Page 4 - Sligo X North West

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Why are we here?
It’s a question we put to 15 people who are making their lives and careers in Sligo. They include a string of international business people, adventurers and locals who all have one thing in common - they’re in Sligo for the long haul.
1The illustrator
Annie West
I came to Sligo to visit my aunties. I meant to stay a couple of days and I’m still here 24 years later.
Thinking about reasons:
Nice beaches. Handy for a grand long walk to recharge the old batteries and keep the brain turning over.
Cake is another. Anyone who has moved here will tell you they came for a quick visit and never left, simply because of the Cake in O’Hehirs.
There’s a particular kind of Sligo that cannot be found anywhere else. You’ll witness it when ordering tea or asking for directions.
Also my husband. I met him here so that’s another very good reason.
The same week I came to Sligo they invent- ed the Internet. Because of this, mankind’s greatest invention next to the internal combustion engine, I’m able to run a busi- ness without getting my feet wet.
The only difficulty is when time for holi- days comes I can’t find anywhere nicer so we end up staying at home and pretending we’re away.
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Photo by Donal Hackett
committed team here at the station and I am privileged to have found my way back to the North West to be a part of it.
2The healer
Grainne Gilmartin
Returning from living in London for 20 years was an easy decision for me. How- ever, my timing was poor arriving back
in my native Sligo, September 2007, even though that particular September the weather was amazing and my children ex- perienced going to school and swimming at the beach on the same day. It was close to the start of the recession.
It was always my dream to return home and set up a Wellness Centre comprising of a number of different Complementa- ry and Alternative Therapies. My own profession is Chiropractic. I opened Sligo Wellness Centre by April 2008.
My business has grown steadily over the past 6 years, mainly with recommen- dations from patients. Sligo people are willing to engage and support locally. My future plans for 2015 is to retail nutritional products and health foods, providing a more complete package for our patients.
Sligo has to be one of the most beautiful counties in Ireland. The people, the scen- ery. I’m loving being home.
The radio boss 3
Although born in London, I grew up in Sligo and since I left in the late 70’s, I have never been able to withstand the draw of the Atlantic North West Coast. My route back to Sligo has been circuitous. Five years in medicine in Ireland and Austral- ia, a spell in RTE, ten years as a political advisor and another six years in public affairs and communications led me to leading a bid for the independent local radio licence for Sligo, South Donegal and North Leitrim in 2004. Ocean FM recently celebrated our 10th anniversary and has won a raft of programming awards in- cluding several Gold PPI Awards, the Prix Europa and Gold at the New York Festivals Radio Awards. We have a talented and
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I arrive at work at 4am and begin the baking of all our bread, the right way. We use sour dough for all our bread and I love coming in from Strandhill to start work at that hour, it’s so quiet and peaceful. In my job this is normal. I had a bakery in Stran- dhill but now I have this great space in Ly- ons department store and I supply the café with bread too. We are now four people. I’ve just hired two young men from France. They will train with me, I will teach them everything. Then they will go home to take their baker’s exams, the thing that says they are a true, professional baker. It is a serious thing in France. I love Sligo, my wife and daughter love Sligo. She was two when we moved here and now is taking part in all sorts of classes and sports. We love the ruggedness, the sense of commu- nity, the people in Sligo. It’s a very special place. We lived in Paris and we wanted to change our lives. Here we are.
Tim Collins
The French baker 4
Christophe Messageot
Irish Independent
26 November 2014