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Michael O’Who and the Knock choc connection

GIVEN that at this stage Michael O’Leary is practically synonymous with Ryanair, it was no surprise that the chairman of Sligo Airport board Cllr Albert Higgins should get mixed up with his name last week.  more >

Thank goodness for Canadians!

SO, I’m living in a hotel for the summer. Yes this may sound extravagant, but extravagant it is not.  more >

Sligo now has ‘Berlin Walls’!

THE Berlin Wall may be gone but it seems Sligo Borough Council has decided to preserve its memory with its own mini versions.  more >

Centre (not center) of Tubber hit by more lengthy roadworks

IT’S bad enough that the roads in the centre of Tubbercurry are being dug up once again.  more >

Thieves run amok in Sligo crime rampage

DIY thieves ran amok in Sligo the other weekend. They nicked screwdrivers, wire pliers, a police scanner, and were found with a gun and a drug called soma.  more >

This brutal book summary is hardly a boost for tourism

TOURISM interests will probably have mixed views about The Secret Scripture, the critically acclaimed new book by author and playwright Sebastian Barry.  more >

Sligo fellas needed as Rose of Tralee escorts

ROLL up , roll up, Sligo men because you are in need. The search is now on for Ireland’s 30 most eligible bachelors to act as Escorts in the ‘Escort of the Year Competition’ which is taking place at the 2008 Rose of Tralee International Festival.  more >

Aidan tries a Bertie

FIANNA Fail councillor Aiden Colleary had a go at emulating the linguistic contortions of his departing leader Bertie Ahern on local radio last week.  more >

Request to older readers

ONCE again Bits & Pieces returns to the subject of the standard of our roads.  more >

Another view of cancer protest

THE recent cancer services campaign protest march and concert in Sligo proved a massive success with around 4,000 people turning out to send a strong message to Health Minister Mary Harney and the government on the issue.  more >

Amazing pace of snail-mail card

Weekender editor Brian McHugh phoned Bernie Chambers, marketing manager at Sligo Airport, on Thursday, April 17 to be greeted with: “Happy Christmas, Brian. I just got your Christmas card.”  more >

When will this potential killer be fixed?

IT’S more than a month since Bits & Pieces highlighted a broken roadside pole on the N17 just north of Ballinacarrow . . . And still nothing has been done.  more >

We’re all searching ... but for what?

APPARENTLY, we’ve become a nation of searchers, with roughly 1.5 million internet users in Ireland. But what are we looking for?  more >

A swift vacancy

NO sooner had Taoiseach Bertie Ahern announced last week that he would be stepping down in May, than a description for his job appeared on the internet.  more >

Your car, and what its colour says about you

DOES the colour of the car you drive say anything about your chosen profession?  more >

Boy, we eat an eggstraordinary amount of chocs over Easter

IF you are still munching away on Easter eggs it might interest you to know that it is estimated that Irish households will eat almost one million kilograms of chocolate over the Easter period.  more >

How do we stop scourge eating away at Sligo?

THIS is the scene just after the students from Sligo’s secondary schools have boarded their buses for Strandhill and Rosses Point.  more >

10-year research programme reveals cause of road jams...it’s, um, traffic

THOSE of you regularly stuck in traffic in Sligo will be delighted to learn that a 10 year-long research programme in Japan has uncovered the cause of traffic jams.  more >

Join in the fun of this great contest

IT’S the fun competition that everyone is talking about . . . Well that’s what we wrote last week, but then added: (we don’t actually know that, because we haven’t spoken to everyone, but quite a few of us at Bits & Pieces HQ are talking about it, so that’s pretty close)!   more >

Can’t have students handling explosives!

WE regularly get students in here in the Weekender on work experience placements from local schools.  more >

Dane talks double Dutch to Ballymote TD

IT used to be said when someone said something that was difficult to understand that they were talking “double Dutch”.  more >

It was confusing when it was in operation - now it’s even worse!

