trend that was apparent and it was in tune with the big names at Chelsea this year, with minimal pale yellows, whites and greens being the main colour palette.

Leonie Cornelius

is an award winning Garden Designer, Interior Architect and TV presenter.

She is the Mentor for the 2014 Supergarden showon RTE1

www.blume.ie

The gold medal gardens by Deirdre Pender, Paul Doyle and Andrew Christopher Dunne were fine examples of these simple palleted gardens that spoke more of form, texture and feel, leaving space and depth for the viewer to be drawn in.

Attitude There was a definite trend is gardens with a bit of an edge at Bloom this year. This years winning Supergarden by Cian Hawes used hard industrial Gabion walls which were cleverly softened with mosses and alpines. The overall winner Kevin Dennis had some colourful urban graffiti and spilling paint details on his water features.

Spires and Iris As was the case with Chelsea this year, the shape of the

trending plant was a spire shape with the Iris plant also strongly featured. Foxgloves, both the native purpurea as well as the much loved Pam’s Choice as well as Lupins were featured in many gardens including Ailish Drake’s Limerick Culture Garden.

Spires of elegant blue Delphiniums and lilac Salvias featured in Tim Austen’s inspiring Peoples choice garden for Barretstown while Alan and David of GardensNow featured explosions of colourful Lupins and Foxgloves for their ‘Wellbeing Wetlands’ garden.

The choice of Iris ranged from an elegant pale blue scattered amongst grasses in Paul Doyle’s ‘Messenger’ garden while the native yellow flag Iris looked very much at home in Deirdre Penders ‘Idir’ garden.

June 2014 • Sligo Now Magazine • Page 41

Eilis Rooney and Sean Markham

Lorraine Burke and Jacquii Crone

Noel and Joy OConnor

Elaine Mc Gowan and Amy Dwyer

Kathleen and Sarah Feeney

Family Night Out! Ethan, Mary Rose, John and Jonathan Mc Loughlin

Karen Chrystal and Aine Rainey

Rachel, Ciara and Mary McCann

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Edel Costello and Marion Dowd

Annette Linke, Susanne Kayfmann and Conny Brockmann

Maurice Doran, Jerome Tahney & Ann Osborne

Francis Devanney and Heidi Wickham

Jim Meehan and Cora Murry

Margaret Fahy and Laura Bell

June 2014 • Sligo Now Magazine • Page 43

Mark Hutchison, Karen Dunne and Joyce Dunne

Anthony Gray and Paulo Barone

Paul Reynolds and Rachel Mulroney

Teresa Connelly, Elaine McDermott & Teresa Mc Dermott

Chris Fox and Kate Kelly

Joanne O'Callaghan & Helen Dolan

Shane and Orla Murrin

Paul Carroll, Kerry Carroll and Barry Curty

Jacinta Egan, Joe Egan, Lydia McNeice and Joe Egan

Enda Clarke and Lara Byrne

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his year’s Sligo Camino comprises 1⁄2 of the entire Sligo Way along a waymarked walking route starting at Dromahair in County Leitrim and continuing for 21 miles south eastwards to the heart of Co. Sligo. It is on Saturdy 5th of July and the duration of the walk will be 8 to 9 hours The route follows quiet country roads, forest tracks and laneways by hill and lake.

Walkers will be treated to beautiful scenery includes glorious vistas over the “Land of Heart’s Desire”.

Registration will take place between 7.00 – 8.00am at Coolaney Community Park. A bus departs for Dromahair at 8.15 am.

The fee is €30 and sponsorship cards are available. There is ample parking in Coolaney, both on Main Street or in the community park.

Route highlights include: • Beginning near the ruins of historic 16th century Creevelea Abbey on the banks of the River Bonet.

• Skirting between Lough Gill and Slish Woods around Killerry Mountain - Getting up close to Yeats’ Lake Isle of Inishfree.

• Slieve Daeane and the beautiful mountain lake of Lough Lumman. - Treking around Ballygawley Lough and through Union Woods.

• Collooney and the memorial to the Battle of Carrignagat in 1798.

places so boots/gaiters/walking stick advisable. The later stages are on country roads.

Walkers should bring their own food and drink to consume on the trek. Approx halfway along the route walkers will be offered tea/coffee and light refreshments. Cake, sandwiches and tea/coffee will be served to all walkers upon arrival in Coolaney Community Centre.

The Sligo Camino trek is organised by Coolaney Development Company to raise funds for the renovated Community Centre in Coolaney.

The Centre currently has a debt which we hope to clear through events such as the Camino.

Walkers must complete and sign a registration form prior to all walks and sign out afterwards.

