Sligo County Council has announced €118,000 for its yOur Public Spaces initiative through the 2026 Community Safety Fund. Its report, dated 1 October 2026, describes a two-year pilot led by the Local Community Safety Partnership, with an emphasis on community participation and the use of shared spaces. [1]

Queen Maeve Square is identified. The other locations are described as a park on Sligo town’s outskirts and a park or urban space in a rural settlement in the county. The announcement does not name those two sites, so readers should avoid treating a particular neighbourhood park as selected. [1]

An award is the beginning of delivery

The council says a public-spaces coordinator will work with residents, groups and businesses to identify participation barriers and develop a place-management approach. These are planned activities. The funding announcement alone does not demonstrate a reduction in crime, a completed redesign or a change already experienced by visitors. [1]

For someone who regularly uses a shared space, a useful contribution starts with the activity involved. Is the place used to meet friends, pass through, sit outdoors or attend an event? Which practical obstacle changes that experience? Observations about access or the timing of activities can give a future discussion more detail than a general judgement that a place needs improvement.

Look for participation and evidence

Watch subsequent council notices for the remaining locations, engagement arrangements and the coordinator’s contact route. No resident application deadline or public meeting date is provided in this announcement. Keep that uncertainty separate from the confirmed funding.

When results are reported, ask how the council assessed participation and whose experience was included. Attendance, maintenance and residents’ accounts can answer different questions; none should automatically be presented as proof of every safety outcome.

This article examines the published project outline. The Press has not conducted a site inspection, interviewed residents or assessed conditions at the named square.