People need help now not later, says Boston activist
I DRIVE up to O’Malley Park and Southill these days and it’s very depressing how bad things have got,” says Billy Higgins, the retired Boston businessman who has donated thousands of euro to the community for over the past 20 years.
Billy is sitting in a cafe in Roxboro on the day Limerick Regeneration Agency publishes the master plan that aims to transform Southill over the next 10 years. He recognizes the history of the occaission but he says people living in Southill need help now and not just over the course of the next decade. Existing problems can’t be put on the long finger with the promise of regeneration.
Grandmothers despair at being forced from Southill
Local Criminals in Southill are forcing families from their homes through campaigns of intimidation and violence[/caption]Criminal intimidation tearing the heart of the community, as Council services all but ceases
A CITY grandmother who was forced to abandon her house in Southill after a campaign of intimidation as described how seeing her house being demolished on TV “tore through my heart”.
The woman, who wishes to be known only as J., had been forced out by “gangs of teenagers and children as young as six or seven” and at the bidding of local criminals.
Adare choir ‘on song’ for US trip
Choir members will pay their own fare and raised money for other expenses through concerts, table quizzes and a golf classic, according to director, Tracey Fitzgerald. “It’s the first time the choir has done anything like this. We got involved because I know Billy Higgins, who has been doing work for Southill for over 20 years […]
Holy Trinity Abbey Choir to perform in Boston
Limerick, Ireland and South Boston have a special bond – singing. That bond started in the 1980’s when the first troupe of young Irish singers came to South Boston from their Southill community. One of those original performers was Tracey Fitzgerald. She never lost her love for music and went on to become a distinguished […]
12 Days in Boston, Special Commemorative Edition – Boston City Paper
Ireland’s Best Church Choir Visits America’s Best Irish City Holy Trinity Abbey Choir of Limerick
They came to sing at Masses but they sang anywhere, at the drop of a coin. They sang at the airport, the hotel lobby, the State House and the Higgins’ home.
Growing up in Boston, I can’t remember a soul from Limerick, Ireland.
Good deeds of Billy Higgins and Southill Children’s fund received praises of Irish leaders here and abroad
As a result of the fund, many children from South Hill were able to visit the Boston area and stay as guests by supporters of the fund. In May, State Sen. Jack Hart accompanied Billy Higgins to Ireland where they dissipated in a golf tournament organized by a local committee which funds raised going to […]
The South Boston to Southill, Ireland, Connection
Southie’s Billy Higgins Has Built a Charitable Bridge Between the Communities
Retired South Boston businessman Billy Higgins says “I’ve been blessed in life. That’s why it’s so important for me to give back to others.”
In Higgin’s case, a great many of the “others” who have benefited – and continue to benefit – since 1985 from his commitment live in Southill housing project, just outside Limerick. Higgins, who has traveled numerous times to the neighborhood, is the founder of the Southill Children’s Fund, which through a variety of educational and sports programs, has made an immense difference in the lives of the neighborhood’s young.
BILLY HIGGINS – One Man in the Name of Love
As over one hundred Southill children settle back into life in Limerick again after a unique three weeks spent in Boston, Liz Ryan reviews their American tour and takes an affectionate look at the man who made it all possible.
