The M6 motorway eastbound near Ballinasloe is closed until 9pm today for essential repair roadworks.
Resurfacing works are taking place on the motorway near Junction 14 Ballinasloe in order to allow a lane to reopen.
In order to facilitate these works, the eastbound motorway is closed today between Junctions 13 & 14.
The works are currently scheduled to last until 9pm on Monday.
Diversions are in place at the affected are of road.
The government has announced additional funding of €724,000 to improve non-public roads and rural laneways in Co. Galway.
Galway’s allocation is part of €11 million announced in the second round of the Local Improvement Scheme (LIS), bringing the total funding announced under the scheme this year to €22 million.
The money will be used to upgrade rural laneways and non-public roads which provide access to homes, farms and outdoor amenities.
Prior to today’s announcement, each Local Authority was asked to consult with local residents and landowners and identify road and laneway projects where works could start immediately and be completed this year.
Minister Heather Humphreys, who confirmed the increased funding this morning, said that the recent census results show that the population of rural Ireland is growing.
“As part of ‘Our Rural Future’ I want to see more people living, working and raising a family in our rural communities throughout the country,” she said, describing the rise in the rural population as ‘hugely positive’.
“The Local Improvement Scheme is about making life a little bit easier for those rural families who live on a laneway or non-public road.
“The scheme provides substantial grant aid for the upgrade of these routes and assists homeowners with the costs. In many cases where there are multiple homes on a lane, neighbours will work together to draw down funding under the scheme.”
Minister Humphreys said that LIS funding through the Department of Rural and Community Development has improved 3,000 roads and laneways across the State, benefitting over 13,000 rural homes.
“The funding I am announcing today will see a further increase in those numbers with many more homeowners benefitting,” she said.
Several ‘serious incidents’ have been reported in the West whereby individuals posing as housing charity representatives have attempted to gain access to homes and information.
Threshold, the national housing charity, warned the public that these house calls and phone calls are not in any way related to them, and it is not their remit to carry out such actions.
They said that anyone who receives contact, or encounters someone claiming to be from Threshold for a ‘house inspection’, should report the matter to the relevant authorities.
Threshold can also be contacted regarding any such incidents and can verify any activity related to genuine cases that are in progress.
Phone 1800 454 454 or email via www.threshold.ie/advice
A public meeting entitled ‘The Fight for Trans Liberation’ will take place at Áras na nGael on Dominick Street on Wednesday 17 August at 7.30pm.
The meeting, hosted by People Before Profit, will be addressed by trans activist and party member Mike Lovett.
Speaking ahead of the meeting, PBP Galway rep Adrian Curran said that oppression remains a daily reality for trans people across Irish society.
Curran pointed to the ‘dismal state’ of transition-related healthcare, including the lack of any provision for under-18s for the last year and a half, the high unemployment rate, the prevalence of poor mental health, and the high rate of hate crimes against trans people.
“Trans rights are human rights and any attack on the trans community is an attack on us all,” he said.
“The antidote to this is the building of real movements of solidarity on the streets and across society to fight for queer and trans liberation and challenge transphobia in all its guises, and demand free transition-related healthcare based on informed consent through an All-Ireland National Health Service that treats trans people with dignity.
“Come along to take part in a discussion on how we ensure trans rights are fully realised and protected.”
All are welcome to attend the meeting in-person or online. People Before Profit Galway’s social media pages will have details of the online streaming.
Galway photographer Felix Sproll claimed the top prize at the annual Reach For the Stars astrophotography competition for his incredible image of the night sky.
Felix was chosen as one of two overall winners of the competition for his stunning picture capturing the Milky Way in a clear night sky over Pine Island at Derryclare Lough in Connemara.
The ‘Milky Way Arch over Pine Island’ came out in top in the ‘Back on Earth’ category of the competition, which is run by the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies.
“It was great to win as there was a very high standard of images this year,” Felix said.
“It’s tough to get astro pictures here in Ireland with all the wind, rain, and clouds, so it’s great to have a competition like this in Ireland where there’s a level playing field.”
