Around Ireland: Sligo’s sausage success

Liam Walsh was awarded two silver medals for excellence in the Specialty Sausage category of the competition, reports the Sligo Champion.
The closely guarded secrets of traditional sausage making — using raw materials which are Irish — came under the scrutiny of a panel of judges representing An Bord Bia (The Irish Food Board) and the Irish Food Writers Guild at the regional finals.
Butchers from all corners of Ireland entered fresh samples of their traditional or specialty sausages, black or white puddings or drisheen.

LEITRIM: ON THE SOAP BOX
Bizarre sporting activities overtook Leitrim last week with the annual Red Bull Soap Box competition.
The competition is for homemade go-karts to compete in a speed race along a 700-meter track.
Go-karts can be made out of, well, soap boxes, cardboard, chicken wire, papier-mache. The local Drumsna Pike Heads go-kart team came in a respectable fifth.
The event was broadcast live on Sky television and attracted hundreds of spectators.
Teams were judged on creativity, speed and crazy performances and two teams from County Leitrim certainly provided plenty of entertainment.
The Drumsna Pike Heads and the Drumshanbo team, Hate Legging It, were among few such teams from the Midlands area and indeed the rivalry between the Leitrim teams proved so entertaining that they are to feature as a key part of a Channel Four documentary on the Red Bull event.
Hate Legging It created a go-kart in the shape of a huge spider and driver Gary Evans and fellow team members received a special prize for Best Crash of the Day.

DUBLIN: PLIGHT OF REFUGEES
Castleknock residents in Dublin have raised funds to help the plight of a Kosovar family whom gardai have tried to deport.
An affidavit was prepared by friends of little Eni and Eda Sylaj and their mother, Florinda.
After her husband’s disappearance in Kosovo, Florinda was savagely beaten by her husband’s family and the family were reduced to living in a shed in which Florinda actually gave birth to Eda.
Supporters hope that the minister for justice may exercise his prerogative and give the family a humanitarian right to stay in Ireland.

DONEGAL: SURF’S UP
Inishowen, the Tirconnaill Tribune reminded its readers last week, is one of the world’s finest areas for surfing, as the stream of visitors from Australia and elsewhere pass through the north Donegal peninsula for surf and fun — and, just occasionally, sun.
Recently a Tribune reporter met Joel Parkinson, Mick Fanning and Nathan Hedge, surfers who are ranked 5th, 12th and 15th, respectively, in the world at their sport. They were in Inishowen because the 12th best surfer in the world’s father comes from Malin Head.
“We were competing in Spain but got knocked out and so we had some time off before the next round in Brazil and I’d always wanted to see where Dad was born and visit my relatives. I’d been wanting to come for years but never got the chance,” Fanning said.

FERMANAGH: SEVERE FLOODS
Severe flooding almost cut off the Fermanagh village of Boho last week, and schoolchildren were prevented from attending school just days before their crucial 11-plus examinations.
All roads to the school were still flooded on Thursday and only tractors were capable of passing through, according to the Impartial Reporter.
Pauline McGullion, whose daughter Kerry is in the Primary 7 class at Killyhommon P.S., said her daughter was eager to make it to school this week, despite the flooding, so she could pick up practice papers for the transfer test.
“Kids want to do their best at that age,” she said. “Kerry was mad to get in, so she could pick up the papers, but the school couldn’t open because the area around it been cut off by water.”
The Samsonagh Road is submerged in up to five feet of water from the Sillees River, from Boho Cross toward Letterbreen.
— Compiled by Stephen McKinley
smckinley@irishecho.com