For the third year running, talented young chefs at GMIT will host a very special gourmet evening in aid of the local RNLI Galway Lifeboat Station, which saves many lives each year at sea.

The mouth-watering menu will include dishes such as House Cured Pastrami, Sauerkraut, and Gubbeen Cheese Crostini; Cup of Warm Spiced Butternut Squash Soup with toasted Pumpkin Seeds and Yogurt; Pan Fried Hake with Crispy Chicken Skin, Dashi, and Shitake Mushrooms; and Friendly Farmer Roast Turkey and Honey Baked Castlemine Ham, Champ Croquette.

The event, which will take place on Monday, 4 December at 5pm, is expected to sell out.

And looking at that menu, it’s not all that surprising.

Lecturers Cormac Handy and Brian Morrissey will lead and support both groups of students, from the Higher Certificate in Arts in Culinary Arts and the BA (Hons) in Hotel Management programmes, welcoming guests at 5pm to a drinks reception followed by a seasonal menu with accompanying wines.

Diarmuid Ó Conghaile, recently appointed Head of Dept of Languages & Humanities, and Heritage & Tourism, has been co-ordinating this GMIT event with the Lifeboat for the past few years.

“We are delighted with its success each year as all proceeds go to the RNLI whose volunteer crew are on call 24/7 to help save lives at sea,” he says. “It is a great teaching and learning experience for our students and forms part of their studies each year.”

Tony Hiney, Community Fundraising Manager, RNLI, says the charity values GMIT’s ongoing support. “We are grateful to the students and staff of GMIT who generously give of their time, skills and efforts each year, supporting our work and raising awareness among the general public of the importance of respecting the water while enjoying our beautiful natural resources in Galway, the sea and our waterways.”

Tickets are priced at €30pp and bookings can be made by emailing restaurants@gmit.ie or phoning 087-2065689.

COPE Waterside House is launching a new booklet entitled Parenting in the context of Domestic Violence, as part of the annual global awareness campaign, 16days of Action on Violence against Women.

The campaign began on Saturday 25 November which was International Day Opposing Violence against Women.

It will end on International Human Rights Day – 10 December.

Parenting in the context of Domestic Violence covers topics from talking to children about the domestic abuse and how to manage contact and access with a non-cooperative ex-partner.

It also explores coping mechanisms and strategies for mothers whose parenting has been undermined through abuse.

Professor Pat Dolan of the UNESCO Child and Family Research Centre, NUIG, who wrote the forward for the booklet, said: “Not alone has the voice of women who are parents experiencing domestic violence been unheard, their expertise and wisdom in relation to coping remains untapped and unshared.

“This booklet is both welcome and timely in that it firstly outlines the challenges and solutions of trying to parent well while living with domestic violence; but also its authorship includes those with first-hand experience.”

Christiane Blodau, Service Coordinator at COPE Galway Waterside House said that parenting alone can be difficult at times, but parenting after leaving an abusive relationship can mean dealing with especially challenging issues.

“Women often leave abusive relationships because of concerns about their children’s well-being. When they come to COPE Waterside House refuge or our outreach service they report a number of these concerns, which range from worrying about the immediate and long-term effects of abuse on their children; how the abuse has affected their confidence as a mother and how to manage ongoing contact with their children’s father post-separation.

“Many women report that the problems do not end with separation. As one mother said, “I did not realise how much my child blamed herself for what happened. It was only years later that it all came out. You have to reassure your kids that it was never their fault,” she said.

Ms Blodau also said that it’s important to note that while domestic abuse can have an adverse effect on women and children having survived abuse as a child, it is not a  ‘life sentence’ for problems in the future.

“With the right support,” she said, “we can achieve very positive outcomes. Accessing support is a vital first step for both safety and recovery.”

Professor Pat Dolan of the UNESCO Child and Family Research Centre will launch Parenting in the context of Domestic Violence at the Town Hall Theatre on Monday, December 4^th at 11am. If you would like to attend the launch, contact COPE Galway Waterside House – 091 565985.

If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic abuse or is affected by any of the issues mentioned above, phone COPE Waterside House at 091 565 985 (24h).