Following tranquil back roads through the former Annagh Beg estate and past the ruins of Moymlough Castle to arrive in Coolaney, winner of Sligo’s tidiest town for the last 5 years The grade level is moderate and conditions are boggy in

BEFORE

AFTER

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Aisling Flannery and Daniel Orien

Shelley McDermott and Yasmina Rahmoune

Susan Burke and Melissa Mahon

Daithi Ring and John de Barra

Michelle Mahon and Lisa Mallon

Donal Hanratty ,Moe Rosley and Dane Tornsney

Kieran Mallon and Owen Mallon

PJ McTiernan and Mickey Finn

Keith Dunleavy and Ryan Gorevan

Sandra Clarke and Trevor Clancy

Fine Art Final Year class 2014

Steven Mannion Farrell, Rita Kennedy, Natasha & Stacey Carty

Sinead Casey & Enda Jordan

Lisa Noble & Sheila Noble

Siobhan Armstrong & Sinead Casey

Samantha Courihan & Amy Moore

Laura Cullen, Lea Friedrich, Aoife McKiernan & Caitlín Ní Dochartaigh

Mary, Niall, Sinead & Tomas Casey, Laura Dobbyn & Tommy Casey

Ramone B-Booth, Feva B-Booth, Meadhbh Packer and Síog Bancroft

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r main s announcing ou other contestant Two of our Big Br and Tola sponsor Cliodhna

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pplications are still being accepted for Big Brother but are in the final stages so it is recommended you apply today.

Sligo`s Big Brother will take place from the 17-20th July as part of this year’s Ballygawley Festival, #BallygawleyFesht.

The North West`s first ever Big Brother #SligosBigBrother will take place in Ballygawley Village in association with the Irish Kidney Association.

“We want to represent all aspects of society so whatever your age and whatever your lifestyle we’d love to hear from you.

Whether you’re 18 or 80 as long as you’re a passionate, vibrant and interesting individual with a zest for life and a story to tell, then you could make a fantastic housemate.”

Today the organising committee confirmed to us that “The Big-Brother Gig Rig”

The Big Brother Gig-Rig

June 2014 • Sligo Now Magazine • Page 54

will make its way from London to Baile Ui Dhalaigh. The GigRig will allow everyone to see what exactly the housemates get up to and who is coping best.

“We can also confirm that PetStop and Discount warehouse in Carraroe has become the main sponsor”.

John Mc Keon, Director of Petstop stated “I am delighted to come on board this exciting project, Sligo has a number of large events this Summer and this is sure to be one of them”.

12 housemates will be permitted into the house, 8 trials both physical and mental, over 4 days. “Each housemate will represent a company or business and you have just 3 weeks to submit your application”.

So If you wish to enter #SligosBigBrother or wish to nominate a friend to enter the house application forms can be downloaded from www.visitballygawley.com/bi gb or emailing ballygawleyenterprisedevelop ment@yahoo.ie

, Liam from Petstop, Tola: Big Brother Housemate her Committee, Brot Thomas Walsh: Sligos Big Housemate. her Brot Big ran: Cur a Cliodhn

C

airde Arts Festival, Sligo’s annual celebration of cultural diversity and inclusion, launched the 2014 festival with a stellar programme of local, national and international acts confirmed, at the Glasshouse Hotel recently.

A summer highlight for families and visitors, Cairde Arts Festival is a creatively fuelled programme of inspiring summer time cultural events

Cairde’s Big Auction Cairde’s Big Auction, which helps raise vital funds for the Festival programme also took place at the launch. Key prizes included a night for two plus dinner at Markree Castle, Surf Lessons with Strandhill Surf School, artworks by Leonora Neary, Barra Cassidy & Anna Leask, vouchers from Voya Seaweed Bath as well as Sligo Live tickets for Sheryl Crow in October.

Photo Anna Leask

Cairde Visual – Open Call for Submissions Following the success of the festival’s first group visual art exhibition in 2013 entitled “An Issue Worth Mentioning”, featuring the work of eight local artists, Cairde is delighted to make this open submission exhibition a reality for artists once again in 2014.

Cairde Visual will open on Tuesday July 8th at 6pm in the

Hyde Bridge Gallery in Sligo and will run throughout the Cairde Arts Festival and until Sunday July 20th at 6pm. The Cairde Arts Festival is accepting submissions for the exhibition until midnight on Monday June 2nd.

For more information on Cairde Arts Festival visit http://www.cairdefestival.co m or follow on facebook.com/CairdeArtsFest ival and on twitter @cairdefestival

Photo Nic

ola Gillesp

ie

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Imelda Dowling & Christina Maye

Conor McMorrow, Kane O'Connor, Graham Golden, Dominic Husky, Amanda Lavin, Amanda Stewart and Shauna Bracken.

Cora Nicholson &Donna Trill

Nicola Currid & Sinead Magee

Kathy, Keith and Roisin O'Grady

Kathleen May and Tracy Davey

June 2014 • Sligo Now Magazine • Page 48

Christine Dolan and Amy Dolan

Angela Feeney and Fiona Tiffoney

Clare and Caroline Rooney

Celene Irwin, Charles Grandison, Alan Foley and Lisa Gaughran

Una McLoughlin, Janet McNamara

Paul Barnes and Katy McAleenan-McAlee

Susan Fallon and Seamus Kivlehan

Martha Doherty and Marion Connolly

Evan McCaffer and Lisa Gaughran

Louise Currid and Amanda Donohoe

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All ages and abilities Learn a new skill and De-stress!

