BY CONALL COLLIER

Sligo Rovers picked up a first Women’s Premier Division point on the road when they had to settle for a 1-1 draw with hosts Peamount Utd in west Dublin on Saturday evening.

Both goals arrived in the opening half with a Sydney Stephens effort cancelled by Peamount’s Eleanor Ryan-Doyle as the Bit O’Red were punished for failing to convert numerous chances before the hosts fashioned that equaliser.

Peamount went into the game on the back of two defeats and gave former Sligo Rovers goalkeeper Amy Mahon her first start of the season and the Mayo woman delivered a competent performance.

Sligo Rovers manager Gavin Hughes made two changes from last week’s defeat by DLR Waves with Alice Lillie and Kelsey McQuillan coming in at the expense of Leah Kelly and Ava Hallinan.

The Sligo Rovers players will be disappointed not to have won after they hit the front in the 18^th minute. Sydney Stephens pounced on a loose ball inside the Peamount penalty area and turned smartly before firing to the bottom corner at the near post.

The Bit O’Red dominated subsequently and should have added to the tally with chances for Cara Jordan on two occasions and Stephens that weren’t finished.

Peamount had to up the tempo just to stay in the game at that stage and both Mary Philipps and Eleanor Ryan-Doyle were pivotal in that respect.

Peamount’s Sophie Byrne was denied when Bonnie McKiernan tipped over on 33 minutes, but it was level six minutes later following a defensive lapse that was punished when Ryan-Doyle finished to the net.

That gave Peamount a major boost and they could have had a lead goal on the stroke of half-time as the ball bobbled around the Sligo Rovers penalty area, but the danger was averted.

Peamount dominated the early second-half exchanges, but were unable to beat Bonnie McKiernan although the ‘keeper was relieved late in the half when a goalbound effort was cleared off the line.

At the other end, Stephens tested Amy Mahon and Jordan shot wide before referee Sam Ralph ended the contest after five minutes of added time,

Peamount Utd – Amy Mahon; Maeve Russell, Abby Tuthill, Mary Philips, AO’Connor, Aisling Spillane, Sorcha Melia, Eleanor Ryan-Doyle, Ciara O’Neill, Antea Guvo, Sophie Byrne.

Subs – Della Doherty for Guvo half-time, Dearbhaile Beirne for O’Connor 74 mins, Kate O’Dowd for Melia 90m,

Sligo Rovers – Bonnie McKiernan; Alice Lillie, Kelsey McQuillan, Emma Hansberry, Sabrina Hillyer, Cara Jordan, Emma Duffy, Paula McGrory, Sydney Stephens, Manu Baptista Filipe, Anna McDaniel.

Subs – Cara King for Manu and Abby Rooney for McDaniel both 62 mins, Rebecca McIntyre for McGrory 74m,Ava Hallinan for McQuillan and Alana Doherty for Hillyer both 90m.

Referee – Sam Ralph.

Assistant-referees – Robert Clarke, Aaron Pisarnik.

Fourth official – Glen Geraghty.

Sligo Rovers will look to continue our good recent run of form when Dundalk visit the Showgrounds this Saturday evening as we welcome the high-flying Lilywhites to Sligo for the first time this season, kick-off 7.45pm.

Saturday’s match sponsor is Hegarty and Armstrong Solicitors, while EngDoc are our match ball sponsors.

Following a great start to their first season back in the Premier Division, Ciaran Kilduff’s side have picked up three wins from their last five. Form which sees them in third spot after twelve games ahead of this weekend’s action. They are also the league’s top goal-scorers with 22 goals. 

Rovers find ourselves in steady shape too. The Bit O’Red are unbeaten in three and are looking for a third win on the spin after fantastic defeats of both Bohs and Waterford recently. John Russell’s men are this Saturday, on the hunt for a fourth league victory of the season and could possibly move into seventh with a win, depending on Friday night’s results. 

This will be the second meeting of Rovers and Dundalk in 2026. Sligo were narrowly beaten by the Louth outfit at Oriel Park back in March after a controversial late penalty was dispatched by Dundalk skipper and former Rovers winger Daryl Horgan. 

In team news and as of Friday morning, Rovers will again be without Ryan O’Kane, Conor Reynolds, Seb Quirk and Ciaron Harkin, each of whom are injured. Russell is hopeful that left back Sean Stewart can make the matchday squad at least having missed the last eight games with ankle trouble. 

