EU Social Inclusion Week

County wide events to mark EU Social inclusion Week Monday 17th – Friday 22nd October, 2010

EU Social Inclusion Week was celebrated locally from Monday 17th –Friday 22nd October 2010 and saw a whole host of activities county wide to mark the specially designated week which signifies the EU’s commitment to promote social inclusion and eradicate poverty. Some of the Activities are listed below.

‘Celebration Day’ - Showcasing all Peace III funded projects

A Youth Boxing, Dance and Equestrian Project was organized by Sligo Traveller Support Group (STSG) involving Travellers from the North and South of Ireland with settled communities and using the familiar cultural traditions of boxing and horsemanship and new contemporary dance to celebrate difference. As part of the Peace III work undertaken by STSG, a youth celebration event was organized in Sligo Institute of Technology on 16th October and cross border trips have taken place to Derry and other venues in which the young people have been able to explore parallel experiences between the sectarianism in Northern Ireland and the discrimination towards ethnic and cultural groups in the Republic of Ireland. One young participant expressed: “People that are not Travellers get treated in the same way we do because they are Catholic living in the North”.

Primary Colours Exhibition

What is Primary Colours?

Primary Colours is an innovative and structured visual arts education programme delivered by Sligo Arts Service and supported by Sligo Education Centre.

Primary Colours Exhibition Tour and Workshop Pack 2010

‘What Do You See’ is an exhibition of paintings, drawings, prints and photographs from the Sligo Art Gallery collection.

This year Primary Colours Autumn Programme linked with Social Inclusion Week.

12 National School over 300 students took part in an artist lead exhibition tour and short workshop. Each class group who availed of the tour were given a workshop pack containing interactive workshop sheets that the teachers will deliver back in the classroom.

Sligo Comhairle Na Nog 2010 AGM

The 9th Sligo Comhairle na nÓg AGM hosted by the County Sligo Development Board and Foroige took place in the Clarion Hotel on Tuesday the 19th of October, where young people from around the County were invited to attend, to express their views on topics deemed to be important by them. Sligo Comhairle na nÓg is a County Sligo Development Board Project, involving a working partnership between Sligo County Council, County Sligo VEC and Foróige.

There was an excellent turn out of enthusiastic young people, with representatives from 11 of Sligo’s 13 secondary schools. Youth clubs and organisations were also represented on the day.

The topics of discussion addressed this year were ‘Positive Mental Health’ and ‘Personal Safety’.

Elaine Granaghan, Comhairle na nÓg Youth Officer with Foróige said it was encouraging to see so many of Sligo’s Youth in attendance on the day as it is vital that young people speak out and be heard as an influential voice in local and national decision making processes. This in turn gives them the support to actively participate in what affects them, today and in the future.

For further details on Sligo Comhairle na nÓg, contact Elaine Granaghan – 086 0497089 or log on to www.comhairlenanog.ie or www.sligocdb.ie

Exciting Developments in St Angela’s College, Sligo for people with an Intellectual Disability.

St Angela’s College Sligo, in conjunction the National Institute for Intellectual Disability (NIID), Trinity College Dublin, has just commenced delivering a module on the innovative two year Certificate in Contemporary Living to twenty three persons with an intellectual disability. The module entitled ‘Personal Effectiveness’ aims at enabling the new students acquire the interpersonal skills necessary to support their ability to participate in their communities. The module attracted significant interest from persons with an intellectual disability and their families. It is perceived as a wonderful opportunity for persons with an intellectual disability to experience college life. For the students and staff of the college it is a privilege to share the campus with such enthusiastic students. This development reiterates St. Angela’s College commitment to inclusive education according to the President, Dr. Anne Taheny. The module content is being delivered by lecturers from the Department of Nursing & Health Studies and Education.

  
Carmel Jennings, course leader, Dr Taheny, President of St Angela’s College, Dr  Glacken, Head of Nursing and Health Studies, Niamh Lally, Trinity College,  Dublin, Mae Linn, Trinity College, Dublin. 

