Sligo's student accommodation crisis is said to be no better this year.

Many students set to attend ATU Sligo in the coming weeks will be travelling from different Counties as the struggle to find somewhere to live continues.

There is however said to be a big uptake locally in the Rent a Room Scheme, with applications still being processed.

ATU Sligo Student's Union President, Emil Kindl says ideally university owned accommodation is the long term solution:

A Sligo Labour Senator says to the best of her knowledge the Party is fully supportive of Catherine Connolly in the upcoming Presidential Election.

The Irish Independent are reporting today that opinions are divided in the Party over the wisdom of endorsing Catherine Connolly with some privately quoted as saying it reflects poorly on the judgment of leader Ivana Bacik.

A Sligo Leitrim Deputy is urging Iarnrod Eireann to prioritise the Sligo to Connolly route for the reintroduction of catering services.

Irish Rail announced yesterday that it was  working to restore trolley catering on trains and a preferred supplier is now in place.

The service was removed during the pandemic, and while it was returned to other services there is still not catering services available on board the Sligo to Connolly service.

Sligo Leitrim Deputy Eamon Scanlon has made numerous demands for the service to be reinstalled.

Deputy Scanlon says it was unfair that other routes had services back up and running while North West commuters had to go without.

A Sligo Councillor says that she is in agreement with a recent claims by the Irish Hotels federation which claimed that the Department of finance has turned its back on the Hospitality and Tourism industry in this Country.

Data from the Central Statistics Office earlier this year suggested that the number of visitors here is continuing to fall.

Recently it emerged that the government is likely to delay the VAT cut for the hospitality industry until the middle of next year.

It is also possible that the lower VAT rate of 9 per cent will be extended only to hospitality and not to accommodation.

Sligo Council Councillor Ann Higgins says that one of the main drivers of the North West's local economy is under serious pressure.

A former North West election candidate and Chairperson of Good Energy Alliance Ireland has expressed his deep concern at reports that Minister Darragh O’Brien has written to An Commisiún Pleanála giving the green light to Shannon LNG.

Recently the Government’s decided to overturn a previous policy position which banned the importation of highly-polluting fracked gas into Ireland and placed a moratorium on the construction of new LNG infrastructure.

Shannon LNG was denied planning permission in 2023 on the basis of this ban.

Leslie O Hora has expressed his shock with the reports,

describing it as a deeply troubling development.

He says such moves could well lead to the possibility of fracking becoming a real threat in the North West again.

Catering facilities could be about to return on the Dublin Connolly train service.

Irish Rail says it's working to restore trolley catering on trains and a preferred supplier is now in place.

The service was removed during the pandemic, but calls are growing to bring it back on the Sligo to Dublin line.

Recently an independent tea cart started trading at Dromad Station, showing demand for such services.

Labour Senator Nessa Cosgrove has called for the service to be reintroduced in the Seanad.

Spokesperson Jane Cregan, says they know it's something customers want to see reinstated.

Members of the public in the North are being urged to have their say on how Northern Ireland will address climate change.

Belfast City Hall hosted the consultation event on Northern Ireland’s first draft Climate Action Plan which was launched in June.

A 16 week consultation is due to end on 8 October.

It’s hoped that the launch of the Plan will be a significant milestone for Northern Ireland that will help reduce carbon emissions, and grow the green economy.

Public consultation events will be held over the coming weeks in Enniskillen, Omagh and Derry which will members of the public to learn about the draft action plan and help shape its policies and proposals to reduce carbon emissions.

Fermanagh South Tyrone MLA Jemma Dolan is urging the public to have their say:

There's calls for resources to be put into dog foul fining in the North West.

It comes as new data from Vision Ireland shows that no fines were issued in Sligo, Leitrim or Donegal last year.

Data collated by Vision Ireland shows no fines were issued at all in 14 of the 31 local council areas in 2024, with just 48 fines were issued across the entire country.

Donegal Independent Cllr Michael McClafferty says it's a serious issue that's clearly not being policed:

It's been claimed that the Chairman of the Board of Irish Rail has reiterated that the preservation of the Western Rail Corridor as a railway is an absolute priority.

Speaking this week, Steve Murphy is understood to have indicated that if greenways are put on existing rail alignments they will never be got back for rail use.

Responding to a query about a possible greenway on the rail line from Claremorris to Collooney, Mr. Murphy stated that the extension of the Western Rail Corridor as a railway as an absolute priority.

But Independent Cllr Marie Casserly thinks that a greenway should still be put on the line in the short term:

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There were 514 fines issued in the North West last year for parking on footpaths.

417 of these fines were issued in Donegal and a further 92 in Sligo.

However just five fines were handed out in County Leitrim in 2024.

The survey by Vision Ireland found that 26% of people identified parked cars as the number one obstacle which causes them the greatest difficulty when navigating footpaths.

Manorhamilton Sinn Fein Cllr Padraig Fallon foresees the amount of fines increasing going forward but ultimately thinks the way forward is an awareness campaign: