Galway County Council and An Taisce are bidding to make this April’s National Spring Clean campaign the most successful to date by getting every parish in County Galway involved in the annual initiative.

More than 200 local groups joined volunteers from across Ireland last year to remove 2,500 tons of litter from roadsides, parks and coastlines.

Householders, schools, businesses and communities across County Galway are once again being encouraged to register and take part in the 26^th annual campaign.

Cllr Martina Kinane, Cathaoirleach of the County of Galway said, “I very much appreciate the year-round efforts of local volunteers and groups to enhance the appearance of their local communities and for making a huge effort during National Spring Clean.”

“We are fortunate to live in a beautiful county, so it is important that we respect it by ensuring it is litter-free for residents and visitors alike.”

Liam Conneally, Chief Executive of Galway County Council commented, “We are urging people who have never been involved in Spring Clean before to register their interest in taking part this year.”

“Participation can range from one or two neighbours getting together to pick up litter in their local area to a larger team of community volunteers playing their part in keeping County Galway litter-free. Cleanup kits are available to support registered groups in County Galway.”

Kieran Coyne, Acting Director of Services, said, “National Spring Clean plays a key role in the county’s ongoing Anti-Litter Programme and Litter Management Plan, encouraging everyone to take part in the effort to keep Galway litter-free.”

“Last year, 30% of all waste collected during the National Spring Clean was recycled, as the campaign continues to highlight the importance of a circular economy and waste reduction.”

“While the campaign supports local cleanup initiatives, it also raises awareness about the impact of litter and the benefits of maintaining cleaner, healthier communities,” he added.

National Spring Clean is operated by the Environmental Education Unit of An Taisce in partnership with Local Authorities and supported by the Department of Climate, Environment and Energy and Mars Wrigley.

Registrations are being accepted on www.nationalspringclean.org and further information is available from the Environment Section of Galway County Council on 091-509510 / environment@galwaycoco.ie.

Coastal communities in Connemara are staging walking protests today against dangerous conditions on roads in the area.

The protests are aimed at highlighting the lack of safety measures along the R336, which the protestors describe as “one of the most dangerous stretches of road in Ireland”.

The walking protests will take place in Barna, Furbo, Inverin, and Spiddal this morning.

A statement from protest organisers said, “For years, residents of these communities have raised alarms about the dangers of the R336—a road with no safe pedestrian crossings, substandard footpaths or not at all, and heavy traffic that puts lives at risk every day.”

No action has been taken despite political acknowledgement of the issue and eligibility for government funding.

The organisers state that traffic has surged on the R336 in recent years, a road which goes through many villages and makes them unsafe for pedestrians, especially children.

Local communities are demanding action on promised safety works which have never materialised.

Gardaí are appealing for witnesses after a man in his 50s died in a car crash in Co. Mayo on Monday night.

The single vehicle crash occurred on the R323, Knock Road, at Bracklaghboy, Ballyhaunis at approximately 10:10pm on Monday.

The sole occupant of the car, a man aged in his 50s, was pronounced deceased at the scene.

The body has been removed to the mortuary at Mayo University Hospital in Castlebar where a post-mortem examination will take place in due course.

The road is currently closed for technical examination by Garda Forensic Investigators, with local diversions in place.

Gardaí are appealing for witnesses to this incident to come forward.

Any road users who may have camera footage (including dash-cam) and were travelling in the area between 9.30pm to 10.30pm are asked to make this footage available to investigating Gardaí.

Anyone with any information is asked to contact Ballina Garda Station on (096) 20560, the Garda Confidential Line on 1800 666 111, or any Garda Station.

Croí heart and stroke charity, celebrated a landmark moment in stroke recovery and rehabilitation with the official opening of the Joe and Helen O’Toole Community Stroke Hub at the Croí Heart and Stroke Centre in Newcastle, Galway.

The transformative facility was officially opened by Mayor of Galway, Peter Keane, marking a significant advancement in stroke care and support services in the West of Ireland.

Made possible by the extraordinary generosity of the Joe and Helen O’Toole Charitable Trust, Tuam, this state-of-the-art Stroke Hub will serve as a vital resource for individuals recovering from stroke, offering essential rehabilitation programs, therapies, and carer support services.

The hub, constructed by Carey Construction and designed by architects Simon J Kelly, will provide a dedicated space for Croí’s existing stroke recovery day program, ensuring that stroke survivors and their families have access to much-needed services in a supportive community setting.

Speaking at the opening, Croí Chairman, Mark Gantly, highlighted the significance of this new facility, “The Joe and Helen O’Toole Community Stroke Hub represents a major milestone in stroke recovery services in the West of Ireland.”

“Stroke survivors and their families face an incredibly challenging journey, and this hub will provide them with the rehabilitation, support, and care they need to rebuild their lives.”