BEFORE last July, remember how confusing it was for visitors to Sligo, looking to park somewhere?  more >

Booze bills: You sure you’re telling the truth?

LOOKING at the results of an on-line health check run by health insurer VIVAS Health released last week, you have to wonder if the people from Sligo who took part in the check were telling the truth in relation to how much they spent on alcohol in a year, just don’t realise how much they spend, or that the people who responded to the survey were all moderate drinkers.  more >

A Culchie guide to driving

TO prevent what could become the ‘Culchie Wars’ let us define “The Culchie”.  more >

Wet, wet, wet . . . is this one of the best-ever ‘typos’

JOURNALISTS are always prone to “typos” when writing their stories - that’s a typing error - and sometimes they are particularly apt.  more >

This cop suffers from exhaustion...

AAH, garda speak. Where would we all be without it? A prisoner is never brought to the garda barracks. He (or she) is “conveyed” and a car is not a gluaistean but a mechanically propelled vehicle.  more >

Yes, there IS a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow!

EVERYONE knows that the Irish leprechaun’s secret hiding place for his pot of gold is at the end of the rainbow - but unfortunately, science tells us that this place is impossible to reach, because the rainbow is an optical effect which depends on the location of the viewer.  more >

Concerns over crossings

PARKING and pedestrianisation in Sligo continues to be a hot topic, with one regular Bits & Pieces contributor being prompted to write to us at some length. Here’s what he says:  more >

Powers-that-be do their bit (and pieces) for Sligo

WE don’t know whether to pat ourselves on the back or hand out a bouquet this week. So we think we’ll do both!  more >

This is really GAA sham-ateurism

GREAT, good and middling Gaels have been whinging and moaning at the prospect of county footballers getting a few measly extra euro for their efforts in putting 80,000 bums on seats in Croke Park and elsewhere.  more >

Rally driver made a lad’s day

GRANGE Garda Eugene MacHale received widespread coverage of his heroics at the recent World Rally Championship for rescuing a Jack Russell terrier from the path of a speeding rally car.  more >

So where is this mysterious sixth county in Connacht?

BITS & PIECES can, today, make a plea to broadcasters and media people who inhabit the nation’s capital . . . if you can’t be bothered to get off your overpaid backsides and find out about the “far-flung” reaches of the country such as the North-West, at least open a map before engaging your “brains.”  more >

Parking: It’s tough going for Sligo gardai

REGULAR Bits & Pieces readers will recall that this column (occasionally) has a bit of a bee in its bonnet about parking in Sligo.  more >

The crossing that nobody uses

THE most under-used pedestrian crossing in Sligo has to be the one on Connaughton Road near the junction with The Mall where the entrance to the North West Hospice is.  more >

Downside to Sligo’s new ticket machines

IT’S now four months since pay-and-display parking ticket machines were introduced in Sligo, meaning a welcome end to the ridiculous ‘disc parking’ system that totally baffled visitors (who bring tourism revenue) to the town.  more >

TV weatherman cools on Sligo girl

IT WAS a whirlwind of glitz and glamour for a young Sligo woman who dated one of Ireland's heartthrobs, Daithi O’Se. The Weekender happily reported the news that Sligo girl Mairead Hurley, of Ballymote, was dating the TG4 weatherman.  more >

Now it’s Baron Von O’Leary!

THE air ‘war’ between Ryanair and Aer Lingus has been running for many years, and in recent months has intensified over the Shannon-Heathrow issue and Aer Lingus’s refusal to grant Ryanair (a major shareholder) an extraordinary general meeting to discuss the controversy.  more >

Sligo’s on board - but Roscommon grabs top slot

SLIGO has won the Rathgar Road spot on the first ever all-Ireland Monopoly board - traditionally the fourth least valuable spot.  more >

Road will destroy avenue

IT SEEMS we are to see a hatchet job done on our local hospital in Sligo. Mary Harney and the Government is about to sack 30 nurses and four medical consultants with the full approval of An Taoiseach Mr Bertie Ahern.  more >

Actor Hurt reveals pain of no Sligo connection

THE BBC show Who Do You Think You Are held a signifigant Sligo interest a week ago when actor John Hurt tried to discover if he was a descendant of “Sligo” nobility.  more >

Competition where one has to grin and beer it!

