Old connections brought me to a fantastic public music event in Sligo last week that featured over two hours of very varied but unique local music talents rocking Sligo’s Stephen St car park for free with ‘Stadium Anthems’ under the baton of of ace musician and director, Kieran Quinn.
Delighted to see launch of Sligo Food Trail – a ‘who, what, where and how to get there’ for all Sligo’s many food offerings.
The departure of a long-standing employer is never a good thing but in how it responds, the region can play a huge role in ensuring that all that follows is not bad.
Dalata Hotels Group, the biggest hotel operator in Ireland, has purchased the Sligo Clarion Hotel and has undertaken to invest in refurbishing and upgrading facilities there over the coming year which is good news for Sligo, for the people working there and for the local tourism sector
Music is something Sligo does more of and better that most areas. It has diverse talents, diverse events, great venues, a legacy that goes back almost a century and generations coming through with music as a natural part of their childhood. It’s time for the many music interests in Sligo to get together and hatch a plan to make Sligo a ‘place of music’ to which others will come, spend time, and return.
From time to time on this blog I will chat with people from or associated with Sligo, and in particular (but not exclusively) those who, like me, are outside Sligo looking in talking life in general, and a little of the north west. First up, I put a few questions to my brother, Seán McKeon, now Chief Finance Officer of the Dalata Hotels Group plc. Have a read to get hios take on the tourism industry as a place to work, on the impact of technology on hospitality services and on how he views Sligo as a place to do business.
One of the things it is good to point out about any destination is its restaurants. There are now plenty of high quality options both in Sligo town and beyond – Trip Advisor suggests 86, so there is something for everybody. I can only vouch for ten which I have been in at some point over the past two years, and I don’t claim to be a connoisseur but come see what I think of those ten, and while you’re reading I’ll think of how I can hit the remaining 76?
Christmas is a great time for reading books and one of my choices this year was the life story of Sligo’s Tommy Higgins and his career in music, retailing and ticket selling. I never really knew the Ticketmaster story so I didn’t know what to expect exactly. I finished with the impression that there is a lot more that could have been included but that makes the story no less worth reading and well worth the effort.
Sligo hoped #Yeats2015 – a planned year long celebration of the 150th anniversary of the birth of ‘our’ poet – would be a focal point for a national and international interest in the region. It turned out largely as we would have hoped and established a foundation for the region worth building on. The challenge now is to do so in a meaningful way.
From the outside looking in... 