Professor Peter Gallagher, Head of Astrophysics at DIAS and a member of the judging panel for ‘Reach for the Stars’ said, “Felix’s image capturing the iconic Pine Island in Connemara, with the Milky Way sparkling overhead is a beautiful shot and shows Ireland at its very best.”
“There is something very magical about this image – with the light from the moon rising over the town in the backdrop. It really blew us away, and it’s obvious Felix has a very keen eye for detail.”
One of two runners up in this category was Aisling McGuire from Moyard, Co. Galway for her submission, ‘The Bens Under the Milky Way’.
Felix added that it was great to see two Galwegians coming on top in the same category, and that their two photos were taken on the same night, not far from each other.
All of the photos entered into Reach for the Stars can be viewed online at https://reachforthestars.ie, and an outdoor exhibition of the pieces will be held DIAS’s premises in Dublin from August 12.
The other big winners of the competition were Tom Dineen and Raluca Dana Lica, who claimed first prize in the ‘Out of this World’ category.
Their winning image ‘A Fiery Rosette’ captured the Rosette Nebula – an emission nebula in the constellation of Monoceros, located about 5,200 light-years away from Earth.
The image data was captured by Raluca in her backyard in Naas town, Co. Kildare, over 11 nights, with Tom completing the image processing.
Anthony Lynch from Dublin scooped the top prize in the Public Choice category with his photo of the International Space Station flying past the sun.
And a special School of Cosmic Physics 75th Anniversary Prize was also awarded to Sean O’Riordan from Kilmallock, Limerick for his image ‘Zodiacal Light above Cliffs of Moher’.
The winners were selected by a judging panel following a rigorous judging process of over 180 entries.
In addition to Prof. Peter Gallagher, the judging panel included Brenda Fitzsimons, Picture Editor, The Irish Times; John Flannery, Vice-President, Irish Astronomical Society; and Niamh Breathnach, Director, Alice PR & Events.
Commenting on the competition overall, Brenda Fitzsimons, Picture Editor, The Irish Times, said: “From glistening Galaxies to tranquil landscapes, the combination of science and serene captured in these breath-taking images were a pleasure to judge.”
Met Eireann have issued a weather advisory for a summer heatwave next week, with temperatures in the high 20s expected from mid-week.
“Ireland will experience a hot spell developing from Wednesday and continuing through the rest of the week and the weekend,” the advisory states.
“Daytime temperatures will widely reach the mid to high twenties. Remaining uncomfortably warm overnight too.”
The weather advisory covers all of next week, until Monday August 15.
Met Eireann has said that further updates on the expected heatwave will follow.
During a brief heatwave in July, temperatures in Galway hit 30 degrees in places.
The M6 motorway will be closed near Ballinasloe on Monday in order to allow roadworks to take place.
On the M6 Eastbound near Junction 14 Ballinasloe, a section of road pavement needs to be replaced in order for a lane to be reopened to traffic.
Repair works are due to take place from 6am to 9pm on Monday, August 8.
In order to facilitate these works, the eastbound motorway will be closed between Junctions 14 and 13.
Diversions will be in place for traffic during this time, as pictured below.
Events in the Dunmore Annual Festival which were due to take place today have been cancelled due to tragedy in the community.
The Festival announced on Saturday afternoon that the cancellation was due to tragic news in the town that day, but did not go into details.
Several events which were due to take place on Saturday were cancelled, as are the sports day, bingo and car treasure hunt which were due to take place today.
“Due to the extremely sad news in Dunmore today. The Road Bowling ,Festival Finish line Finale, Fireworks scheduled for this evening, Sports Day, Bingo and the Car treasure hunt scheduled for tomorrow afternoon are cancelled.”
“Our thoughts are with the family at this time,” the announcement on Facebook stated.
Galway has been awarded €53,205 in funding for eleven library support projects helping immigrant families, people with autism, visual impairments, and more.
Minister Rural and Community Development, Heather Humphreys this week announced a total of €700,000 for library support programmes.