Galway West election candidate Niall Ó Tuathail has outlined why he wouldn’t support a light rail system for Galway, citing the River Corrib and the population density of the city as reasons it wouldn’t be ideal.

The Social Democrats candidate won over 3,500 first preference votes in last Febuary’s election, just 1.7% behind Hildegrade Naughton who was elected on the 14th count.

Mr Ó Tuathail took to social media today to outline exactly why he doesn’t agree that Galway would be an ideal city for light rail system.

“In general, I believe our county needs a big investment in affordable and frequent public transport (rural and city) and cycling (greenways and segregated cycle lanes in our towns and city). I think that’s the best way to relieve the traffic crisis and create better quality of life for Galway,” Mr Ó Tuathail said.

“So I should be for a light rail line in Galway, right? Catherine Connolly, who I have a lot of respect for, is organising a public meeting this week and is using the example of Cosenza, an Italian town with a population similar to Galway that is about to build a light rail system. Surely if Cosenza are doing it, it’s a no-brainer for Galway to do it too?

“I’d love to have a light rail system in Galway but if I’m going to advocate for something like that, I need to make sure it makes sense and I can’t say it does for a few reasons.”

He said that because Galway has a much lower population density than most other European cities, our needs here are different.

“I did the maths and Cosenza’s city boundary is 5x smaller than Galway for the same population. I’ve taken some photos of typical residential areas from Cosenza and Galway and you can see how the apartment blocks that Cosenza (and most other European cities) has achieved this.

“For Galway to have an equivalent light rail service to Cosenza, we would need to build about 5x the amount of stations Cosenza would to move the same number of people. That means 5x the cost and much longer journey times. Cosenza also doesn’t have the River Corrib running through it with no spare bridges to use. It’s pretty clear that we can’t use Cosenza as a realistic comparison.”

He believes that the future of city transport is likely to be on roads, i.e. buses, bicycles, walking and cars rather than rail.

“Technology is changing quickly and within 10-15 years (when any light rail project would realistically be finished), I would expect there to be driverless bus systems that would work very efficiently on the roads we have already built.

“Studies are predicting we would have 3-10x better traffic flow with the same road network if we have driverless cars and buses. There is a realistic prospect that any rail project could be a white elephant by the time it is built,” he said.

The Social Democrats candidate then posed the question: what is the best way to spend hundreds of millions of euros of our money to improve traffic and improve our quality of life.

“For me, I believe that is best spent on a proper safe network cycling lanes & greenways and a public bus network in city and county that is frequent, reliable and affordable and maintaining and improving the road network we have (like the N59). In my opinion, it would give us much better value-for-money and would be more future-proof than rail.

“That’s why I can’t support light rail in Galway yet. If we are serious about building high-density apartments in the city centre (which I think we should as a priority), if light rail building costs come down, if driverless buses don’t happen, I would re-evaluate. But I’ll always try to be honest about what we should do based on the available evidence,” Mr Ó Tuathail added.

The revolutionary legacy of Ernesto ‘Che’ Guevara will be the focus of a public meeting upstairs in Busker Browne’s tomorrow at 8pm.

Just last month, on the 50th anniversary of his death, his legacy became a controversial national talking point when An Post marked the anniversary with a special stamp.

The stamp featured Irish artist Jim Fitzpatrick’s iconic rework of the Guerrillero Heroico photograph taken in Havana in 1960.

Half a century after Jim Fitzpatrick received the original image from Dutch anarchists, and indeed 50 years after Che Guevara was murdered by the Bolivian Army supported by the CIA, his legacy remains controversial.

The meeting tomorrow is being organised by the Socialist Party and speakers will include former Socialist Party TD and MEP Joe Higgins.

Che Guevara, whose descendents were from Galway, fought for Marxism in oppressed countries around the world until he was finally captured and shot in Bolivia.

His ideals were formed while he was still a medical student at the University of Buenos Aires.

Before completing his studies, he embarked on a motorcycle journey across the continent with a close friend.

While travelling, he grew angry with the treatment of the indigenous peoples and peasants of South America, who were being evicted from their lands by corrupt governments often supported by the USA, and exploited by North American multinationals.

