Update, September 2005
September 26th, 2005September has been a very busy month here in Letterkenny! Here’s a quick update on just some of what’s been going on.
Fleadh Cheoil: The Fleadh was a huge success, and this has been reflected by Letterkenny being offered the Fleadh for 2006. We’ve got a few things to learn, but on the whole the Fleadh was great so I’m really looking forward to next year already. The preparations for next year’s Fleadh have started already.
CCTV: Letterkenny Town Council agreed, in principal, to support the application for funding under the Community-based CCTV programme from the Department of Justice. The application has gone in, and we’ve committed to supplying the required funding.
Jobs News: Last week, South Carolina-based Zeus Industrial Products inc announced they’ll be establishing their European base in Letterkenny, meaning 150 jobs over 3 years. They start hiring in January. There have also been a number of local announcements, most notably Jason Black’s announcement of a new Niteclub, Sport Centre and Health Spa to employ up to 250 people.
Tidy Towns: Letterkenny has once again been awarded a Gold Medal in the Tidy Towns, scoring 288 out of a possible 300. That’s 96%! Congratulations go to Jim McCormick and all involved with the Tidy Towns, most notably our Town Council staff. Letterkenny Town Council recently appointed John McCandless as Litter Warden, and his work is showing already. Together with Town Gardener, David Donnelly, and Town Foreman, John Buchanan.
Ogra Fianna Fail: Letterkenny IT is back for another College year, and last week we had a very succesful recruitment day for Ogra Fianna Fail, the youth wing of Fianna Fail. I’m looking forward to getting actively involved with Ogra locally during my year as Mayor. There are a number of people, both locals and students from around the Country, who are looking to get involved with Fianna Fail in LYIT.
St Eunan’s GAA Club: St Eunan’s are through to the County Final, which takes place on Sunday October 2nd. Good luck to everyone involved. Highland Radio will have live commentary on Sunday, available on radio locally and around the world. While we’re on the subject, congratulations to Tyrone on yesterday’s excellent All-Ireland Football Final.
A Journey of Remembering: At the start of the month I was part of a cross-border group representing Donegal and Newtownabbey, led by former TD Paddy Harte, which visited a number of World War 1 battle and memorial sites in France and Belgium. The main part of our journey was a visit to The Island of Ireland Peace Park, near Messines in Belgium, which pays tribute to the 50,000+ Irish people who died during the War. The trip was the most thought-provoking, difficult and emotional trip I’ve ever been involved with. I’d reccomend a visit to the Flandres region to anyone who has the chance.