After that really impressive performance against Waterford last week, Russell is hoping his team can keep momentum rolling against last year’s First Division winners. 

“We’re at home again and it’s a really big opportunity for us”, he tells sligorovers.com.

“I was delighted with both the team and individual performances against Waterford. We could have had four or five on the night with the amount of chances we had and that’s our second clean sheet in three games. There were a huge amount of positives to pull from it. Now we have to work hard to get even better and keep this run going. 

“Dundalk will provide us with a big challenge on Saturday. They have goals everywhere and have options from the bench. They’ve done really well to come straight back up and start so well.

“We’re hopeful we’ll have Sean (Stewart) back this weekend so it means as weeks go on, we’re getting bodies back fit. 

“As games go by and the weeks go on, we’re all getting more and more used to each other’s style and ways. It looks similar to last season, where we’re getting better as the weeks go on. Dundalk will be a really good test of where we are at the moment. This league is relentless and there’s no let up.

“We feel like we maybe owe them one after our last game”, Russell continued. 

“We dominated large parts of that game up in Dundalk, early on and particularly in the second half. We played quite well. We hit the post and the crossbar and they won the game late on which we felt reflected harshly on our performance.

“I think we can expect a similarly tight game again on Saturday.” 

David Goulden

A goal early in each half was sufficient to give DLR Waves the Women’s Premier
Division points with a 2-0 victory at the expense of Sligo Rovers last Sunday at the Belfield Bowl.

The first goal arrived in the fifth minute, but there was an even earlier card when referee Paul Farrell flashed yellow after only 25 seconds with a surprised Sabrina Hillyer the recipient.

That opening goal followed soon after when Bonnie McKiernan was too ambitious with a back pass, DLR’s Siun Murdiff gained possession and rolled the ball to an empty net.

Murdiff was a constant threat as a more physical approach from DLR kept them in the ascendancy with Michelle Doonan going close and Keelin Dodd denied by the crossbar as the hosts bossed the opening 45 minutes.

Sligo Rovers created some chances with Sydney Stephens narrowly wide in the 17th minute and she also tested DLR ‘keeper Summer Lawless with a good shot before Paula McGrory had a chance from a Manu Baptista Filipe pass.

Sligo Rovers resumed the second-half more positively, but were still lethargic in approach.

There was some pinball in the DLR six-yard area on 48 minutes, but the hosts survived while Sydney Stephens and Ava Hallinan had chances.

However, some hesitant defending gave DLR the opening for that second goal on 57 minutes when Amber Cosgrove finished to the net.

Sligo Rovers slowly wrestled control subsequently and in the closing 10 minutes had DLR on the back foot with Cara Jordan denied by a finger-tip Lawless save while a Sydney Stephens effort on 86 minutes was blocked by the home ‘keeper.

DLR Waves – Summer Lawless, Leah Donnelly, Chloe McCarthy, Jess Gleeson, Keelin Dodd, Rachel Doyle, Cliodhna Donnelly, Michelle Doonan, Eve Conheady, Siun Murdiff, M Doyle. Subs – Aisling Meehan for Doyle 57 mins, N Nyangasi for Doyle 78m.

Sligo Rovers – Bonnie McKiernan, Leah Kelly, Ava Hallinan, Emma Hansberry, Cara Jordan, Emma Duffy, Paula McGrory, Manu Baptista Filipe, Sabrina Hillyer, Sydney Stephens, Anna McDaniel. Subs – Cara King for McDaniel and Kelsey McQuillan for Kelly both 64 mins, Alana Doherty for Hallinan 75m.

Referee – Paul Farrell.
Assistant-referees – John Hanney, Shane O’Donoghue.
Fourth official – Dylan Redmond.

Sligo Football and Sports Development Society LTD (Sligo Rovers Football Club) will hold its Annual General Meeting on Tuesday, April 28th at 7.30pm in the Clayton Hotel, Sligo.

The AGM will include the election of the Committee of Management for 2026, along with reports from the Chairman, Secretary and General Manager, and a presentation of the club’s financial statements.

Attendance at the AGM is confined to fully paid-up members, or those entitled to the privileges of membership in accordance with the Society’s rules.

Members wishing to attend the AGM online are asked to email shane@sligorovers.com at least 48 hours in advance.

Members wishing to stand for election to the Committee of Management must complete a nomination form and return it to the Secretary by Monday, April 21st.