Sligo Peace III Partnership – Challenge of Inclusion, Lunchtime Lectures

‘The Challenge of Inclusion’ was the theme for a series of lunchtime lectures launched by Sligo Peace III Partnership during social inclusion week.  The aim of the talks programme was to create a space which would provide an opportunity for practitioners in both public and community sector service provision to reflect on their position as ‘duty-bearers’ with responsibility for creating conditions to ensure that all peoples in our community have equality of access to the services we provide.

The four talks entitled (1) Invisible Minorities, (2) Connecting Communities (3) Working Together and (4) Where are you really from? looked at inclusion from a range of perspectives including the minority Protestant community in ROI, a practitioners experiences, the Traveller community and the experience of being black and Irish.  The speakers did not claim to speak for everyone who shared their community background but rather shared their personal experiences in a manner which encouraged open and honest discussion.

Organisers of the lunchtime lectures, which were funded by the EU’s Peace III Programme, acknowledged that inclusive ways of working are difficult and hope that as an outcome of the talks those participating will continue to reflect on the challenge of inclusion from the perspective of the people who feel excluded or isolated from their communities and that this will be reflected in work practice.

Road Safety Road Show

On 20th October 2010, the Road Safety Sub Committee of Sligo County Council Joint Policing Committee held a Road Safety Road Show aimed at 4th year and transition year students.  The aim of the project was to encourage young drivers, and those about to commence their driving career to adopt a more responsible attitude in terms of their own driving behaviour. The consequences should they fail to do so were very clearly and graphically demonstrated during the Road Show.  Feed back from participating schools has been very positive and it has been recommended that the show be opened up to a wider audience.  Given the huge success of the 2010 Road Safety Road Show the sub committee intends to hold a similar event in 2011, subject to the provision of funding from the Road Safety Promotional Budget.

RAPID Celebration Day for Peace III

Sligo RAPID Programme was awarded funding in 2009 to carry out an ambitious programme of work under the Peace III Action Plan in Sligo Town. The RAPID Urban Collective which consists of six community projects has focused on tackling sectarianism, racism and ensuring conflict resolution between groups and individuals in the RAPID areas of Sligo. Some of the initiatives involved cross-border activity and others aimed to improve grassroots skills in dealing with conflict and prejudice in local communities. Nearing the end of the year’s activities, the groups came together in Sligo Northside Community Resource Centre, to celebrate the achievements and mark the pinnacle of the RAPID Urban Collective programme for 2009-10.

The six projects are:

Touch the Sky Performance Group involving the Model Arts and Niland Gallery and RehabCare is a cross-border artistic political discussion project involving persons with a disability from Sligo and Belfast and culminating in a DVD which features the two groups on their journey of discovery about each other, the Troubles and respecting difference. Touch the Sky has travelled to Belfast to meet with their partner drama group Limepie and this trip involved a tour of the interface areas of Belfast and a collage party to develop the drama piece. This has been a very successful and unique partnership between the Model and RehabCare which has resulted in learning and an enhanced appreciation of sectarianism and the experience of prejudice. A parallel has been drawn between the struggle to respect difference in terms of a person’s intellectual or physical disability with the need to appreciate difference in religious persuasion and cultural identity.

Win Together is a sports-themed project operated by Sligo Immigrant Organisation, working to engage with members of the immigrant worker community, Irish adults and members of the many ethnic groups based in Sligo Town. This project involved soccer and volleyball tournaments which integrated rather than divide people by nationality and ethnicity and in so doing, raised issues of racism and prejudice through lively discussion and social contact. The volleyball and football tournaments aimed to fight racism through team working and fair competition. In the football tournament eight teams competed from different backgrounds and nationalities. They played hard but fair on the pitch and outside of it new friendships were started and social lives bloomed. A cross-border match will take place in Omagh in November 2010 marking the end of a very successful project, tackling racism and improving inter-cultural relations through sport.

