Leitrim
Says No
Leitrim,
in common with the rest of the country, voted 'No'
to the proposals of 'The Lisbon Treaty' during June.
This was a hard pill to swallow for the two major political
parties, Fainna Fáil and Fainna Gáel, who
both canvassed the voters for a 'Yes' vote. This was a
great result for the Republican Party, Sinn Feín,
who called for a 'No' vote. It would appear that a lot
of people, both locally and nationally, were confused
resulting in a 'No' vote.
Norah's
Winning Streak
Cloone's
Norah O'Connor was the lucky winner on R.T.E. television's
game show 'Winning Streak' in May. Lucky
Norah scooped 25,000
Euros which, as the locals say, will be handy for shopping.
Lovely
Leitrim on the Double
Leitrim
will certainly be well represented at this year's Miss
Ireland competition. The county's official
representative
is Laura Julian but neighboring Miss Longford,
Edwina Cahill, hails from Carrick-On-Shannon.
Rose
of Tralee Competitor's Leitrim Connection
One
of the participators in this years' famous Rose of Tralee
contest has a very strong Leitrim,
and
more specifically,
Mohill connection. Representing Rosscommon
will be twenty year-old Cathrina O'Connor, daughter
of Tom
and Agnes
O'Connor from Fourmilehouse. Her mother, Agnes,
is formerly Agnes
Mulligan from Hyde Street in Mohill. Cathrina's
uncle, Tom,
is a well know local councilor, while another
uncle, Padraig, lives just outside of Mohill in the
Parish of Gortleteragh.
Leitrim
Man Selected as Rose of Tralee Escort
Leitrim
man Derek Burns, who hails from Carrick-On-Shannagh, has
been selected as an escort for this years'
famous Rose of Tralee Festival. Sales representative
Derek
is one of
the thirty-one lucky Irishmen to have the
honor of escorting a Rose this year.
Young
Musician of the Year
Lisa
Ward from Aughnasheelin was recently chosen as the John
McKenna Young Musician
of the Year
following the
competition held at the Annual McKenna
Traditional Music Weekend in
Drumkeeran.
Multimillion
Euro Drumcoura Development
The
green light has been given to the development of a multimillion
euro
hotel and leisure
complex at Drumcoura
Lake. The new
leisure center will replace the
existing horse riding arena
and will include a seventeen meter
swimming pool, two handball courts,
a gym, an
indoor soccer
pitch and
parking for one
hundred cars. The equestrians will
have a new roofed horse riding
arena and walker
pen. This
new venture
is hoped
to create about sixty new jobs,
a much needed
boost for the
area.
Special
Endeavor Award for Mohill Man
Mohill
man, Tommy Murphy, was the overall winner at the Special
Endeavor
Awards
night held at
the Cloone
Community
Center
recently. Wheelchair bound
Tommy
is chairman of the LAPWD, Leitrim
Association
of
People With Disabilities,
which
recently opened in Mohill.
Film
Crew Hits Mohill
It
was very much a case of 'lights, camera, action'
in the Mohill
area recently as
Mohill native,
Catherine Lynch, and
her film crew descended
on the area to begin filming
for Catherine's
upcoming TV series.
It was hot
and steamy
in
Carrolls Pub one Saturday
evening as mud wrestling scenes were
shot between
Catherine's
new character,
Liz Bean,
and a fellow actress. Local
actor, Padraig
McLoughlin, was cast
as emcee and referee for
the event. The following day filming
took
place
in the
local G.A.A.
park with the
Mohill Ladies
team taking center stage.
Liz is cast as a trainer of a ladies
G.A.A.
team
in the
upcoming
show.
The comic also
visited
various business premises
in her native town and was seen
driving
around Lough
Rynn Hotel
on an
old Honda
50. The
Mohill girl caused a storm
earlier in the year with
her first TV
series 'Working Girls'.
The new
series is due to appear
on our screens in
the autumn.
Big
Change on the Mohill Landscape
As
I write, a big change is taking place on the
Mohill landscape.
The building
formerly known
as Booth's
Garage and more recently,
Heuston Station, is
being demolished
to make way for a new
supermarket and car
park. The
building has, in
recent
years,
housed a shop with
adjacent petrol pumps. During
the past number of
years, the Baxter family have
owned the premises
and are behind this
latest venture.