A Bits & Pieces reporter eyes couldn’t believe it when an email asked her to enter the Best Beer Writers competition.  more >

What’s in a name, Sam?

THE Weekender received an invitation last week to the official opening of a new office in Tubbercurry for leading UK recruitment agency Reed Recruitment.  more >

We can’t beat that!

AS usual, the Weekender was first with the news last week . . . Even beating the Irish Examiner and Today FM to the punch!  more >

We need more bins to fight litter

Bits & Pieces frequently highlights problems with litter in Sligo and the need for action to counteract it.  more >

It’s so easy to ‘simpsonize’ yourself (or someone else!)

THE absolutely, positively, totally best website that Bits & Pieces has comes across recently is a MUST for fans of the hit TV show The Simpsons.  more >

Council is changing its parking tune

THERE have been a number of complaints from motorists in Sligo about the new parking machines.  more >

Sligo parking problems are not all one-way traffic

PARKING has been, and no doubt will continue to be, a hot topic in Sligo town.  more >

The mystery of Brazilian beef

YOU may be aware that farming organisations here are campaigning for a ban on the importation of Brazilian beef into the EU.  more >

In tests, nine out of ten hedgehogs prefer cat food!

Bits and Pieces can reveal that Hedgehogs are happy being kept as family pets in Sligo town.  more >

Weathermen hit again

WE don’t know if the former chairman of North West Tourism, Councillor Sean McEniff is paranoid but he would have reason to be if he was reading the Irish Independent last Monday week.  more >

We’ve got loads of cities

THERE has been quite a bit of debate as to whether Sligo is a city or not. However, the county’s largest urban area would have little difficulty qualifying as one on a website we came across this week.  more >

Are our TDs worth the money?

JUST 21 days after the 30th Dail re-convened on June 14 (following a 20-day break immediately after the general election), TDs gave up work for the summer last Thursday . . . and they won’t be back for 82 days.  more >

Heaven help these poor motorists

SOME worshippers at Late Mass at Sligo Cathedral show a very unchristian attitude to their fellow motorists every Sunday, one of our Bits & Pieces correspondents has told us.  more >

Bree and McGarry just can’t seem to agree…

THERE are 12 councillors on Sligo Borough Council, split geographically with four members from each of the three wards (North, East and West).  more >

The sight that one reader will want to see again soon

IF THE world suddenly went blurry on Wednesday last, it might be because you lost your glasses in Sligo’s Stephen Street Car Park.  more >

London 2012 logo causes uproar

A HUGE row has blown up in the UK over the design of the official logo for the 2012 Olympic Games.  more >

Female TDs: An endangered species in Ireland

MARIAN Harkin’s decision not to run for the Dail in the general election has had a rather interesting outcome, gender-wise.  more >

Mr Tayto plays a blinder in the 2007 election campaign

FRANK Kelly, aka Father Jack from the TV comedy Father Ted, was shouting “Tayto” rather than “Drink” when he visited the Weekender offices with Mr Tayto last week.  more >

GO for it! Get voting to get Sligo on Irish Monopoly board

SLIGO is in danger of being left out of the new all-Ireland Monopoly board - if citizens don’t get voting quickly.  more >

Stuck in a moment they just couldn’t get out of

BITS & Pieces has learned that Weekender reporter Niamh Mullen got stuck in the lift in The Glasshouse Hotel for 30 minutes the other week with four secondary school students and their teacher.  more >

Going radio gaga at Bits & Pieces HQ

AT Bits & Pieces the preferred daytime radio show is Today FM – which is why the things some of its presenters say often appear in this column.  more >

Don’t get taken in by scams such as this

Our esteemed editor Brian McHugh was on holidays in the past week so he has only learned since he came back of the following great surprise for him that arrived via his email while he was away.  more >