After the Cuban revolutionaries’ heroic victory, Che visited Ireland a number of times. One one occasion, bad weather forced his plane to land in Dublin, where he was interviewed by a journalist for RTÉ.

As the interview was unplanned, Aer Lingus air hostess Felima Archer stepped in as a Spanish translator.

Athough her Spanish wasn’t perfect, her efforts allowed the now iconic interview to go ahead.

Senator Trevor Ó Clochartaigh has slammed Galway City and County councils for not building a single housing unit since the beginning of 2016, with thousands of people on the social housing waiting lists and hundreds homeless in across Galway.

The Galway West – South Mayo Senator was referencing a new report by housing policy analyst and architect Mel Reynolds which indicates that local authorities across the country are sitting on serviced land banks, with only 3% of the 1200 hectares they own being utilised for social housing.

“Mr. Reynolds has accused the State of being the ‘single biggest land hoarder in Ireland’. This is an absolute disgrace and the Government cannot wash their hands of their responsibility for this lack of action.

“They need to make monies and adequate staffing available to the councils in a timely and efficient manner and also speed up the approvals process.  Instead of reports and allocations on  paper, we need action to see real houses built, to house real families, really quickly.

“I also commend Galway Traveller Movement who have launched the Galway Traveller Community Accommodation Campaign. Their conference this week highlighted the disgraceful conditions so many Traveller families find themselves in and the complete failure of the Local Authorities in delivering on the targets they set themselves in their Traveller Accommodation plans,” Senator Ó Clochartaigh said.

He said that much of the blame must lie with local politicians, particularly Fianna Fáil & Fine Gael, who he said ‘do not have the political will’ to deliver on these plans.

“They make a mockery of the Government announcement in relation to recognising Traveller Ethnicity on the 1st of March this year, returning funding allocations consistently, whilst failing miserably to deliver on the fundamentals of adequate, culturally appropriate accommodation solutions”. haven’t built a single housing unit since the beginning of 2016,” he added.

Over 1,600 students will graduate from across the five colleges at NUI Galway at the University’s winter conferring ceremonies which began today.

The graduation ceremonies will continue continue tomorrow and finish on Thursday.

In recognition of his public contribution and charity work, a Doctor of Laws degree was conferred on Jack McCann today.

Jack worked as a plastic surgeon at UGH from 1989 to 2010.

In 2005 he co-founded the charity Irish Friends of Albania and he travels to the balkan country twice a year with teams of medical volunteers to work in hospitals there.

Since 2002 he has operated on hundreds of children and adults to improve and correct hand deformities and burn injuries.

Jack also leads free annual microsurgical training workshops in Albania, training their surgeons to provide better outcomes for their patients.

He fundraises throughout the year, culminating in the annual Irish Friends of Albania Ball.

He is also a published author with four plays, short stories and two collections of poetry.

In recognition of their work in transforming the Galway International Arts Festival John Crumlish as CEO and Paul Fahy as Artistic Director and Producer will both be conferred with honorary Doctor of Arts degrees tomorrow, Wednesday, 22 November.

Galway International Arts Festival has become an event that has international significance, impact and reach; it has made an exceptional contribution to the culture, economy and intellectual life of Galway and Ireland; and it is leading the development of new forms of art in Ireland and globally.

Through the development of a major partnership with NUI Galway since 2012, new opportunities have been created for artists and producers to build successful and sustainable careers in the west of Ireland.

The Children’s Remembrance Day Committee at University Hospital Galway has launched its annual ‘sponsor a Christmas tree light’.

In December, a large Christmas tree will be on display at the entrance to the hospital and people can sponsor a light on the tree as a way of remembering a loved one.

Susan Massey from the Children’s Remembrance Day Committee explained that many families have suffered bereavements during the year and sponsoring a light for someone who has passed away is a nice way of letting family and friends know that we are thinking of them.

“Families may have loved ones who have emigrated and will not be home for Christmas and again sponsoring a light is a way to let them know they are in our thoughts.

“This is a thoughtful way of letting them know we are thinking of them,” Susan Massey said.

The funds raised through the sale of the Christmas tree lights are used to fund the activities of the Children’s Remembrance Day Committee throughout the year.

Any extra monies raised will be used to enhance the services for bereaved families within the hospital.