Windfall
for Glencar Waterfall
The
well know Glencar Waterfall is to receive
significant
funding for
improvements
under
the Tourism Infrastructure
Fund. A coach park
will be installed,
while restoration
work will be
carried out on
the existing pathway.
It is also proposed
to develop a walk
on the nearby 'Bog
Road'
leading
to a viewing
point
above the waterfall.
Landmark
Hotel Wins Award
Carrick's
Landmark Hotel, which
is owned by
Mohill natives
John and
Ciaran Kelly,
was one
of thirteen
tourism establishments
honored at
the recent
Failte Ireland
Awards (Irish
Welcome
Awards).
New
Facilities at Local Libraries
New
facilities to help the
visually
impaired
have been
installed
in libraries
in Mohill,
Ballinamore,
Drumshanbo
and
Manorhamilton.
Material
is
placed
on the scanning
machine
and translated
word
for word
into
speech.
Award
for Drumshambo
Business
Northwest
Marketing
of
Drumshanbo recently
picked
up
the overall
prize
for
local enterprise
within
the
county.
The
company
will
now
go
forward to represent
Leitrim
at
the National
Enterprise
Awards.
Improvements
for
Carrick
The
parking area
at the
'man and
boy' statue
at Boathouse
Bay in
Carrick Town
will be
upgraded by
the end
of this
year.
Dubliners
for Wild
Rose Festival
Legendary
folk group,
The Dubliners,
will kick-start
this years'
Wild Rose
Festival in
Manorhamilton.
Drumshanbo
Lady Celebrates
100th Birthday
Drumshanbo
resident, Mary
Ellen Cullen,
celebrated her
100th birthday
at the
beginning of
August. Balloons
and banners
were put
up in
the town
to mark
the occasion
and a
special Mass
was held
in Mary
Ellen's home.
Five generations
of her
family were
present including
her 12
children, 50
grandchildren, 90
great-grandchildren and
14 great-great-grandchildren.
Slimming
Award for
Rooskey Man
Rooskey
man Padraig
Gilligan has
lost an
amazing 5
stone, 4-1/2
pounds (74-1/2
pounds) in
just 26
weeks. Having
won an
award in
Ireland for
his gallant
efforts, the
Leitrim man
will shortly
be in
the contest
for the
World Slimming
Finals in
Derbyshire, England.
New
Music Star's
Leitrim Connection
Seventeen
year old
Liam Geddes
from Ballina,
Co. Mayo,
is currently
making a
name for
himself on
the music
circuit. Liam's
grandmother,
Frances,
was a
native of
Gortleteragh
while
his cousins,
the McGuires,
live in
Gortfadda
just
on the
outskirts of
Mohill. The
talented teenager
has just
released a
single titled
'A Fool
Pretending',
written
for him
by former
Westlife singer,
Brian McFadden.
Earlier this
year Liam
performed
on
Eurosong 2008.
The famous
Louis Walsh
described him
as the
best new
singer in
Ireland, while
the famed
Phil Coulter
said that
he had
a spectacular
career in
music ahead
of him.
Mountain
Roots
During
the
August
bank holiday
weekend,
the
various
villages
dotted
around
the
slopes
of the
Sliabh
An
Iarainn
mountains
(Iron Mountains)
held
events
to mark
the launch
of phase
three
of
the 'Mountain
Roots'
series.
Mary
Coughlan
Officially
Opens
Lough
Rynn
Gardens
An
Tánaiste Minister (Deputy Prime Minister of Ireland),
Mary Coughlan, officially opened Lough Rynn's re-developed
gardens on August 5th. The gardens, designed by Frank Cantwell,
are the largest privately owned gardens in Ireland. The gardens
are surrounded by the original stone walls and are linked
together on three tiers overlooking the beautiful Lough Rynn.
The gardens are made up with an array of flowers, shrubs,
plants, fruit trees, herbs and vegetables. They also contain
fountains, statues, a pond with a footbridge, plus the original
glass house.
Next
Issue Leitrim
Connection October 2008
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