“We are deeply grateful to the Joe and Helen O’Toole Charitable Trust, Tuam for their vision and generosity in making this life-changing facility a reality.”

The Stroke Hub is the first of its kind in the West of Ireland, complementing Croí’s comprehensive range of services in stroke prevention, cardiovascular care, and disease management.

The purpose-built facility is equipped with cutting-edge amenities and staffed by specialist healthcare professionals, ensuring that every person who walks through its doors receives the highest standard of care and support.

Mary Lardner for the Joe and Helen O’Toole Charitable Trust, Tuam, expressed her pride in continuing the O’Toole legacy, saying, “Joe and Helen O’Toole were deeply committed to helping their community, and their legacy will now live on through this Stroke Hub.”

“We are incredibly proud to see this facility open today, knowing that it will make a lasting impact on the lives of stroke survivors and their families.”

“The Trust is grateful to Croí for the opportunity to continue Joe and Helen’s legacy of charitable giving and to positively impact the lives of those affected by stroke.”

Dr. Ruairi Waters, Consultant in Geriatric Medicine at Galway University Hospital and Board member of Croí said that the hub will, “Provide a critical resource for patients and their families, empowering them to regain independence, improve quality of life, and navigate the challenges of post-stroke recovery with confidence”.

With the doors now open, Croí looks forward to welcoming stroke survivors, their families, and carers who will avail of the specialist rehabilitation and support services at the Joe and Helen O’Toole Community Stroke Hub.

This facility will ensure that those affected by stroke have access to the resources they need for a better quality of life.

Some 200 homes on the west side of Galway City may experience water outages lasting until Monday afternoon while connection works take place.

Uisce Eireann is carrying out new connection works on the Letteragh Road on the western outskirts of the city.

The work began at 10am on Monday morning and is expected to continue until 4pm this afternoon.

In order to facilitate the works, approximately 200 Uisce Éireann customers in the area may experience outages or disruption to their water supply.

Customers along parts of the Letteragh Road, Cúirt Chéirín, The Bailey, The Heath, Breacán and parts of Circular Road as far as Bushypark NS may be affected. Bushypark NS itself will not be affected.

Temporary traffic management measures will be put in place during the works.

Uisce Éireann’s Leo O’Shea assured customers that crews will complete the works and restore normal supply as quickly as possible.

“These planned works are necessary to connect new homes to the public water supply,” said Leo. “We wish to thank affected customers for their understanding and patience while the works are ongoing.”

Typically, it takes two to three hours following repairs for normal supply to restore to all customers. However, it may take longer for normal supply to be restored to customers on higher ground or at the end of the network.

Gardaí have made a fresh appeal for witnesses to a traffic incident where a cyclist was found badly injured by the side of the road, and later passed away in hospital.

The deadly traffic incident occurred on the N17 in Co Mayo on Friday, February 28 on the road between the airport and Charlestown.

A cyclist, aged in his 60s, was found with life-threatening injuries at around 12:20pm, and was brought by ambulance to hospital. He has since passed away.

Gardaí are appealing for any witnesses to this incident to come forward.

The deceased was travelling in the direction of Charlestown coming from the direction of the airport.

Any road users who were on the N17 in the area between 11:45am and 12:20pm and may have camera footage (including dash-cam) are asked to make this footage available to Gardaí.

Anyone with any information is asked to contact Swinford Garda Station on 094 9252990, the Garda Confidential Line on 1800 666 111 or any Garda station.

A traffic barrier will be operational to control traffic through the back entrance at Merlin Park Hospital from early May.

The HSE will be implementing a barrier system at the rear entrance to the Merlin Park site, off Merlin Lane, with effect from Tuesday, May 6.

Access to the site via the back gate will be restricted to HSE staff and essential service delivery vehicles and access will be controlled.

The public is reminded that access to the hospital for patients and visitors remains via the front entrance only.

The barriers will be operational between the following times, Monday to Friday only (Excluding Public Holidays)

• 07:00-10:00 hours
• 16:00- 18:30 hours

For all other times, the back gate will be closed and access to the site will be via the front entrance only.

The HSE is continuing to engage with local residents and stakeholders on any issues of concern.

Three electronic and computer engineering students from University of Galway win a €6,000 prize at the annual EirGrid Cleaner Grid Competition.

The theme of this year’s competition asked students to “Present your vision of what the growing energy sector will need to look like in 2050 to have sustainably achieved net-zero emissions”.

Winning team members Ruchit Ghandi, Sarah Jane Hughes and Ethan O’Brien claimed second place for their proposal Peer Power, an app designed to encourage members of local communities to share energy which is generated locally.

They were awarded a prize of €6,000 (€3,000 for the winning student team and €3,000 for the student’s third-level institute), by the judging panel.