Wedding favours, Mosaic Recycle Crafts, Soap Making Making gifts, Pewter Card Making and much more!

Tel: 071-9168388 or 086 815 6753 • glendadevlin@hotmail.com • www.getaheadwithcrafts.com June 2014 • Sligo Now Magazine • Page 43

Louise O'Hehir, Mary Nielson, Barbara Maloney, Carmel McGrath & Caroline Murray

Valerie, John and Hannah Davey

Niall and George Draper

Louise and Hugh O'Hehir

Rachael Kivlehan, Niamh Finnegan and Lauren Ruddy

Marian Rolf and Emer Benson

Fleur Kinsella and Claire McManus

Hugh O'Hehir, David Murray,Tom Nielson, Aiden Murphy and Mike McGrath

Colette O'Donnell and Triona O'Donnell

Cara Osborn and Niamh NĂŒ Dhomhnaill

Wedding Season

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by Ali Foley

Stephen McNena and Denise O Toole

Shane and Nicola OMeara

Sean , Ethan and Cormac McGowan

EIleen King and Patricia King

nyone who has ever been involved in planning a wedding knows exactly how much work goes into creating the perfect occasion and it can often seem like the To Do list is neverending! Luckily The Zipyard Sligo is here to lighten the load and help you with planning your perfect day. The Zipyard is Ireland’s Wedding Wear specialist, and so we are experts in Wedding Dress alterations such as shortening, taking in, letting out...the list goes on! We can also offer our style consultation services to change a dress according to your wishes, so you will not only have a perfectly fitted dress, you will have one uniquely bespoke to your style. We also offer a number of clothing accessories in our store such as bras, clips and tape that may be simple, but can make the biggest difference to how your Wedding Dress sits on the big day.

We couldn’t forget about the all important Bridal Party, and so we are also here to take care of any alteration needs for bridesmaids, groomsmen, mother of the bride or groom, flower girls, page boys, and of course, the Groom himself. Should any member of your Bridal Party need our services, we are happy to help, no alteration too big or small. We also offer a personal and luxurious Bridal Suite in our store, so that you can enjoy complete privacy and comfort when you come to see us. With no appointment necessary, call into us today to discuss how we can make your Wedding Day even more perfect.

Edel Quinn and John ' The Map'

You can contact The Zip Yard on 0719138907 or visit their website, www.theyipyard.ie They are located at No. 5 Rockwood Parade, Sligo. Opening hours are: Monday to Friday 8.30am – 6.00pm and Saturday 9.00am – 5.00pm Ian McMorrow, Francis O Hara and Glen Monahan

T

Owen McKirdy, Sorra McKirdy, Colleen Correia and Arianna McKirdy he remote Hebridean isle of Iona is a unique place, sitting at the crossroads of Irish and Scottish culture and at the same time a sending place for monks and travellers sailing west to the New World. It’s the inspiration for Scots fiddler Alasdair Fraser, Californian cellist Natalie Haas and Donegal native Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh as they explore the connections between traditional Irish, Scottish and Old Time American music, following in the musical footsteps of tunes that have emigrated and found their way home once more.

The result: all the raw beauty and energy you’d expect from a community on the edge of the known world, as Haas returns the cello to its historical role at the rhythmic heart of Scottish dance music. It’s a dream collaboration for Fraser, long regarded as one of Scotland’s premier fiddlers and a proud ambassador for Gaelic culture and traditions. He and Haas have been creating a buzz at festivals and concert halls across Europe and America, and for this tour they are performing for the first time with the inestimable Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh. One of the foremost singers in the Irish language and co-founder of trad legends Altan, Mairéad will revisit the themes of 'Edge’ and ‘Threshold’ explored on her first solo album ‘Imeall’, together with Haas and Fraser.

Kieran and Marie

Fri 20th June at 8pm In Sligo Cathedral

Andrew Reynolds Conductor, Eimear Reynolds Musical Director, James Wallace Accompanist Special Guests Charlie Mc Gettigan & Sandy Kelly With many more artists North West

Liam McGurrin and Fiona McGuire

Deirdre Correia and Ann McKirdy

Monica McCarrick and Seana Haughey

Melane Heney, Michael Callander and Rosalind Callander

Counselling Services for those who are having suicidal thoughts or who have been affected by suicide

TALK TO US 087-4188053

All calls will be answered by trained professionals in suicide prevention and intervention

Tickets €10 available from the North West Simon Community Office on 23 Mail Coach Rd, Sligo 071 9855005 & Ms Therapy Centre, Ballytivnan, Sligo 071 9144748 June 2013 • Sligo Now Magazine • Page 38

Talk to us any time you like, in your own way, and off the record – about whatever’s getting to you.

