Sligo Play Therapy

18/02/2026

14/02/2026

11/02/2026

07/02/2026

Out next Rainbows Group begins on Thursday evening 05 March for children aged 8-10 who have experienced bereavement. Taking bookings now sligofrcrainbows@gmail.com or 0879143646

16/12/2025

An excellent opinion piece by Eoghan Cleary in today's Irish Times, which cites some of our research.

​"While many parents feel like they’re drowning in the constant stream of online harms now emerging on what feels like a daily basis, the space has finally been created, both legally and technically, for the Government to do what is required.

Introduce mandatory age verification. Enforce safety-by-design for all services that engage children online. Hold the individual corporate executives, not just the corporations, legally liable for the daily harms they facilitate against our children.

When so many of our European Union neighbours are forging ahead with this, why is Ireland lagging? Our politicians clearly care about the welfare of our children, and they know what needs to be done. But they still need a stronger mandate from us – from all of us - to stand up to the admittedly colossal corporate entities headquartered in Dublin.

When it comes to social media use by children, there is now a deeply entrenched sense that Irish parents are overwhelmed: by the case of Alexander McCartney, who used fake Snapchat profiles to sexually blackmail children, some to the point of su***de; by the man jailed for operating fake profiles to groom and sexually exploit teenage girls on Snapchat and Instagram; by the deadly online “blackout” and choking challenges; by the spread of self-harm and su***de-encouraging content; by the reality that by the end of primary school more than half of our children have been targeted by the algorithm with violent and misogynistic po*******hy; and by the explosion of “nudify” apps being used to create sexually explicit AI-generated images and videos of classmates and teachers.

The European Parliament has called for a minimum age of 16 for access to social media, video-sharing platforms and AI companions; for bans on the addictive features of infinite scrolling, autoplay, loot boxes and engagement-based algorithms; and for strict age-verification enforcement, personal liability for senior managers, and regulation of AI tools including deepfakes and chatbots, echoing the recommendations published by Ireland’s own online safety taskforce last week. Citing research showing that a quarter of young people now exhibit online behaviours mirroring addiction, Rapporteur Christel Schaldemose stated: “We are finally drawing a line . . . And the experiment ends here.”

If ever there was a moment to end our collective paralysis as parents, grandparents, educators and policymakers, it is now.

Read full article here: https://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/2025/12/15/eoghan-cleary-we-need-to-end-the-great-social-experiment-on-our-children/

15/12/2025

If your child has experienced bereavement or parental separation and would like to meet other children in similar situations - this may be of interest.

Contact us for details of enrolment or just to ask a question on 0879143646 - see details in the link below on what to expect from a Rainbows Group.

https://rainbowsireland.ie/

10/12/2025

https://www.facebook.com/share/1DWFpmi944/

01/12/2025

https://www.facebook.com/share/r/17Xi6RNZ9F/

27/11/2025

https://www.facebook.com/share/1FpY6FQuqJ/

‼️ PARENTS! If your child plays ROBLOX or would like to play Roblox, please WATCH Prime Time tonight, 27 November, at 9:35pm RTÉ One and RTÉ Player and read the digital report on RTÉ.ie/primetime.

A senior garda from the Garda National Cyber Crime Bureau has warned that children are being groomed and exploited on online gaming platforms at an "alarming scale".

‼️ Detective Superintendent Michael Mullen told Prime Time that Gardaí are “seeing grooming, sexual exploitation, and sexual abuse as a result of children being on gaming platforms, and in some cases, moving on to other platforms.”

Prime Time reporter, Kate McDonald created test accounts posing as a five-year-old, a nine-year-old and a thirteen year old. During the investigation, these accounts accessed games featuring gambling style mechanics, sexualised role-play and conversations referencing su***de. Adults and children can freely play the same games and interact via in-game chat. Prime Time also witnessed older players attempting to move younger users onto private messaging apps.

Roblox is currently facing multiple lawsuits in the United States brought by state attorneys and parents who allege that children were sexually abused, exploited, or exposed to inappropriate content while using the service.

Our latest Trends & Usage Report, 'A Life Behind The Screens', which surveyed over 7,093 primary school-aged children in the academic year 2024-25, found that 63% of 8–12 year olds used Roblox more than any other online environment.

28% of this young age group encountered content or unsolicited contact that ‘bothered’ them, including exposure to horror, violence, sexual material, threats, scams, and dangerous ideas, and these negative experiences most commonly occurred on YouTube (60%) and Roblox (59%).

‼️ Mick Moran, CEO of Irish Internet Hotline, said the fact that usernames can be exchanged between users of different ages could facilitate grooming.

"One of the key elements in grooming, or one of the key elements in even sexual abuse, is exclusive access to the child... before abuse can take place, there must be exclusive access. By bouncing the child off Roblox… to any number of messengers out there, then that is a huge red flag."

18/11/2025

https://www.rte.ie/news/ireland/2025/1118/1544594-assessment-of-need/

The assessment of need system is "no longer fit for purpose," according to Minister of State with responsibility for Disability Hildegarde Naughton.

12/10/2025

https://www.independent.ie/regionals/sligo/news/sligo-in-need-of-improved-youth-mental-health-services-we-are-a-red-county-in-this-regard/a2007178091.html

The October monthly meeting of Sligo County Council heard two motions in regard to services for young people suffering with mental health difficulties, with strong pleas made by Cllr Edel McSharry and Cllr Barry Gallagher for additional resources and funding to be made available to help tackle the s...