Well-known local journalist Mary O’Connor joined the formal launch at UHG and local radio broadcaster Keith Finnegan will officially switch on the Christmas tree lights on Sunday 10 December.

“Twenty years ago Keith switched on the Christmas tree lights on our very first Christmas tree, so we are fortunate to have him back with us to mark the twentieth anniversary,” Susan Massey added.

The afternoon’s festivities will commence at 3.00pm with music from the Conquerors and friends and pupils from Scoil Cathríona Renmore will perform Christmas carols.

The lights will be on sale at different times in the main foyer of UHG from 24 November until 10 December at a cost €5 each.

People Before Profit members in Galway have released a video highlighting the extent of the housing crisis and homelessness crisis in the city and across Ireland.

People Before Profit, which is part of a leftist alliance with Solidarity (Anti-Austerity Alliance), says that to tackle this emergency, we need social housing built urgently.

One activist says that as he walked down Shop Street in Galway recently, he saw four people “huddled together in sleeping bags” in a doorway.

Last week, Leo Varadkar came under fire from opposition parties for saying that we have “one of the lowest levels of homelessness” by international standards. Junior Minister Damian English was also criticised for suggesting talk of homelessness was damaging Ireland’s “international reputation”.

Ireland today has a similar rate of homelessness as was present in Greece in 2013.

Watch the video below.

PBP Galway members made a video about the housing crisis in Galway. We need social housing built and we need it now if we are going to tackle this emergency. Please RT. #Galway #homelessness #HousingCrisis pic.twitter.com/Qh44jGU4Yk

— PBP Galway (@pbpgalway) November 20, 2017

A special commemoration to remember road traffic victims will take place in the Clayton Hotel, Galway at 2pm on Sunday the 19th of November.

According to the Road Safety Authority, the number of road traffic victims in Galway in 2016 was 10.

The Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims was created as a means to give recognition to victims of road traffic crashes and the plight of their loved ones who must cope with the emotional and practical consequences of these events.

On 26 October 2005, the United Nations adopted a resolution which calls for governments to mark the third Sunday in November each year as World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims.

Observation of this day provides an opportunity to draw the public’s attention to road traffic crashes, their consequences and costs, and the measures which can be taken to prevent them.

The RSA says that the day is also an opportunity to remind governments and society of their responsibility to make roads safer.

The bereaved are not counted or included in road traffic injury data. Many others remain deeply affected by the loss of a friend, colleague, neighbour or member of the community.

The effect on the emergency services, whose work involves facing the consequences of crashes on a daily basis, is also profound.

This year the RSA will be joining forces with members of An Garda Síochána, Local County Councils, Emergency Services and victim support groups to mark the day and remember those who have died on our roads at services which will be held across the country.

People have been stuck at the top of a ferris wheel at Eyre Square for over an hour.

Traffic around Eyre Square is heavy as routes are closed while the emergency services respond to the situation.

The AA says traffic is extremely slow around the city centre as a result of the incident.

Day 1 of the Galway Christmas Market and we got stuck on the wheel pic.twitter.com/XBgrezqnyQ

— Hannah Lambert (@hannahlambert76) November 17, 2017

The Fire Service is at the scene on the first day of the Christmas Market at Eyre Square.

Follow Gaway Daily for updates on the situation as it happens.

Senator Trevor Ó Clochartaigh has criticised Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael for not acknowledging the failures of the Jobpath scheme and for failing to support a motion in the Seanad for it to be discontinued.

Speaking on a Sinn Féin Private Members Bill to scrap the discredited, privatised job activation scheme, the Galway West – South Mayo Senator said that it is a disgrace that Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael continue to support a profit driven, privatised model of supports for unemployed people.

“It was telling that Labour party Senators, whose former Leader Joan Burton introduced the Thatcherite model, didn’t even bother to turn up for the debate in case they might have to justify why they brought it in when in Government.

“JobPath may look like just another job activation scheme aimed at getting jobseekers back to work, which runs alongside others such the Local Employment Service, Community Employment, Tús, Rural Social Scheme, and Gateway. However, JobPath’s set up and the way it operates makes it uniquely different.