Agenda:

1. Chairman’s Address
2. Minutes of Previous AGM
3. Matters Arising
4. Secretary’s Report
5. General Manager’s Report
6. Treasurer’s Report, Adoption of Statement of Accounts and Balance Sheet
7. Appointment of Auditors
8. Election of Committee of Management
9. Development Update
10. Any Other Business

David Goulden at the Showgrounds 

Match Sponsor: Cosgrove’s Centra, Maugheraboy

Match Ball Sponsor: Chrissy’s Chippy, Foxford. 

Goals from Archie Meekison and Will Ftizgerald saw Sligo Rovers pick up our first back-to-back wins of the season as the Bt O’Red saw off the league’s bottom side Waterford at the Showgrounds.

Meekison scored from a Fitzgerald cross in the opening half while roles reversed in the second as Fitzgerald turned home a Meekison assist to double the Bit O’Red’s lead just shy of the hour.

The result lifts the Bit O’Red out of the bottom two for the first time this season and extends our unbeaten run to three, while a despondent Blues continue to look for their first victory of 2026.

Searching for consecutive wins for the first time since last September, Rovers boss John Russell made just the one change from last week’s defeat of Bohemians. James McManus, ineligible against his parent club, returned in place of Alex Nolan. 

Without victory in competitive competition since their relegation play-off win over Bray last November ahead of kick-off, Waterford made no less than five changes from an encouraging draw in Dalymount a fortnight ago. 

Unbeaten in two having drawn against both Shamrock Rovers and Bohs recently, Jon Daly hoped for a first victory of the season at the eleventh attempt, bringing Benny Couto, Trae Coyle, Kevin Long, Luke Heeney and Jorgen Voilas all back to the fold.

Sligo led this game by a goal at half-time but will wonder how they didn’t stretch their lead further before the interval although it was the visitors who should have gone ahead on 16 minutes. Violas kicked fresh air as he aimed to meet Coyle’s cross just five yards from goal. 

Waterford instantly regretted this as they fell behind two minutes later. The ever reliant Fitzgerald doing all the hard work down his left side before sending a ball across the face of Arlo Doherty’s goal for Meekison who tapped home for his first goal for Rovers. 

It was all one way traffic from here until the break. 

Daire Patton, Ollie Denham and Sean McHale all had opportunities while Carl McHugh fired narrowly over on the half volley three minutes from half time. 

Daly hauled off duo Alan Zborowski and Jorgen Voilas late in the first half in an attempt to rejuvenate the league’s bottom side. 

Irish international Kevin Long went close early in the second period, but any optimism garnered by the Munster men was short lived. Goal-scorer Meekison turned provider as he landed a cross which Doherty flapped at but Fitzgerald profited from, as the Limerick man netted his third of the term. 

A great reaction save from Sligo keeper Sam Sargeant kept his old club at arm’s length as the Londoner denied Benny Couto on 65. While Doherty kept his team alive ten minutes later when he pulled off a wonderful stop of his own to keep out Cian Kavanagh’s header. 

The RSC side thought they had delivered a late scare when Luke Heeney found the net with eight to go. But the referee’s assistant on the Jinks’ Avenue side of the ground adjudged the former Drogheda man to be offside, much to the frustration of the Blues’ bench who were convinced the goal was legitimate. 

Next up for Rovers is another crucial league game at home. Dundalk provide the opposition at the Showgrounds on Saturday April 25th, kick-off 7.45pm. 

Sligo Rovers: Sam Sargeant; Gareth McElroy, Ollie Denham, Sean McHale; Jeannot Esua, Will Fitzgerald; Carl McHugh, James McManus (Shane Blaney 77); Daire Patton (Alex Nolan 77), Archie Meekison; Cian Kavanagh.  

Waterford: Arlo Doherty; Alan Zborowski (Jordan Houston 41), John Mahon, Kevin Long, Bernardo Couto; Luke Heeney, Dean McMenamy (Sam Glenfield 60), Evan McLaughlin (Conor Carty 60); Trae Coyle, Jorgen Voilas (Hayden Cann 41); Padraig Amond (Tommy Lonergan 70). 

Referee: Arnold Hunter.

Sligo Rovers face into a busy week at the Showgrounds as the Bit O’Red go up against both Waterford and Dundalk at home in the space of seven days.

First up is this Saturday’s meeting with the Blues as Rovers look to continue our good spell of form, this time against Jon Daly’s men. Kick-off at the Showgrounds is 7.45pm and supporters are reminded that all under 12s will receive free admission to the game, once they are accompanied by a paying adult.