A Youth Boxing, Dance and Equestrian Project was organized by Sligo Traveller Support Group (STSG) involving Travellers from the North and South of Ireland with settled communities and using the familiar cultural traditions of boxing and horsemanship and new contemporary dance to celebrate difference. As part of the Peace III work undertaken by STSG, a youth celebration event was organized in Sligo Institute of Technology on 16th October and cross border trips have taken place to Derry and other venues in which the young people have been able to explore parallel experiences between the sectarianism in Northern Ireland and the discrimination towards ethnic and cultural groups in the Republic of Ireland.  One young participant expressed: “People that are not Travellers get treated in the same way we do because they are Catholic living in the North”.

Schools Cross-Border Initiative, facilitated by Sligo Education Centre, was an educational initiative in which parents, schoolchildren and teachers from Sligo Town met with their counterparts in Northern Ireland to work towards common goals and engage in dialogue and activities about cultural, national and religious difference. There were cross-border residentials, outdoor pursuits and team-building to help the learning about each other’s cultures and undergo training in conflict resolution and management. Teachers, parents and schoolchildren have reported that their attitudes have altered since the development of relationships with their counterparts in Northern Ireland.

Soccer – the Beautiful Game is a project managed jointly by MCR Community Centre and Cranmore Community Co-operative and involved a diverse range of young people from these RAPID areas and Globe House coming together to share their common passion for football. While learning soccer skills and team playing, the young people were also looking at issues that can bring conflict to the game such as sectarianism, lack of respect for difference and racism. Sligo Rovers players were involved in the soccer skills training of the young people, which added a professional and exciting dimension to the activities, while nurturing an appreciation of the “beautiful game”.

Intercultural Training has been organized by Northside Community Resource Centre and has involved adults participating in residential modules on diversity and intercultural issues. This training will lead to a greater appreciation of the need to respect difference and the translation of this to any situations where social difference exists - for example, between neighbours, work colleagues and in relationships.

There has been a massive amount of work undertaken by each of the groups and all of it under the umbrella of the RAPID Peace III Urban Collective which was the co-ordinating body for the funding, administration and support of the Collective. We are indebted to the professionalism of Helen O’Hara, the Co-ordinator of the Collective and very thankful to the funders of the whole Collective – the Peace III Programme under the management of Sligo County Council.

Billboard Project - in order to highlight the great work of the RAPID Urban Collective to the Sligo public, we have embarked on a public billboard project in Sligo Town. There will be six images and slogans, delivering a “peace” message over the course of the next six weeks and each project is represented. The first two billboards are being displayed at present in the Adelaide Street car park and in Dunnes’ Cranmore car park. Look out for them and email your comments on these billboards to pandison@sligococo.ie

Sligo County Council honours “Best Kept” areas in the County

The Mayor of Sligo Borough Council, Councillor Matt Lyons, and the Cathaoirleach of Sligo County Council, Councillor Joe Leonard, presented prizes and certificates to local participants in the fifth Annual County Sligo Tidy Towns Competition at a special awards ceremony held in the Clarion Hotel on 20 October 2010.

Sligo County Council has worked in partnership with Tidy Towns groups providing advice and financial support for a long number of years. 

This relationship has led to:

•  Steady increases in group marks
•  Assistance in the physical enhancement of towns and villages
•  Promotion of community development. 

The local Tidy Towns Competition was launched in April and divided into specific prize categories.  In excess of 100 entries were received from across the county, with great support in particular from community groups, residents associations, local schools, and the business community.  

Further information on the Local Tidy Towns Competition and full details of the 2010 prize winners is available on Sligo County Council’s website www.sligococo.ie or by contacting the Community and Enterprise Office, Sligo County Council, Development Centre, Cleveragh Road, Sligo on 071 – 9111800.