Bit O’Red may be in need of a new nickname

SLIGO Rovers have one of the best nicknames in football – that’s any football, not just Eircom League Irish football.  more >

Historic photo appears all over the world

IN recent weeks the word “historic” has been tossed around like confetti, principally by radio and TV news presenters discussing the latest non-GAA game that’s just about to be played at Croke Park.  more >

Amazing statistics of the grizzly bear that ate two hunters

THINK yourself lucky that, when you’re out walking in Ireland, you won’t experiece the dangers that are lurking around every bush in Alaska.  more >

These road signs just don’t want to go away

IT is now more than three months since the Weekender reported on a near-catastrophe on the N4 near Collooney, when 16 vehicles were damaged early one morning after running into a pothole at roadworks on a bridge just north of the town.  more >

Sentenced to reading council correspondence

IS it any wonder that most people would prefer a hole in the head to having to deal with local authority gobbledegook.  more >

BITS & PIECES ‘EXCLUSIVE’: 13 (possibly unlucky) differences between men and women…

1. NAMES: If Laurie, Linda, Elizabeth and Barbara go out for lunch, they will call each other Laurie, Linda, Elizabeth and Barbara.  more >

Oops. A Sligo gets into the works

DID you think that the Sligo address was confined to the north-west of the country? If so, the letters page of last Wednesday’s Irish Independent may have left a few doubts in your mind.  more >

Wikipedia reveals some strange goings on at Grange

THE website Wikipedia – the online encyclopaedia that is put together from the submissions of internet users – is rapidly becoming a bit like a box of chocolates.  more >

Shane shivers with the rest of them

A COUPLE of Saturdays ago Sligo-based Westlife star Shane Filan found out to his cost that cut-price flights to England are not always all they’re cracked up to be.  more >

Headline that wasn’t all white

ONE of the problems of being a daily newspaper is that, between printing and the moment the customer picks up the paper the following morning, there exists a period of eight or nine hours.  more >

What’s up with these Pearse Road lights?

THERE’S something amiss at a major intersection in Sligo. Over the past few weeks, eagle-eyed Bits & Pieces operatives have noticed a not-terribly-subtle change at the junction of Mail Coach Road and Pearse Road.  more >

Cool school clobber

WE’RE sure that all schoolkids would rather be wearing their own clothes to school than uniforms.  more >

Is this the true Ireland? (If not, it’s still pretty amusing)

The latest missive doing the rounds on the internet is about what it’s like to live in Ireland in 2007. Bits & Pieces suspects this may be an “Irishised” version of an American internet offering, but some of the “facts” really are rather intriguing.  more >

Counting your horses isn’t always advisable

There is a type of individual who can keep calm in times of stress but sometimes it can be a bit tricky if one is a bit too cool.  more >

Please can we have a couple of big stores?

Last week the Weekender reported that local authorities in Sligo are planning for the town growing to a population of 40,000, which is roughly two thirds of the population of the whole county at present.  more >

Jobs for the boys if they get kicked out at the election

LAST week we suggested that Bertie Ahern could always get a job as a plasterer if he is rejected by voters in the election later this year.  more >

Double Christmas cheer in Tubber

THE Christmas lights in Tubbercurry look fantastic, which means it’s not always about how many bulbs you’ve got, but how you use them.  more >

Missing workmen riddle is solved

THE pitiful, snail-like progress of roadworks on the N17 just north of Tubbercurry – which, as we constantly like to remind Sligo County Council, is the main west coast road from the “gateway city” of Sligo heading south to Galway (the third-largest city in the country), to Limerick (the fourth-largest) and Cork (the second-largest) – is in stark contrast to how fast things have been going on constructing the Ennis bypass around the County Clare capital town.  more >

Passengers really do want everything

BITS & PIECES never ceases to be amazed at the attitudes of people! For example, take last week’s page three story in the Sligo Weekender about train services between Sligo and Dublin being disrupted by heavy rain.  more >