This weekend’s match sponsor is Foxford based Chrissy’s Chippy and match ball sponsor is Cosgrove’s Centra, Maugheraboy. 

This will be the second meeting of these sides after February’s scoreless draw at the RSC. Waterford’s Padraig Amond missed a penalty early in the second half, while Rovers were aggrieved to not have a spot-kick of their own late on when Will Fitzgerald was tripped inside the Waterford area. 

Rovers come into this game on the back of a draw at home to Derry and a superb win away to Bohs last week. Goals from Fitzgerald and Sean McHale led Sligo to our first victory on the road this season and meant John Russell’s side are the only team to beat the Dubliners so far this term. 

Daly has steadied the ship in the south east somewhat in the last few weeks. Their scheduled game with Drogheda was called off last week, 45 minutes before kick-off due to poor weather. But they will arrive in Sligo in good spirits having taken points off both Shamrock Rovers and Bohs and have a decent recent record at the Showgrounds with wins at the Church Hill venue in both 2024 and 2025.

Russell will face Waterford without Seb Quirk, Ryan O’Kane, Conor Reynolds and Sean Stewart all of whom are injured as of Friday morning. 

However, Ciaron Harkin is expected to be available once again and this news is supplemented by the return at Dalymount last Friday of both Jad Hakiki and Shane Blaney, who were both sprung from the bench in the second half of that game. 

James McManus also returns to the match-day squad having sat out that tie in Phibsboro due to the terms of his loan. 

“We’re still missing a few lads but it’s a big bonus to have Jad, Shane, Ciaron and James back with us”, Russell tells sligorovers.com.

“All four play a huge role in what we’re about and we were really pleased with how Jad and Shane did when they came on against Bohs. We’ve been unlucky this year with injuries and although we still have key players out, we’ll hopefully get a few more back in as the weeks go on. We’ll be a real force once we have everyone back in.”

Russell is expecting a particularly tough encounter on Saturday as both Rovers and Waterford look to bridge the gap between the bottom two and the rest.

“We’ve both had good results in our respective last two games”, he says. 

“They obviously had an extra few days away from play with their game being called off and we took a few extra hours to get to Dublin last week. Is that an advantage? I’m not sure but time will tell.

“They’ll look at Saturday and know that a result for them pulls them towards us with a game in hand and they’ll be coming here looking for that. Games against Waterford are always tight. 

“We know if we can do enough to pick up a win, it potentially lifts us away from the bottom two depending on results on Friday. But we’re at home and we always back ourselves in front of our own supporters. It’s a huge carrot for us to chase and we definitely have it in us if we do our jobs well.” 

David Goulden

John Russell has praised his players for their patience and self-belief following Sligo Rovers’ second win of the season on Friday night. 

The crucial victory over Bohemians in less than ideal conditions, means Rovers are now two games unbeaten heading into a set of massive home games with Waterford and last year’s First Division winners Dundalk.

Rovers didn’t just have the weather and one of the league’s top teams to contend with. The ongoing fuel protests on the roads to the capital added hours to Rovers’ journey to Dublin on Friday, whilst supporters too were forced to find alternative routes to Phibsboro but still managed to turn up in big numbers. 

Despite going behind early on, Sligo found a way back into this game courtesy of the ever reliable Will Fitgerald who finished off an Alex Nolan cross. While Sean McHale, one of several standout performers on the night, nodded a winner past Kacper Chorazka early in the second period.

“It was a massive performance and we’ve put in a huge effort”, Russell told LOITV after the game. 

“We were disappointed to concede the type of goal we did as the long ball cuts us open. But the response was really good. 

“Second half, we managed the conditions well. Once we got ourselves in front, every man was putting his body on the line so it’s a great three points.

“The performances have been good this season but we haven’t got the points return. It was important for us to stay calm because the performances will yield results. That’s why I’m so happy for the lads because we’ve picked up three points on the back of what’s been happening recently. 

“We felt we owed Bohs one too given that they gave us a real run-around earlier this year. We were happy with the way we conducted ourselves tonight. There were a lot of positives for us.” 

Next up for Rovers is an important meeting with basement side Waterford whose scheduled outing with Drogheda on Friday was called off due to the conditions. This is now the Bit O’Red’s biggest game of the season and Russell has called on all supporters to make it to the Showgrounds this coming Saturday. 

“We want to put a run together”, the Rovers boss says. 