“Any scheme that engages over 105,000 people is one that must be closely monitored. No two jobseekers are the same and therefore, a “one size fits all scheme” such as JobPath is entirely inadequate. Even if we set aside all of the issues experienced by JobPath participants, and the devastating impact that JobPath is having on the sustainability of other schemes such as CE and Tús, privatisation remains Sinn Féin’s fundamental concern.

“The secrecy, lack of transparency, and the supposed “commercial sensitivity” surrounding JobPath raises two key questions – how much of taxpayers’ money is being wasted on these private companies and what type of jobs are being sourced for jobseekers?

“Our Sinn Féin colleagues John Brady TD and Denise Mitchell TD have published a report called ‘Jobpath Exposed’ which gives testimony from participants and former employees of the companies administering Jobpath, which raises very serious questions about the way in which the scheme is being run.

“Our motion sought to discontinue this badly designed and poorly executed programme and Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael between them voted us down to ensure that it continue in its current format,” said Senator Ó Clochartaigh.

Members of the ambulance service have reported difficulties with the water, extremes of heat and cold, and the presence of rodents at temporary accommodation at Merlin Park, according to Catherine Connolly TD.

She says their frustration with the unsuitability of the accommodation is fully understandable.

Deputy Connolly called for “immediate action” to be taken to resolve the difficulties around the temporary accomodation.

Despite repeated promises that this accommodation would be temporary, it is now over three years since the ambulance service was asked to move.

However, some headway has been made in relation to progressing the planned new ambulance service at Merlin Park, including the appointment of a design team.

But there are no definite start or completion dates for the construction of these new premises.

“The conditions of the temporary premises have deteriorated further and members of the ambulance service have reported difficulties with the water, extremes of heat and cold, and the presence of rodents, to name just a few.

“The promise that this accommodation would be temporary, and for only three months, has not been fulfilled, and quite clearly three and a half years later, the trust between the ambulance service and management has broken down.

“Given this history it is quite understandable that the ambulance team has made a decision to move back to Galway University Hospital,” said Ms Connolly.

She called for immediate action to be taken to resolve the difficulties with the temporary accommodation and also to progress the new premises.

A conference focusing on how the law should be changed to help people with disabilities will be held on 22 November in the Institute for Lifecourse and Society at NUI Galway.

Policy-makers around the globe will have a series of concrete recommendations for reform of law, policy and practice on legal capacity resulting from the VOICES project by NUI Galway’s Centre for Disability Law and Policy.

The VOICES project takes an innovative approach to law reform by developing recommendations for how the law should change based on the stories of those with lived experience of disability.

People with disabilities, activists, researchers and practitioners have worked together to co-author chapters for an edited collection to be published in 2018.

This final workshop will draw together the four core themes of the project; criminal responsibility, contractual capacity, consent to treatment and consent to sex, and will feature a mix of personal narratives, art and theoretical perspectives.

The event will take place in the Institute for Lifecourse and Society at NUI Galway.

The workshop will be a conference style event and is open to the public where all 28 co-authors from 10 different countries will share their experiences of the project and discuss common themes across the chapters in the book. Speakers include people with disabilities, academics, and activists with experience of using stories to drive social change.

A keynote speech will be given by Dr Michael Bach, Managing Director of the Institute for Research and Development on Inclusion and Society in Canada. For over 30 years Dr Bach has undertaken research and development in Canada and internationally on ways to advance the full inclusion and human rights of persons with intellectual disabilities.

Dr Eilionóir Flynn, Principal Investigator on the VOICES Project and Deputy Director of the Centre for Disability Law and Policy at NUI Galway, said: “We are delighted to be welcoming this diverse mix of participants back to NUI Galway for the final workshop of this project.

“Participants from Ireland, the UK, Canada, Kenya, Australia, India, Bulgaria, Sweden, China and the Czech Republic will all gather in Galway to share their experiences and put the finishing touches to what promises to be a fantastic book. As a result of their work, policy-makers around the globe will have a series of concrete recommendations for reform of law, policy and practice on legal capacity.”

The figures from today’s Daft.ie Rental Price Report do not make for happy reading for tenants, those worried about homelessness and those whose focus is national competitiveness.