Their project narrowly missed out to team Todhchaí Glas from University College Dublin, who claimed first place.

Following the awards, Galway native, Ruchit Ghandi, spoke positively of the team’s experience, saying, “As young citizens of this country we feel it is important people understand more about net zero and climate targets but also how they can contribute to sustainability.”

“For students entering competitions like this in the future I recommend looking that something that will solve challenges for people. It was very enjoyable.”

The CleanerGrid competition run by EirGrid, the operator and developer of Ireland’s electricity grid, aims to foster innovation and creativity by encouraging students to showcase their skills in solving critical energy challenges, with a focus on sustainability, efficiency and clean energy technologies.

Entrants were asked to show how the grid will need to change to allow for more renewable sources and less synchronous generation; including what government policies will need to be in place, how the economy will be affected, how the grid will need to adapt, how technology can help achieve this goal, or any other relevant points they identify in order to create a resilient energy system for the future.

Among the ideas put forward by the five competing teams of finalists from DCU, University of Galway, UCD and Trinity College Dublin included pumped hydro, leveraging our coasts through offshore wind and the use of artificial intelligence in grid enhancement.

The judging panel was composed of Joanna Donnelly, Meteorologist with Met Éireann, Vish Gain, Technology and Business Journalist with the Business Post, Professor John Barry, Professor of Green Political Economy at Queens University Belfast and EirGrid’s own Head of Engineering and Asset Management, Louise O’Flanagan.

Congratulating all the teams on an engaging series of presentations, EirGrid Chief Innovation Officer Liam Ryan said, “Today’s competition is further evidence of the valuable contributions third-level students can offer in tackling societal challenges such as decarbonisation, energy affordability and climate action.”

“They are at the forefront of the latest cutting-edge research through our universities, and we can learn so much from them.”

“As we work towards delivering the Government targets for a decarbonised, sustainable, and strong economy, we recognise the importance of bringing students and young people with us on the journey as we transition to a clean, renewable energy grid.”

“We offer our thanks to everyone who took part in today’s final, coming from all corners of the country.”

Nominations are being invited for the Cathaoirleach’s Awards 2025, an annual awards scheme that honours individuals and groups who have had a significant impact on the quality of life in communities across County Galway.

The Cathaoirleach’s Awards are a joint venture between Galway County Council and the Public Participation Network (PPN), which has run annually for over a decade.

Cllr Martina Kinane, Cathaoirleach of the County of Galway said, “I am delighted to launch the Cathaoirleach’s Awards for 2025. These awards provide a fantastic opportunity to acknowledge and reward the amazing community and voluntary work happening around the County.”

The Public Participation Network has over 1,300 member groups carrying out a range of community and voluntary activities,

The winners will be announced at a special reception in May ahead of the Mayoral Charity Ball at the Raheen Woods Hotel in Athenry on June 7^th.

Liam Conneally, Chief Executive of Galway County Council, stated, “These awards give us an opportunity to showcase best practice in voluntary initiatives and projects across a broad range of areas such as sport, heritage, environment, arts and culture, community and social inclusion, and promotion of the Irish language.”

Kieran Coyne, Acting Director of Services, added that the awards provide an opportunity to “recognise the value and contribution of volunteers to our county.”

People can also see first hand, “the impact of their activities on community wellbeing and quality of life,” from these volunteers activities.

Nominations can be made by individual members of the public or through community groups and voluntary organisations, by emailing a completed nomination form to awards@galwaycoco.ie before the closing date of 18^th April 2025. 

Nomination forms are available on www.galway.ie or by emailing awards@galwaycoco.ie

The Clifden RNLI Lifeboat came to the aid of a broken down fishing vessel in Connemara waters on Monday afternoon.

Clifden’s all weather Shannon class lifeboat was launched under the command of Coxswain James Mullen, with Joe Acton, Dan Whelan, Tom Guy and Shane Conneely as crew.

The crew immediately made their way to the location, near Aughris Point. They were assisted from the shore by Ian Shanahan, Michael Barrett, Fergal Conneely and Dara Wallace.

The casualty vessel was located and the fisherman onboard confirmed the gearbox was broken. To prevent a navigational hazard the lifeboat crew established a tow line and towed the fishing boat back to Aughris Pier.

Clifden RNLI Coxswain, James Mullen said, “With the weather improving we expect to see an increase in activity around our coastal waters.”

“Our advice for anyone going to sea is to plan your journey in advance, have the relevant charts required, life-jackets for all on board and a means of calling for assistance if you find yourself in trouble.”

“I want to commend the fisherman for raising the alarm when he knew he couldn’t make safe progress. Every moment matters. Please never delay in calling for assistance, in Clifden RNLI we are ready to respond 24/7.”