“Hopefully we can use this as a real springboard. We’ve two home games coming up now. I was really pleased for the fans who came here tonight and the points moves us up. Now it’s about moving into next week, getting a big crowd into the Showgrounds for the Waterford game.”

David Goulden 

David Goulden at Dalymount Park, Dublin.

Sligo Rovers battled back against ten man Bohemians to become the first team this season to beat the Dubliners as the Bit O’Red picked up three crucial points at Dalymount Park on Friday evening.  

Bohs’ Zane Myers had put the Gypsies in front on eight minutes, but a hard working Rovers burrowed their way back into this game courtesy of captain Will Fitzgerald’s second goal of the season six minutes from the break. 

Loanee centre half Sean McHale enjoyed one his finest games since joining from St Pat’s and capped off a solid individual performance with what turned out to be the game’s winning goal, when he finished off Fitzgerald’s cross five minutes into the second half.

Former Rovers midfielder Adam McDonnell was sent off for Bohs on 72 when referee Neil Doyle showed him a second yellow following a clumsy late challenge on Jeannot Esua. 

This victory sees the away side move to within two points of eighth place and four away from bottom side Waterford who visit the Showgrounds next Saturday night. 

Boss John Russell made two changes from the stalemate with Derry City on Easter Monday. Cian Kavanagh, who was not expected to make the match day squad, recovered from injury in time to lead the line. While Carl McHugh returned to the starting eleven for the first time since the defeat away to Pat’s in place of James McManus who was ineligible due to the terms of his loan.

The game also saw the timely return to the bench of both Jad Hakiki and Shane Blaney, both of whom have missed the last number of weeks with knocks. 

Undefeated before this game, it was the hosts who threatened first when Conor Parsons bent his early effort around Sam Sargeant’s post after a one-two with Jordan Flores out on Rovers’ right side. While Alan Reynolds’ side hit the lead when Sadou Diallo played in Myers whose high shot ricochet off Sargeant’s crossbar on its way to goal. 

The Rovers goalkeeper was kept occupied for a period and pulled off a wonderful two handed stop to deny Darragh Power before Ross Tierney shot wide from close range following a Parsons corner.

Undeterred, Rovers dug in and pulled out a deserved leveller on 39 minutes when some fancy footwork from the in-form Esua allowed him to find Alex Nolan. The winger’s cross landed in front of Bohs keeper Kacper Chorazka but it was skipper Fitzgerald who reacted quickest to poke the ball beyond the Polish goalkeeper for his second of the year. 

Sargeant was at it again moments later when he threw a leg at Tierney’s next go at goal, with the former Motherwell man looking favourite to come out on top. The Londoner dived to his right but kept his body as wide as possible to deflect away Tierney’s placed effort. 

The second period was just five minutes old when Rovers went ahead. 

Fitzgerald the supplier this time as he neatly nodded Archie Meekison’s corner to the back post for McHale to head past the frustrated Chorazka for the Meath man’s first goal for the club. 

Bohs had plenty of possession for the remainder of this tie, but a decisive Sligo were in no mood to let their lead slip.

Marcus Strods’ pot-shot from 18 yards was simple for Sargeant before Bohs were reduced to ten when McDonnell crashed into Esua as he attempted to clear play. 

Referee Doyle decided to add nine minutes on at the end of the game, but even this wasn’t enough time for the Phibsboro men to find an equaliser. Sargeant plucked a late Ryan Burke header from the sky after Burke was picked out by Power from outside the Rovers area. 

There was further good news for Rovers in this second half when both Hakiki and Blaney were sprung for the bench following injury lay-offs. 

Rovers’ next game is at the Showgrounds on Saturday April 18th as we face Waterford in what will be a huge night of football at the Showgrounds. Kick-off is 7.45pm. 

Bohemians: Kacper Chorazka, Darragh Power, Sam Todd, Patrick Hickey, Jordan Flores, Sadou Diallo (Ryan Burke, 51), Adam McDonnell, Ross Tierney, Zane Myers (Cian Byrne, 75), Connor Parsons, Marcus Strods, (46), Colm Whelan (Douglas James-Taylor, 63).

Sligo Rovers: Sam Sargeant, Ollie Denham, Gareth McElroy, Sean McHale. Jeannot Esua, Daire Patton (Guilherme Priosti, 90) , Carl McHugh (Kyle McDonagh, 46), Archie Meekison, Will Fitzgerald, Alex Nolan (Shane Blaney, 63), Cian Kavanagh (Jad Hakiki, 81).

Referee: Neil Doyle.