You don’t have to be suicidal

Usual hours open to receive callers at the door 11:00am - 9:00pm Samaritans Sligo, 3 e Mall, Sligo Tel: 07191-42011 (Lo-call )1850 609090

Multi Award Winning

Indian Cusine McGarrigles, O'Connell St, Sligo Phone: 086-606-9007

Chefs Early Special

Fri & Sat 5pm to 7.30pm Sun to Thur 5pm to late 3 Courses €19.95 With Vegetarian Main Course €17.50 Open Monday to Sunday 5pm to Midnight Takeaway and Delivery Available Town and Surrounding Areas covered inc.

Strandhill, Ballisodare, Rosses Point, Collooney and Drumcliff

34 O'Connell St - Sligo Tel 071-9147171 Website: www.poppadom.ie

Come and view our newly refurbished Reception Area and Ballroom

Hosting weekly live music with bluegrass sessions on monday nights, Bluestacks jam club (open mic with full band set up & payed gig for best band on the night) on Tuesdays, traditional sessions on Thursday nights, and the infamous Sunday M.A.S.S, that’s the Massive Acoustic Sunday Sessions, every Sunday night.

Open for Lunch, daily specials available

Brian Fox moved in from the Waterfront Bar & Restaurant in Rosses point to the Crozon Inn in January 2014.

Seen an exciting opportunity to bring high quality food to the a busy venue in Sligo Town.

Hit the ground running and great support from the locals. A local man that knows the area well. Sports enthusiast, follows Sligo Rovers, Sligo GAA and goes Racing.

Friendly and efficient staff Very popular Sunday lunch.

Daily Dinner & Bar menus.

Summer menu additions in May. Outdoor seating area & Ample parking space.

Caters for parties and celebrations.

Open Thursday to Sunday Evening Meals 6.30 to 10pm Sunday Lunch 12.30 to 3pm Bar Food is Served Daily from 12.30 - 9pm For Reservations call: 071-916-4934

Hargadons, a traditional pub, which also incorporates a busy restaurant, up to the minute kitchen facilities and top class chefs, producing lunch and evening meals Monday to Saturday, ensuring that Hargadons is a hive of activity all day long.

e Viage Coffee Shop

Open 6 Days a Week

Lunch Specials for only €8.90 All main courses are served with soup as a starter

Live Music Every Thursday & Friday from 10.00pm See you in Hargadons for a Pint O’Connell Street, Sligo. www.hargadons.com Michelin Eating Out In Pubs Guide 2013

PLEASE CONTACT US FOR OUR TAKEAWAY MENU

Vegetarian dishes available

All sausages are freshly prepared by & purchased from Sherlock Butchers, Ballisodare

The Village Coffee-Shop - Town & Country Clothing – Gifts & Crafts

Main Street, Ballisadare, Co. Sligo Telephone: 071 916 74 17 Open Monday to Friday - 10am to 5pm / Saturday from 10am to 3pm - Free WiFi

THE

OWENMORE INN

ThE

Irish

COLLOONEY, CO. SLIGO TEL: 071-9167105

hOuSE

Shells is the perfect beach cafe, bright & airy with fabulous fairtrade coffee.

Brunch is a must and includes eggs benedict & freshly baked bread.

• PARTIES CATERED FOR • PRIVATE FUNCTIONS AVAILABLE

• LIVE SPORTS EVENTS ON OUR BIG SCREEN • LIVE MUSIC EVERY WEEKEND

the harp tavern Est 1761

LIVE MUSIC EVERY WEEKEND

Great music Excellent food served Live major sporting events Warm friendly atmosphere

Tel: 071 9142473 Quay Street, Sligo

With wonderful wines and an organic Prosecco, this is a real gem. The Shells Little Shop, next door, is a treasure trove of jewellery, gifts, art and of course our Homemade range of deli delights.

Beachfront, Strandhill Tel: 071-9122938 www.shellscafe.com

Live Music Every Saturday & Sunday Live Games on TV

Parties Catered for Tel: 071-9142003 O’Connell Street, Sligo

Fiddlers Creek Bridge Street, Sligo 071-91-46799

Having a Party?

21st, Christening, After Wedding, Work parties, Hen parties, Stag Parties, Family Occasions & Graduation SHENANIGANS FOR THE COMPLETE NIGHT OUT EAT, DRINK OR DANCE!

Entertainment @ Fiddlers

Every Wednesday Night The White Gorillas Every Thursday Night The Rocketman Every Sunday Night Scruffy Duffy

Rockwood Parade, Sligo • Tel: 071 914 1866

www.fiddlerscreek.ie

Salt ‘n’ Pepper Squid

With Jane and Myles of Shells Cáfe, Strandhill

A

lot of people only get their calamari fix in a restaurant. But it’s sooooo easy to do, so why not try it at home?

