A weekend in Sligo.

Just spent a weekend in Sligo with pals, and really enjoyed myself. Kilkenny and Galway both have managed to get themselves the cache of being fun towns. Sligo needs to put in for its badge, because it deserves it.

We stayed in the Riverside Apartment Hotel. Great location, just minutes by foot from the centre of things, clean, good price and very helpful staff.

The purpose of the weekend was fishing, and we chartered a boat with Sligo Boat Charters. Three hours sea fishing and great fun, with our captain Daryl Ewing who took us through the ropes, catered to our various levels of experience, etc. We caught about 15 fish, from mackerel to pollock to coley. Even I caught five, which is saying something.

Finally, onto the Velvet Room nightclub. Now, the last time I was in a nightclub was during the Clinton administration, but I was really impressed with it. It managed that rare achievement of being nightclub where you could actually hold a conversation. It was recommended to us by a number of people as being the higher end place to go (at €12 entry each) and with great attention to detail, such as providing umbrellas to people queuing outside and with security who managed to be professional and courteous whilst keeping situations under control. And it is about five minutes walking from the apartments we stayed in.

One other thing: Sligo and its surrounds has some very attractive women, in fact, if anything, it struck me that Irish women are seriously beginning to leave Irish men behind in the looks stakes, especially as for most of the night women outnumbered men by a considerable margin.

So: Sligo is where it is at, and that’s even before you start talking about the county’s fabulous beaches.