Galway County Council has approved more than €320,000 in funding for projects by 267 local community and voluntary groups.

At the March Meeting of Galway County Council, Elected Members approved €303,750 in funding under Galway County Council’s Community Support Schemes, in addition to €18,000 allocated under Fáilte Ireland’s Regional Festivals and Participative Events funding scheme.

The purpose of Galway County Council’s Community Support Schemes is to encourage community and voluntary groups by providing small-scale funding for projects that benefit their local community.

The Community Support Schemes comprise three individual Support Schemes for Economic, Community and Cultural Development.

The grants are diverse and range from support to improve local amenities and facilities; support for groups that promote and increase knowledge and awareness of the arts, heritage and Irish language throughout the county.

They can also be used for collaborative business promotional initiatives, festivals or participative events, which aim to increase footfall in towns and villages and drive economic growth.

Cllr. Martina Kinnane, Cathaoirleach of Galway County Council, stated, “Each year, the Community Support Scheme attracts a high level of interest and the recognition of the level of voluntary work right across the county and the significant impact of the work being undertaken was acknowledged by the Elected Members when approving the allocation of funds.”

“On behalf of the Elected Members, I want to thank all the community groups that work tirelessly for their local communities and strive to make our local areas a better place to live, work and visit.”

Liam Conneally, Chief Executive of Galway County Council, said, “The Community Support Schemes will enable over €300,000 to be invested in the community and voluntary sector in the County.”

“This investment would not be possible without the work and volunteerism provided by our communities and citizens who play a vital part in keeping communities alive and improving the quality of life and wellbeing in Galway.”

Kieran Coyne, Acting Director of Services, stated “The Community Support Schemes are a significant and popular funding scheme for groups in Galway County.”

“The allocations provided through the Community Support Schemes are part of a wider range of funding schemes and we will continue to seek to maximise these through coordinating the schemes and directing communities to the most appropriate funding schemes for their planned projects and activities, while working in a collaborative and partnership approach with all stakeholders.”

“I would like to thank the Elected Members for the huge role they play, and I also want to acknowledge the role of the Public Participation Network which plays a vital part in informing and advising the community and voluntary groups regarding this and other funding schemes,” added Mr. Coyne.

Read the full list of projects approved funding here: CSS 2025 Recommendations for Plenary Meeting

A significant upgrade is on the way for Inishbofin’s water supply with Uisce Éireann to begin works on the island this spring.

A containerised unit designed to treat complex issues relating to raw water quality will arrive on the island within weeks.

With the island supply the subject of Do Not Consume Notices in the past due to elevated levels of manganese this investment will ensure the security of supply for islanders and visitors alike.

Uisce Éireann’s project manager Martin Blackweir explained that detailed surveys and water sampling took place on the island before final designs were agreed on.

“Depending on weather conditions we hope to begin works before summer. This project is a significant investment for the island.”

“It’s important to note that the water supply on Inishbofin is currently meeting drinking water regulations and is safe to drink but this unit will ensure a reliable and safe water supply long into the future,” said Martin.

Funding of just under €200,000 has been awarded for community development projects on the offshore islands in Galway.

Minister for Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht Dara Calleary recently announced a total of €390,000 in funding for Measure 3 of the 2024 CLÁR programme.

The funding will be used to develop and enhance community facilities and amenities across our off-shore Islands.

In total, eight Islands off the coast of Cork, Donegal, Galway and Mayo will benefit under this funding allocation.

The funding will include improvements to sports facilities and community centres, and the enhancement of play spaces.

Supports for waste management and island transport infrastructure is also being provided.

In Galway funding has been awarded for three projects on Inis Mór in the Aran Islands, and a fourth project on Inishbofin.

This includes €50,000 for the repair and upgrade of playground equipment including inclusive equipment and another €50,000 to install a community kitchen in Halla Rónáin on Inis Mór.

Also on Inis Mór €44,190 has been awarded to Athchursail Arann CGA for waste management equipment.

Additionally, Inishbofin Development Company CLG will receive €50,000 for the repair and upgrade of playground equipment at Inishbofin Community Playground.

Announcing the successful projects, Minister Calleary said, “I am delighted announce these successful projects today under the CLÁR programme. Supporting our Island communities is a key priority for me and for this government.”

“I am very pleased to see these investments which will further enhance the quality of life for those living on eight of our off-shore islands.”

“Improvements in community facilities and transport initiatives together with waste management measures are all very welcome.”

“There is also funding for the purchase of a generator in an island community centre which, as we have seen in recent weeks, will be an important resource in the future.”

“I want to commend the community and voluntary groups behind each of these projects for their continued commitment to improving the quality of life of everyone on our islands.”

“Through schemes like the CLÁR programme, I want to use my term as Minister for Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht to support you as much as possible in creating sustainable and vibrant island communities.”