SERVES 4

Ingredients 3 large or 4 medium size calamari tubes, sliced into thin rings 300g (2 cups) all-purpose flour 1⁄2 teaspoon cayenne pepper 1⁄2 teaspoon turmeric 1 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon cracked black pepper 1 litre vegetable oil for deep frying Lemons to serve

Method 1 Add all the DRY ingredients together; you now have a nice seasoned flour. Toss the calamari into the flour, making sure every bit is coated.

2 Heat the oil in a pan to just about smoking hot, around 170C/340F. 3 Drop in the squid in small batches, cooking each batch for one minute or so. Remove and place onto kitchen paper to soak up the excess oil.

4 Squeeze fresh lemon juice over the squid and gobble up quickly with some lemon mayo

South American Ceviche

C

eviche is a cold fish salad from South America. The raw ingredients get pickled in the citrus juices.

It’s an amazing appetizer, super healthy and packed full of flavour. Don’t turn your nose up at the thought of raw fish until you’ve tried ceviche.

SERVES 4 Ingredients 100g/3.5oz firm white fish fillet like snapper, plaice, sea bass or hake • 100g/3.5oz tuna fillet (ask for sustainable linecaught tuna) Juice of 2 limes and zest of 1 lime Juice of 2 lemons 1 tablespoon olive oil (for oilier fish use nut oil like hazelnut or sesame oil) • 1 yellow pepper, finely diced 1 red chilli, sliced 1 small bunch coriander, roughly chopped 1 small bunch flat leaf parsley,

roughly chopped • 1 tomato, diced Salt and pepper A dash or two of Tabasco sauce Method 1 Rinse your fish under cold

June 2014 • Sligo Now Magazine • Page 56

running water and pat dry with a kitchen towel.

2 Dice the fish into small chunks and combine all the ingredients in a large bowl.

Allow this to marinate for up to an hour in the fridge, stirring halfway through.

3 Serve up in fancy glasses garnished with lime wedges and coriander. You can pimp this up with guacamole and tortilla chips.

This Goes down really well with sunsets and Corona!

WINE GUIDE

Wine of the Month for June

with The Wine Buff, Tobergal Lane, The Italian Quarter Tel: 071 9140020 • www.thewinebuff.com Email: joe@thewinebuff.com

Welcome to our ‘Wine of the Month’ column where, each month, we will tell you about a red and a white wine.

Our red wine this month is Swartland d’VINE Red

supported by passion fruit and underlying citrus blossom flavours.

The wine is full and rich on the palate with a crisp finish.

Grape varieties: Cabernet Sauvignon / Merlot Colour: Dark garnet red

Tasting Notes: This red wine blend is medium to full bodied with a fruity and hint of spice. In the mouth it is rich with ripe plumminess and a hint of blackberry. Full lingering, clean finish with smooth tannins.

Food match: Grilled meats and barbecues.

The vineyards benefit from the constant cool breezes that blow off the Atlantic Ocean; effectively sustaining the many microclimates, while the proximity to mountain ranges adds its own dimension to the physical character of the fruit.

Chenin Blanc is originally from the Loire Valley in France and was one of the first grapes planted in South Africa in 1655, it is known locally as Steen. It produces a wine with good acidity of floral mineral and citrus aromas and flavours.

The history of Swartland Winery dates back to 1948 when the Swartland Co-operative was founded by 15 member farmers in the Swartland region which got its name from Jan van Riebeeck’s description of the land on seeing the indigenous vegetation, ‘renosterbos’, appear black in colour Swartland Winery boasts a unique style of wine making, utilising the dry soil and bush vine growth of the Swartland region.

The award winning wines are made from smaller berries to produce wines with a concentration of fruit flavors, offering a diverse selection of products to suit every taste The arable land of the Swartland region is ideally suited for the growth of grapes in the bushvine style and the many microclimates enable the cultivation of a wide selection of wines. The end product is much sought after for blending as bush vines produce grapes of excellent quality and flavour

Weddings and Parties Endless hours of agreeing budgets, guest lists, booking receptions, arranging ceremonies, flowers, dresses, costumes etc. Not to mention the meal you will serve your guests.

Excellent, almost done, and now, the wedding wine and champagne! What are you going to select?

Consider for a moment the money you are spending on one of the most special days of your life!

More and more marrying couples are turning to the Wine Buff to ensure their Irish wedding is exactly that, Special.

Our white wine this month is SWARTLAND WINERY Winemakers Collection CHENIN BLANC

Grape varieties: Chenin Blanc Colour: Straw with Green tints.

Food match: Try it with chicken or salad.

Tasting Notes: Typical tropical guava flavours

So, why the Wine Buff!

Apart from the friendly assistance when selecting the best wines for your special occasion, the Wine Buff supplies possibly the best quality/priced wines in Ireland. And, all wines are exclusive to our wine shops.