Having fallen for almost three years between 2008 and 2011, and then largely treading water until late 2012, national rents have now risen for 21 consecutive quarters.

In Galway, the average rent in the third quarter of this year is €1,057, up more than 14% since last year, with the average rent being €751.

The average rent for a double room in the city is 476 euro and is marginally cheaper in the suburbs.

Across the rest of the country, rents across have peaked to a new all-time high of €1,200 per month.

Ronan Lyons of Daft.ie said: “Those who campaign for improved housing outcomes – from fewer people homeless to better standards in rental accommodation – need to realise that the solution to all these is more supply. More supply improves availability, lowers rents and shifts bargaining power towards the renter.

“To build more supply, both profit and non-profit housing organisations need to be able to cover costs. That is where policymakers need to focus. But it will take time.”

Galway City Council confirmed today that the 54th Mayor of Boston Marty Walsh is to be made Freeman of Galway City.

The Bostonian has been in office since 2014 and previously served as a member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives for 17 years.

Just last week, the he was elected for the second consecutive term and the people of Conamara were among his supporters.

Mr Walsh’s parents departed the Connemara Gaeltacht in the 50s to begin their new lives across the pond and he holds a dual Irish and American citizenship.

His first visited Ireland as mayor of Boston in 2014, and he was given a warm welcome.

Senator Trevor Ó Clochartaigh says that the government must do something to rectify the 3,456 older people in Galway & Mayo “being fleeced” by the 2012 pension changes.

He says that it must be dealt with in the Dáil this week and that Fine Gael & Fianna Fáil need to “step up to the mark” in this regard.

New figures issued to John Brady TD showed that 42,278 pensioners nationally have been affected by the rate band changes from September 2012, as opposed to the 35,000 previously stated. Of this figure, 26,598 are female and 15,680 are male.

“The government has now admitted that 42,278 pensioners nationally have been affected by the rate band changes introduced by Fine Gael and Labour from September 2012 as oppose to the 35,000 previously stated. Of this figure, 26,598 are female and 15,680 are male,” Senator Ó Clochartaigh said.

“A breakdown by County shows that 2116 of these are in Galway. Of these, 1,271 are female and 845 are male. In Mayo 1,340 people are affected – 762 are female and 578 are male.

“At no stage in all of the discussions on this issue did Minister Regina Doherty disclose the actual number of people impacted by the 2012 changes, despite her own Department having the figures. Instead, the Dáil was misled in relation to the extent of the injustice.

“The fact is that 42,278 pensioners are receiving a reduced State Pension as a direct consequence of changes made to the calculation of the State Pension and this is unacceptable. Fine Gael and Labour took this decision with the absolute knowledge that women would be disproportionately impacted and this is evident in the fact that almost two-thirds of the 42,278 pensioners are women.

“The Social Welfare Bill 2017 is due to go before Cabinet next week. We need to see the Minister’s plans to rectify the blatant discrimination in this Bill. If it is not there, Sinn Féin will amend the Bill and we fully expect Fianna Fáil to support such an amendment given their recent Dáil motion calling for action. This issue needs to be addressed immediately, 42,278 pensioners are waiting,” he added.

DevOpsDays Galway, a two-day IT and software conference, will get underway on Monday 13 and Tuesday 14 November.

The event at the Radisson Blu Hotel is part of a is a worldwide series of technical conferences covering topics of software development, IT infrastructure operations, and the intersection between them.

Badges and replacement stickers picked up. Now just to attach all the lanyards! Do we have volunteers or volun-tolds 😉 pic.twitter.com/rSYvQZr7rC

— DevOpsDays Galway (@DevOpsDaysGal) 10 November 2017

Attending DevOpsDays Galway on November 13th – 14th? Thomas Shaw from our Build Engineering team will be talking about Containerized Continuous Delivery pipelines. Drop by, get some swag. We are hiring too! #DevOpsDays pic.twitter.com/tuGZnVWyBj

— Demonware (@demonware) 10 November 2017

The conference is focusing on automation, testing, security, and organizational culture.

The first devopsdays was held in Ghent, Belgium in 2009 and since then, the events have multiplied.

The global core team guides local organisers in hosting their own devopsdays events worldwide.