Men in black stop man in black car

It’s official . . . Some members of the travelling community go around in Black Rover 75 cars.  more >

Seasonal work in red and white

We noticed an unusual job advertised in the Irish Independent last week.  more >

Text record

Do you think you are world class with the thumb when it comes to texting? Well, you can test yourself against the new world record for writing a text message set by a student in Singapore.  more >

Send your bits&pieces to:

Sligo Weekender (Bits & Pieces column), Waterfront House, Bridge Street, Sligo or fax to 071-917 4911or e-mail editor@sligoweekender.ie  more >

Civilised Gardai

You may have seen news items last week about a report advocating more civilian posts within the Garda Siochana.  more >

Dead money

While we spend most of our lives trying to make massive amounts of money, there are those who now make more dosh dead than alive.  more >

A creative way to make your point

A COUPLE of artists took to the streets, literally, on the Monday before last to raise awareness of the ongoing dispute between Shell and opposers of the company’s plans for gas lines in Rossport in County Mayo.  more >

Taking land from yourself

TRY to get your head around this one. Sligo Borough Council has made an order to compulsory purchase land from a number of parties in connection with the development plan for the Wine Street car park.  more >

Why some hobbies can be dangerous

They say there is no accounting for taste in matters of love/lust. But hobbies can be quite bizarre as well as we found out in Ballymote District Court last week.  more >

Minister prepares to give ‘dig out’

Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Micheál Martin was pictured with spade in hand and looking in working mode at the launch of the new enterprise centre at Collooney on Tuesday week last.  more >

On this occasion Pat really didn’t ‘Cope’ well

It was a classic case of the ‘Cope’ taking the Bishop’s name in vain. There he was, Pat “The Cope” Gallagher, a harbinger of good from Donegal assuring the decent folk of Dromore West that the rural transport initiative was now set in “concrete”.  more >

Ryder Cup-style signage

YOU probably thought that the infrastructure being put in for the Ryder Cup was only confined to Dublin and Kildare – but it seems some signage obviously designed for Americans has made its way to Sligo.  more >

The incredible shrinking N17 road…

THE stretch of the N17 between the Ballymote turn-off just north of Ballinacarrow and Tubbercurry is one of the slowest stretches of the West Coast route linking Cork with the North-West (apart from Ennis to Gort, which is absolutely the most infuriatingly tortuous main road in Ireland!).  more >

Workmen were digging up O’Connell Street last week (gasp!)

OPPONENTS of Sligo Borough Council’s pedestrianisation of O’Connell Street got a double – probably triple – shock last week.  more >

Chocolate overdose

Can you ever really have too much of a good thing? The answer is probably ‘yes’ for one young American who was left with bitter-sweet memories following a bizarre factory accident.  more >

‘Irish’ paper run from Kensington

The so-called ‘Irish’ Daily Mail continues to show its roots are firmly in London’s trendy west London borough of Kensington.  more >

Westlife Shane’s €50 windfall

Apart from being chased by a rhino, Westlife’s Shane Filan had a good week last week.  more >

Mr Burns proves the wildest Rover

Sligo Rovers defender Liam Burns may be a giant on the pitch and one of the most important members of the team, but off the field he clearly resembles his evil namesake from The Simpsons, at least according to his unforgiving team-mates.  more >

Small soldiers in national anthems

WE enjoyed the short letter that appeared last week in The Irish Examiner from Patrick Houlihan, in Killorglan in Kerry.  more >

Movie magic hits Tubbercurry

EVER fancied yourself as a bodyguard or an escort to the stars? Ever wanted to sample the red-carpet treatment at a movie premiere. Well now is your chance...sort of!  more >

Don’t know if you’re coming or going

The recent warm weather has been helping visitors to Sligo Post Office . . . the two doors into the building have been wedged open to try to get some air through the sweltering building.  more >

Asking for trouble

The railings outside the Yeats Building in Sligo town are being repainted blue, with a sign there saying “Wet paint, be careful!” Which, rather than deter people, has acted as an incentive for many to leave an indelible fingerprint.  more >

Sligo footballers sign for Longford

Sligo Gaelic footballers Eamon O’Hara and Pádraig Doohan have apparently switched their allegiance to Longford, if the RTÉ sport website is anything to go by.  more >

Does Sligo have no quality buildings ?