We have supplied hundreds of Irish weddings and have a range of services to help make your day run smoothly.

5 Thomas St, Sligo Tel: 071-9143523

THIS MONTHS SPECIAL

Cut, Blow Dry and Shave for only...€25

June 2014 • Sligo Now Magazine • Page 57

Super Tan Sligo ProfessionalTanning Studio

Tanning 1 min - 90 cent

Special Offer: 40 min - €25

Open: Mon-Fri 12pm - 9pm, Sat 12pm - 7pm

• Double bronzing lamps • Best quality sunbeds & sunshowers • Vibro tanning • Wide selection of tanning lotions • FREE - birthday tanning • FREE - each 9th tanning

The Hair station -

B

ased in heart of Ballygawley village, beside daybreak filling station, the hair station is a new, modern salon, offering a whole range of hairdressing services.

The proprietor, Sandra Clarke has 10 years experience in the industry, having previously worked in salons in both Riverstown and Sligo town.

We also have our very talented junior trainee stylist, Poppy

Just House, Bridge Street, Sligo • Phone: 071 919 9663 Prop.

Sandra Clarke

Ballygawley • 071-9303030

Special Offer Wash, Cut & Blow Dry €20 (Tue - Thur)

Open Tuesday - Saturday Unisex Hairdressers

Follow us on Facebook for details and Special Offers

Visit us at our New Premises in Quay Street Mall, Quayside Shopping Centre, Sligo

Tel: 071-9169633

Tel: 071- 9140400 • 30 Castle Street, Sligo Visit us online www.colourbar.ie

n - Ballygawley

Gurney on our team, and we are very passionate about hair, keeping up to date with all current trends and fashions, we offer very competitive prices with blow dries starting at €16 and upstyles at just €25. The hair station is open Tuesday to Saturday and opening late night hours on Friday. The Salon can also can offer ample free parking and located less than a 10 minute drive from Sligo town centre.

SpeCial offer

For Sligo Now readers, Tues- Thurs Wash, Cut & Blowdry only €20 (normally €28) Please Quote Sligo Now

with beauty rooms and Make-up by Muireann

Make up Classes now available at the hair Lounge Unit 4, Rusheen Ard, Caltragh, Sligo.

Tel: 071-91-54757 / 087-9022219

GIFT VOUCHERS AVAILABLE

Services Directory Matt McGowan

Tel: 071-91 46858 Mobile: 087-206 9031

Maintenance, Landscaping, Hedge Trimming, Decorating Also: Leylandii trees topped and trimmed, Gutter Cleaning, Power Washing Specs. for Planning Permission for trees & landscaping Roof Cleaning, Supplier of Trees and Hedges, Decorative Pea Gravel, also supplied Hedges and Trees

Aluminium & PVC Repairs To windows, doors and patio doors

Expert patio door repairs!

• Rollers • Tracks • Hinges • Door Realignment • Locks • Multilocking systems etc

Over 20 years experience servicing Irish windows and doors. Fully insured GLASS PARTS ETC REPLACED

Brendan Gormley: 071-9183860 / 087-2562669

BEDS • FURNITURE • FLOORING

MOW & GO

Complete Garden Maintenance Service at the Keenest Prices!

Lawn Management & Garden Care Lawn Cutting, Hedge Cutting & Tree Pruning Weeding, Planting, Decking & Patios Power Harrowing & Power Washing. Top Soil Provided.

All Areas Covered.

You Name it I can do it!

Phone: 087 3263919

CK SERVICES Quality Work Guaranteed at keen rates

Tel: 087-2844709 Email: christopherkilcullen@yahoo.com

• Chimney Cleaning - Hoover - No Mess • Gutter / Window Cleaning • Power Washing • Painting • Hedge & Grass Cutting • Tree Topping

Lynns Dock, Sligo • Tel: 071-9157830

Wood Floor Sanding Service Available

Fitting Service Now Avalable

No.1in the No.2 Business...

• Domestic Drain Cleaning • Emergency Service Call Out • Commercial Drain Cleaning • Man Hole Covers Replaced • Odours Investigated • High Velocity Water Jetting • Annual Maintenance Contracts • CCTV Drain Inspection

• Septic Tank Cleaning

Contact Damien: 087 297 4842 or 071 916 8086

Chem-Dry Sligo

323 Ferndale, Cartron Point, Sligo

• Carpet Cleaning • Upholstery Cleaning • Leather Upholstery Cleaning • Tile & Grout Cleaning • Stain Removal • Water Damage Restoration • Smoke Damage Restoration

Tel: 071-91-43519

All Franchises Independently Owned and Operated - Covering all of Sligo County

• 1st and 2nd Fix • Kitchens • Flooring • Roofing • Decking • Wardrobes • Conservatories • Attic Conversions • Bunk Beds

For all your carpentry needs at keen rates

Kieran Davey Groundworks

Landscape Gardeners & Contractors Ballygawley, Co. Sligo Tel: 086-8365444

Sligo Citizens Information Service

Providing a free, confidential and Independent Service For information, Advice and Advocacy on all your rights and entitlements including social welfare, employment, health and housing.