 
Mayor Councillor Matt Lyons presenting the Special Merit Award to Kiernan Avenue Residents Association, Collooney

 
Cathaoirleach Councillor Joe Leonard presenting the Special Merit Award to Mullaghmore Active

 
Mayor Councillor Matt Lyons and Cathaoirleach Councillor Joe Leonard with Scoil Muire gan Smál, Ballymote who received a Special Merit Award

 
Mayor Councillor Matt Lyons and Cathaoirleach Councillor Joe Leonard with Tidy Towns Committees

“You and Your Community” – information evening

Social Inclusion Week in Sligo

The week of Oct 18th – 22nd was designated Social Inclusion week in Sligo marking the tenth anniversary of the Liston Strategy (2000) which sets out to ‘make a decisive impact on the eradication of poverty’  This initiative was supported in Sligo by Sligo County Council who co-ordinated and profiled all events.

Sligo County Childcare Committee in conjunction with The Early Years Organisation took this opportunity to profile the Respecting Difference Programme in Quayside Shopping Centre on Friday 22nd October last.  The Programme seeks to:

• Increase awareness of diversity and difference among children, teachers and parents.
• Help children understand what it feels like to be excluded and encourages them to be more willing to include children who are different from themselves.
• Encourage young children to demonstrate respect and actively include others who are different.

Many parents and young children stopped by in the course of the afternoon and spent some time playing with the puppets and resource pack and parents received a small resource pack containing finger puppets, story books and the media DVD all conveying the messages of the Programme.  We would like to take this opportunity to thank The Early Years Organisation and Quayside Shopping Centre for their help and co-operation on the day.

Premiere of “…for peace comes dropping slow”

In 1888 the young W.B. Yeats wrote The Lake Isle of Innisfree.  In a film commissioned by Sligo County Council, artist and director, Lisa Vandegrift Davala has taken the words of the poem, “…for peace comes dropping slow” and re-enacted them in light across the landscape.

During two fine summer days in 2010 people from all over Ireland (including participants in the Peace III programme’s Yeatsian Legacy project and people from Omagh) participated in the making of the film.  The film was shot at three locations, Carrane Hill Bog, Culleenamore strand and Lough Gill.   It was premiered in the Gaiety Cinema Sligo on 22nd October 2010 and in Strule Arts Centre Omagh and the Foyle International Film Festival in Derry.  It has received a warm reception from all audiences.

The film was part-funded by The Yeatsian Legacy Project, supported by the PEACE III Programme, managed for the Special EU Programmes Body by Sligo County Council on behalf of Sligo Peace and Reconciliation Partnership Committee and the Department of Environment, Heritage and Local Government Per Cent for Art Scheme.

Come and Try Inclusive Sports Festival

Youth Sport West and Sligo Sport and Recreation Partnership’s Sports Inclusion Disability Project held an inclusive cross community ‘Come and Try Festival' on Saturday 23rd at the Knocknarea Arena in IT Sligo. The day proved to be extremely popular and was fully booked within a few days of flyers being advertised with almost 140 children from across county Sligo, from a wide range of different backgrounds and abilities attending. The day was based around fun, non-competitive participation and looked at introducing children to a number of different sports and activities while meeting and making new friends from a variety of backgrounds. The activities on offer included; Soccer, Rugby, Gaelic Football, Basketball, Martial Arts, Hockey and Athletics. Each of the sports were delivered by experienced coaches working on the Youth Sport West Project. Up to 15 local volunteers also supported both the coaches and organisers in supervising and managing the children on the day. Their support was particularly invaluable given the large number and wide ranging ability of the children involved. Each volunteer assisted in supervising the groups as they moved from one activity to another and they were also on hand to provide assistance to any children who may have required additional support.

The children had an enjoyable day trying out the different sports, some of which they had never played before, and a number of coaches attached to various sports/clubs circulated information on how the children could pursue that sport further if they so wished. Healthy snacks were also provided at lunch to encourage healthy eating amongst the children and it was great to see so many young people availing of the fruit on offer. This was the first fully inclusive event of its kind held in Sligo catering for both children with and without disabilities and it is envisaged that a similar event will be organised near Easter 2011.  To view full summary of the event log onto www.sligosportandrecreation.ie