EACH year, the Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland (RIAI) presents the Irish Architecture Awards in order to recognise excellence in contemporary Irish architecture.  more >

Can’t buy health or happiness

IF we needed confirmation that wealth does not necessarily bring health and happiness, it was provided in three surveys published in the last week or so.  more >

It’s funny what people find funny

IT’S funny the things people say, and in this case the word ‘funny’ is apt. Tennis player Maria Sharapova was being interviewed after a match at Wimbledon which was interrupted by a streaker.  more >

Parking excuse was a dead loss

WE talked to Ted Maloney, one of Sligo’s traffic wardens, this week about bad parking practices that he regularly encounters in his job.  more >

Jedi master visits master poet

SLIGO is feeling the Force as a bizarre internet site offers pictures of Jedi master Yoda, from the legendary Star Wars films, taking time off from fighting the Empire to visit Ireland, and WB Yeats’ grave in Drumcliffe.  more >

Really desperate housewives

WE know there are many women who are into football but, let’s face it, the male of the species is probably still in a big majority when it comes to wanting to watch absolutely every match of the World Cup.  more >

Long arm of the law extends

Sometimes fixing a date for a court hearing can cause problems but a case at Sligo district court last Thursday had more complications than usual.  more >

Are we having the time of our lives?

THAT is the question that has become the topic of a television programme that was aired last week.  more >

Woman power at Sligo Chamber

Woman power was much to the fore at Thursday’s AGM of Sligo Chamber. The elegant Ann Clinton presided over the meeting and gave an highly interesting address in her role as chamber president.  more >

A sign for the innocent and for the foolish

WE only recently noticed the wording on a sign at the car park at the Dunnes Stores shop in Adelaide Street.  more >

Prison details on death certs?

It must have been all the publicity about the recent 25th anniversary of the hunger strikes in Long Kesh that caused our normally very accurate TD John Perry to be a bit confused last week.  more >

The reason why tickets went up

IS IT any wonder that parking tickets in Sligo were more than doubled a couple of weeks ago, when you compare the size of the old ticket to the new one.  more >

Illegal dumpers must be punished

THE mentality of some people never ceases to amaze. A photograph, sent in by a reader, shows rubbish dumped at this beautiful location at Lough Easkey.  more >

Hares jump on the Rising bandwagon

LOTS of people are jumping on the 1916 Easter Rising bandwagon at the moment but we came across a rather strange one this week.  more >

Ray’s figures are for the birds

As you can see Ray D’Arcy had an encounter with a swan when he was in Sligo last Wednesday for his Today Fm radio show.  more >

Cavan is the brainiest county?

WEEKENDER editor Brian McHugh took great pleasure in circulating an email he received this week.  more >

Airports, teabags and Swiss cheese

YOU may wonder what teabags and Swiss cheese have to do with the case last week where an airliner landed at the wrong airport in Derry but the British Airlines Pilots’ Association chairman managed to link all three.  more >

Web spins airport to Collooney

Intending passengers from abroad who look up Sligo airport could be forgiven for going off course.  more >

Mobile phones and Octopus driving

Some drivers feel they have more arms than an octopus while driving. Transport Minister Martin Cullen conjures up an interesting image when he outlined plans to ban handheld mobile phones while driving.  more >

Rovers given vote of confidence

THE SUNDAY Times certainly know their stuff when it comes to English soccer, but Sligo Rovers fans will be hoping that the newspaper's knowledge of Eircom League soccer proves just as accurate.  more >

Tough Training for a young journalist

When OUR reporter Siobhan Breatnach went to Sligo train station last week she got less than she bargained for.  more >

No such thing as bad publicity

Even though the following words from writer Oscar Wilde were first uttered over 100 years ago, they still ring true to this day.  more >