We operate from the following locations • Rockwood Parade, Sligo • Teach Laighne, Tubbercurry • Family Resource Centre, Ballymote For further details contact 0761076390, email sligo@citinfo.ie www.citizensinformation.ie

COMPOST FOR SALE Pure Organic Compost - Ideal Soil Enricher

Local Training Team Meeting Your Mandatory Training Needs - Public & Inhouse Courses in Sligo April / May 2014 • 3 Day Occupational First Aid (Level 5) • 1 day Occupational First Aid refresher • Fire Training (Basic and Warden Level) • Manual Handling • People (patient) Handling (full or refresher) Contact Carmel on 087-9211517 email: info@imtservices.ie www.imtservices.ie

• 50 Litre Sealed Bags • Cubic Metre Sacks Compost / Veggie Mix • Bulk Loads Trailer pickup & can deliver Union Wood Road, Ballisodare Call to Yard or Phone 087-9756455

Thur - Sun: 11am-6pm & School Holidays + Bank Holidays.

Outside hours by arrangement

1 and half hours of supervised play for just €5.00 www.happydayssligo.ie

Cleveragh Business Park, Sligo • Telephone: 071 9135115

FOR CLASS SCHEDULES OR MORE DETAILS CONTACT YOUR CERTIFIED BOKWA INSTRUCTOR:

Eithne Cromey 087-266-8758

Merville Community Centre, Maugheraboy, Sligo, Tue 8pm @ Thur 7.30pm €7 Per Class

Find us on Facebook - Bokwa Fitness Sligo

PHYLLIS O'CONNOR

ACCOUNTING Holborn St, Sligo Phone: (071)9144713

SELF EMPLOYED? PAYE? Are you having Tax problems?

Do you have income tax / VAT / Capital Gain tax liabilities? We can help.

20 Years experience with Revenue

Ultimate Spray Insulation using The Icynene Insulation System Icynene was developed over 25 years ago, It’s one of the most well known brands of insulation in North America and is available in 34 countries around the world.

• The only spray foam in Ireland to successfully pass the breathability testing.

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North West Boiler Services Fully Oftec trained Service Technician

• Oil Boiler Services • Breakdowns • Commissioning • Carbon Monoxide Room Safety Testing • Oil Tank Installation / Water Drainage • Efficiency Readings

Call David 086-0593-263

Follow Kate on Twitter @katicut Tinder is a 'social' app. An app for meeting new people. Tinder is a 'dating' app. An app for those of us who are too shy to approach someone we find attractive, for fear they may reject us. Tinder is a revolutionary app, which removes all manner of boundaries and awkward social norms and allows us to judge one another on a purely physical level from behind the safety of our telephone touch screens.

Tinder is just a bit of craic. Tinder is the devil.

I spoke to a lot of different people and got a lot of different opinions about this relatively new dating app.

I'm going with that moniker as I feel it's the most accurate. Although, in my own experience, it's more like a sleazing app. But hey, apples/oranges. I even had the pleasure of doing some cotindering (where a kind friend allows you to take part in their casual swiping yes/no on merit of the photograph subject's 'dateability') before I steeled my nerves and joined the site myself.

If I'm completely honest, I joined 99% purely to write about it, as I've always had a strong suspicion any form of technology getting involved in my love life is a bad idea. But of course, I'm human, so 1% (that airy-fairy, romanticnovel writing eejit in my brain) kept squeaking "Well, you never know..."

Well, now I know. Tinder IS the devil.

For those of you who don't know how it works, the premise is simple.

Accessing your Facebook profile, the app chooses between 1 and 6 photos of you (which you are at liberty to edit and frankly, some people really should), what your likes are and who is on your friend list. According to some reports, it promises to never, ever try to link you with an existing Facebook friend, but that doesn't seem to be the case as several of my close male friends appeared on my screen at different points, giving me a simultaneous jolt of fondness and revulsion. Your profile also includes a tagline, which can be short and snappy, long and heartfelt, or, as I found most common – blank. Who cares about personality, huh? Then you spend many happy hours looking at other people's profiles and saying 'yes' or 'no' to them, with a casual swipe of the finger. They in turn are doing the same. It's all completely secret and private and confidential until you 'yes' someone who has 'yessed' you and then WoooHooo! Flashing lights, celebrations, "We Have A Match!" and a chat opens up for you two lucky lovebirds. Not that you have to use it.

Most of my thirty-five odd matches sat there idle, throbbing with forlorn abandonment, without so much as a peep.