Jad Hakiki, Shane Blaney and Ciaron Harkin are all expected to return to Sligo Rovers’ match night squad this Friday, as we head to Dublin for the second consecutive week. 

Dalymount Park is the setting and Bohemians provide the opposition as Rovers look to build on a scoreless draw with Derry City on Easter Monday. Kick-off in Dublin is 7.45pm. 

The trio’s returns will provide a timely boost to manager John Russell as they each continue their return to full fitness. Supporters will particularly welcome the news of the potential return of playmaker Hakiki who has missed six games having been withdrawn against Galway at the end of February. While defender Blaney returned to the bench in that stalemate with the Candystripes but hasn’t lined out since the second night of the season. 

In other team news and as of Thursday afternoon, Russell continues to plan without Sean Stewart, Conor Reynolds, Ryan O’Kane and Cian Kavanagh who all continue to be treated for knocks. Midfielder Seb Quirk looks set to miss out for a number of weeks with a hamstring injury he sustained last week. While James McManus is unavailable owing to the terms of his loan deal.

Bohemians are currently the division’s only side yet to be beaten this season, winning five of their opening ten games. This form is enough to see them top the table, level on points with leaders Pat’s who have a slightly better goal difference. They have four draws and a win from their last five and have already beaten Rovers this season. 

“We saw on the second night of the season what Bohs can do to you”, Russell tells sligorovers.com ahead of Friday’s encounter.  

“Most of our games this season have been tight bar one or two and against Bohs, they were the deserving winners. Not many teams have really cut us open but we struggled that night so we know what they bring.

“They have a squad of players who can come in and replace the player ahead of them and that shows their strength. They were all over Waterford last Monday and will be very frustrated not to have beaten them. They’ve a very experienced management team and I imagine will have a big crowd behind them up there. But that’s what you want. You want to play in big atmospheres.

“We will hopefully have Shane and Jad back so we’ll assess them closer to Friday and see how many minutes we can give them. Ciaron Harkin coming back is very big for us too.

“We’ll be down bodies again but it once more gives the next player a chance to show what they can do. It’s a big opportunity for a few lads.” 

Russell was encouraged by Monday’s display and has called on his players to build momentum ahead of a few busy weeks for Rovers. 

“I was pleased with elements of what we did against Derry”, he continued. 

“We were solid at the back. Gareth McElroy was only a few inches away from scoring the winner and we were denied a clear penalty that had we scored, we’re probably talking about three points.

“I think if you go up against a side like Derry, with their strength, it’s a good thing to come away disappointed to not win the game. It builds confidence and we need to push on now. We defended very well and we’ll need to do that again on Friday and take any chances that come.”  

David Goulden 

After more than two decades away, our return to the Sligo St. Patrick’s Day Parade was nothing short of unforgettable. To be awarded “Best Representation of Theme” made the occasion even more special, marking not only a successful outing but a proud moment for everyone involved.

This year’s theme, Legends Live Here, felt tailor-made for our club. It offered the perfect opportunity to celebrate the people who have shaped our story over the years. From past heroes to present stars and the promising talents of tomorrow, the parade brought together a remarkable gathering of individuals who truly embody the spirit of our community.

We are especially grateful to Sligo Rovers for embracing and supporting our vision. In particular, we would like to thank Tommy Higgins, Shane Crossan, Conor O’Grady, Donagh Oates and Jamie Murphy for their encouragement and involvement.

Our sincere thanks also go to everyone who joined us on the day. Club volunteers, senior players from both the men’s and women’s teams, and young players from the Academy all played their part in making the event so memorable. It was particularly meaningful to welcome back some of our celebrated figures from the past, including Steve Birks, who travelled from the UK and famously captained the Bit O’Red to their League Cup triumph in 1998, and Jim Sheridan, a key figure in securing the First Division title in 2005.

A special highlight of the parade was our DS Futsal team, who brought incredible energy and enthusiasm throughout the day. Alongside the ever-popular Benny the Bull, they captivated the crowd and kept spirits high from start to finish even in the rain. Their contribution truly embodied the theme; legends, every one of them.

We would also like to extend our appreciation to the Sligo St. Patrick’s Day Festival Committee and the judges for organising such a successful and enjoyable event. Thanks as well to Sligo BID, all sponsors, volunteers, participants and spectators whose continued support ensures that this cherished tradition thrives year after year.

With sincere gratitude,
Catriona & Grainne Oates
(BORST & SRFC Volunteers)