Chocolate prize is mighty tempting

The e-mail began promisingly: Sligo people could win one of nine cars still to be won. Who wouldn’t read on?  more >

Like father, like daughter

Nicole Filan, who was six months old last week, takes after her popstar father Shane.  more >

Independent fails Irish geography

SOMEONE in the Irish Independent obviously wasn’t in school the day they did the counties of Connacht in geography class, if one is to judge anything from a map produced in last Wednesday’s issue of the paper.  more >

Being Bond is ‘just another job’

Daniel Craig may be due to begin shooting his debut film as James Bond, but the actor is neither shaken nor stirred by the prospect of stepping into some of the most famous shoes in movie history.  more >

Ransboro escapes an alien landscape

PEOPLE in Ransboro probably don’t realise it but they narrowly escaped an "alien landscape" landing in their midst.  more >

Breakfast on Pluto is served up by a Sligo man

Sligo man Neil Jordan is highly praised for his latest cinema offering Breakfast on Pluto.  more >

A year delay for your apple a day

How often do you hear the words “an apple a day keeps the doctor away”? Lovers of apples might not like to hear the following but some of the apples you eat could actually be a year old.  more >

‘Minister’ Scanlon drops a hint?

In a press release sent to media outlets last week, local Fianna Fail senator Eamon Scanlon must have been dropping hints at what he would like to achieve in the future.  more >

You can’t keep a good dog down

THE GREAT Jackie Coogan is back writing for the Weekender this week, just one week after a triple bypass operation in Dublin, and just three days after returning to his native Tubbercurry.  more >

Is this the death of the video?

In the early ’90s when CDs began entering widespread markets, many developers predicted the sharp demise of the cassette tape, just the same way tape had virtually wiped-out vinyl.  more >

O’Higgins had Sligo at heart

Ballinary, on the shores of Lough Arrow, has long had links with South America through the area’s most famous son Ambrose O’Higgins.  more >

Defrock shock for Lawton fans

Journalists rarely understand the full power of the press, but one authority we don’t have is the power to defrock priests.  more >

Radio support for the Conways

E-MAILS, texts and letters of support from people all over Ireland were shown to The Conway Sisters before they performed on The X Factor last Saturday night.  more >

Shane’s home is not for sale

IS Shane moving house? That was the question that national newspapers hyped up recently with a story that a Japanese businessman offered Westlife’s Shane Filan 11 million for his home hit the headlines.  more >

Sony go GAA GAA over new game

THIS year’s All-Ireland football championship may be over, but those, who can’t wait until next year for some more Gaelic football may have their hunger fed by the release of the first GAA computer game.  more >

Making it personal

ONCE more, Irish Independent columnist Ian O’Doherty has had a go at Sligo rocker Tabby Callaghan.  more >

It just wouldn’t work here

THERE are some ideas we can borrow from other countries and then there are some that you just feel probably wouldn’t work as well here.  more >

Miss Judging the effect of a story

AS a follow up to his story of Miss Print last week, Albert Bree sent us the following:  more >

Seattle calls Bunnanadden

It may be a long way from Bunnanadden to Seattle in the USA, but nowadays distance means nothing where communications are concerned.  more >

Surely this one has to be a Miss Print

Albert Bree, in his weekly Rosses Point column in our Community pages, also includes an article from times past in his notes.  more >

Cranes sprouting up everywhere

NOT that long ago the sight of a tower crane on the Sligo skyline was a rarity and a source of wonder.  more >

Borders removed in the north

Erne Gaels of Belleek county Fermanagh certainly know all about cross border co-operation.  more >

Christmas ahead of Halloween

WE know that if you are organising a Christmas party and want particular dates you now need to book some places the previous January.  more >

Examiner takes the lead on historic day

In times when the newspaper industry is extremely competitive, it’s nice to see something different every once in a while.  more >

Cavan theory is confirmed

OUR theory about Cavan people’s legendary "thriftiness" being the reason the town is doing so well in the Irish Business Against Litter litter league appears to be confirmed.  more >