There are whispers abounding that Tinder is all about sex. That it's the "straight version of Grindr". Don't know what that means? Go look it up, I am NOT opening that can of worms in a family friendly magazine. I've already used the word sex as a verb. Twice. In my experience, I can't say I let it get that far. In fact, I couldn't bring myself to even set up a date, being as the whole premise of Tinder is so damn creepy I just transferred that onto all the

guys who did try to chat to me and sat there cringing and hating every minute, thinking creep. Creep. CREEP. Which isn't very fair. They can't all be creeps. I mean, I'm on here. Am I a creep? No. Well, not all the time. So I tried to give a few of these guys a chance. What fun. What high jinx. What banter!

Sorry, let me grammatically alter that a tad. What fun? What high jinx? What banter?

Look, I'm just going to say it, and you can judge me as you like: I think I'm hilarious. I crack myself up, regularly. I love flirtatious banter and pride myself on my whatsapp conversations with friends and potential lovemuffins. So forgive me if I thought I was going to at least have a bit of back and forth giddy chat with a few of these guys. Surely they could engage their brains a little to seduce this lady they so romantically matched with on Tinder..? Nope. Time and time again, my efforts were met with an attitude of "yeah, hahah, when can we meet?". Which, due to the creepy-vibes I was already feeling deep within my belly, turned me off entirely. When I brought this up with one guy, he launched into a debate about how life is really all about sex anyway so what's my problem? He seemed like a prince indeed.

Then there was the guy I thought very handsome, and actually put a bit of time into chatting to. A few of his comments were a tad risqué, a little close-to-the-bone shall we say, but he feigned innocence whenever I reacted suspiciously. I almost almost agreed to meet him. But then he let a really blatant one slip – which again, is a touch too frisky for a family magazine, sorry – and I said "Oh dear, Goodbye James".

Then there was the guy who put up a picture of himself with a heartfelt message of looking for true love, but when you looked closer at the image you could see he had viciously sharpiemarkered out his ex. The guy who opened with a line about his tongue being ambidextrous, and the one who admitted he yessed me because he has a foot fetish and I featured a picture of my toes, which he found arousing. Seriously? Block. Block.

BLOCK. Tinder turned me off flirting. Made it seem like a chore; boring and tiresome.

So many random men, so little interest.

I'm sorry, I don't care what your abs look like glistening in the sunlight, just please, please make me laugh?

And then there was the guy who was funny, and smart, and very attractive.

Who didn't ask to meet me within two messages. Who lolled at all my jokes.

He was nice. He was interesting. Was Tinder actually going to bite me in my cynical ass and offer up a truly wonderful match?

No. Because he never messaged back after that first, full-of-potential "chat-date".

Tinder is the DEVIL. *At the time of going to press this final paragraph may require some changes, but you don't really want a happy ending, do you..?

June 2014 • Sligo Now Magazine • Page 62

Wonderful Walks in County Sligo

This Month:

The Glen, Knocknarea Distance: The Glen goes on and on – the question is not how long this walk is, but how deep in you are willing to venture...

Difficulty Level: Factoring in the tricky element of actually finding the Glen, one could start this wonderful walk somewhere in the middle of the difficulty scale. If you forget your wellies, ramp that up another few notches. And if you decide to walk the length of the Glen and come out the other side, where you will likely have to wrestle some cows to escape with your life, let's just call it 'Frodo's Quest'.

Directions: The Glen is situated on the western side of Knocknarea mountain and the entrance is notoriously easy to miss. There used to be a beautiful old wrought iron gate marking the spot (albeit hidden by overgrown bushes) but alas, some enterprising young soul took that and found it a better home. On the steep mountain road that leads from Culleenamore up to the car park near the summit of Knocknarea, you will pass (several times probably) a small, sunken well on the left side of the road. Directly opposite that is a worn patch of grass/mud where cars clearly pull in from time to time. Here lies the entrance to the Glen.

Description: The Glen is one of the natural wonders of county Sligo. Curiosity abounds and many locals lament that they've never made it to explore the Glen, possibly because of all the hype surrounding what a mission it is to find it/ get into it. Now, yes, it's not as easy to find and stroll as Rosses Point Beach, but it's not that bad once you're through the gateway. Wander along the perilous path with a sheer drop on your right hand side, duck and dive through overgrown brambles for a short distance, lose your left welly in a sucky mud hole and WOW. Suddenly this mission becomes obviously, irrefutably worth it as you step into a huge, deep, limestone chasm carved into the side of Knocknarea by what must be mysterious, magical forces. It's lush. It's green. It's sensationally quiet, bar the constant tinkling of dripping water and chirruping of happy birds. The trees tower above and touch their topmost branches together to provide a canopy that dapples the sunlight and protects you from most of the rain. Keep walking and you'll see more of the same. You may have to scramble over a few felled trees or slide down a slippy mud bank here and there, but that's all part of the magic. Contrary to what you might presume as the walls one each side get lower and narrower, there is a definitive end to the Glen. And a beautiful surprise there too. If you dare venture that far. Otherwise, it's a lovely walk back the way you came to the car. And no cows to wrestle either.