Dodgy dealings with donkeys

ALL of us have probably had the experience at one time or another of having a dodgy meal out, and suspected that the ingredients may not have been strictly as described on the menu.  more >

Nurse comes to the rescue

Nursing is one of the professions where you are never off duty. The same can be said of some journalists.  more >

Gerry Ryan’s a fan of the Examiner

Before he went on holidays, well-known 2FM presenter Gerry Ryan was doing his usual run through of the national newspapers.  more >

More mileage from the same money

THERE is the old joke about how politicians spend the same money three times. They first announce that money is being provided for a particular project, then they announce it is being spent and finally they get another go out of it when the project is completed.  more >

One way to bury a relationship

TO KEEP the spirit of the Goth alive and well in Sligo, it seems appropriate to acquaint our readers with a story told by Glen Hansard of the band The Frames.  more >

Comment raises a few heckles

A COUPLE of lines in our feature last week comparing Rosses Point and Strandhill raised a few heckles among some of the fraternity who like to mess about in boats.  more >

The value of imag!nation

IT IS amazing how sometimes the simplest ideas are the best.  more >

Visitors question petrol prices

THIS week (as you can see on pages 6 and 7) we have a feature on the seaside resorts at opposite ends of Sligo’s coastline, Mullaghmore and Enniscrone.  more >

‘He ain’t heavy, he’s my (Sligo) brother’

Sligo curate Fr Alan Flanagan has complimented the Weekender on the ‘He ain’t heavy, he’s my brother’ headline on a recent Hilda Kennedy column. Hilda’s moving article was on the recent death of her brother, Peter.  more >

Martin goes on the line at Markievicz

Enniscrone referee Martin Duffy found himself in a strange situation in Markievicz Park last week.  more >

Revs follow Tabby’s lead to Grange

How did a small venue in Grange become a mecca for music? Well as puzzling as that question is, there is no escaping the elevated status of Barry’s public house in recent times.  more >

Delay signs serve no purpose

Practically every road sign serves a purpose, it gives someone a piece of information that proves useful.  more >

Back seat driver in helicopter

THE term "back seat driver" takes on a whole new dimension when you apply it to one of the navigation devices on board the Sikorsky search and rescue helicopter based at Strandhill.  more >

The ducklings that fight ugly

A reader sent the Weekender the below account of a recent driving experience:  more >

Signs point way to confusion

WHILE obviously the new traffic system will require amendments to some traffic signs around the place, two confusing signs, unrelated to the changes, have been pointed out to us by members of the public.  more >

Sligo traffic problems solved

It seems that a new method of solving Sligo’s traffic and parking problems is being tried.  more >

Poles and wires

IT’S probably not something that you have ever thought of, but did you know that in this country we have 1.5 million electricity poles and enough overhead power lines to circle the globe four times?  more >

Red means go

At traffic lights the rule is very simple: when the light is red you have to stop and when it’s green you go.  more >

Aussies in a spin over parking

IT’S a subject we have touched on before but the experience of one of our reporters last week brought it into focus yet again. It’s the method of payment for parking in the car park at Connaughton Road.  more >

Minister moves the furniture

WHEN a new Minister moves into a government department and begins to make changes, it’s often described as "moving the furniture around".  more >

Marian gets applause for a breathless performance

SLIGO-LEITRIM deputy Marian Harkin earned a round of applause in the Dail last week for a performance that was apparently more breathless than breath-taking.  more >

Middle of nowhere

Our journalistic endeavours take us to all manner of places, but few as remote as Newtownmanor Hall, where a dedicated group of actors known as the Lough Gill Players were rehearsing for a new play.  more >

Strandhill Road is far from posh

For any of you who travel to and from Strandhill will know exactly what is meant by comparing the road itself with something you’d find in a third world country.  more >

Spelling problem

A COMMEMORATION was held recently by the families of Sligo’s Noble Six, who were killed during the Civil War at Ben Bulben.  more >