The funding, under the Dormant Accounts Action Plan, is designed to assist libraries in reaching out to older people, children from disadvantaged communities, people with disabilities and other marginalised groups.
This year, a number of libraries also submitted projects designed to reach out to Ukrainian families who are living in Ireland after fleeing the war.
“The sort of innovative projects that are being funded under this initiative will create a more welcoming and engaging library experience for thousands of people,” Heather Humphreys said.
“They will put our libraries at the forefront of reaching out to all members of the local community in which they serve.”
Minister of State Joe O’Brien added, “The projects are diverse in nature and target a multiplicity of groups including the Traveller community, Ukrainians displaced by war, residents of Direct Provision Centres and the elderly.”
“There is also funding for groups working to provide autism supports, and groups working with hearing and visually impaired communities, prisoners and people with learning differences such as dyslexia.”
“This funding package will build on the excellent projects which have been delivered over the past three years and also help our public libraries to continue to foster community well-being and build community cohesion in their role as community hubs.”
The full list of projects in Galway being funded under the scheme is:
Researchers at NUI Galway have potentially found a novel approach to stopping medical devices from picking up infectious bacteria that pose a danger to patients.
The SUGARCOAT project is investigating how attaching sugar molecules to plastics could give medical devices a new layer of protection from infection.
A collaboration between NUI Galway and Queen’s University Belfast, it aims to tackle the issue of hospital acquired infections associated with devices.
The team is creating fluorescent materials which glow at first, before darkening when they become compromised by bacteria.
The technology would be attached to plastics which coat medical devices, such as urinary catheters or endotracheal tubes, allowing clinicians to spot potential infection at an early opportunity and react faster.
Dr Joseph Byrne, leading the project in Galway said, “Prevention of bacterial infections is key to fighting the challenge of antimicrobial resistance”.
“If this isn’t possible, then early detection through innovative sensing materials could act as an alarm, allowing devices to be removed and replaced before infection becomes a more serious risk to patient health.”
Medical device-associated infections account for up to half of healthcare-associated infections, and people who are immunocompromised or have cystic fibrosis are particularly at risk.
This requires longer stays in hospital, and more antibiotic usage to combat, leading to the growth of antibiotic resistant bacteria.
It is estimated that across EU/EEA countries, 33,000 deaths per year are a result of antibiotic resistant bugs.
This project hopes to minimise the impact of this challenge by producing innovative coatings, which will prevent or detect bacterial build-up on widely-used medical devices before they lead to infection in a patient.
Prof Byrne added “Hospital-acquired bacterial infections are a major issue across the entire island of Ireland, and I’m excited to forge a new and lasting relationship with counterparts in Belfast to deliver meaningful new tools in fighting this challenge.”
The project is being supported with €193,000 from the Government’s Shared Island initiative.
Plans have been lodged for the construction of a new Scoil Mhuire primary school in Moycullen.
The school’s board of management is seeking planning permission for the demolition of the existing school and prefab buildings.
In its place it is proposed that a new two storey primary school with classrooms, specialist teaching spaces, and a multi-purpose hall.
It will also incorporate a special Education Needs Unit, reception, offices and ancillary accommodation.
In order to maximise energy efficiency, roof mounted solar panels will be installed, along with an external heat pump.
Outside, the school will have a ball court and play areas, and improvements will be made to the site entrance and set down area.
The existing Scoil Mhuire was built in 1977, and has not had any major works done since that time.
It currently has approximately 389 students, and 15 mainstream teachers, and seven special education teachers.
“The concept behind this proposal is to create a vibrant cohesive building that will maximise the topography, daylight and views while also being practical and economical in its logic,” a design statement for the project states.
“The teaching spaces have been arranged to provide the best possible orientation in terms of natural daylight and passive solar gains.”
“The proposed school is fundamentally a two storey building in terms of scale and wraps around the south east and north east boundary of the site in an L shape.”
Galway County Council is due to make a decision on this planning application by September 18.
This September, the Mater Foundation is challenging people all across Galway to take part in the 100 Miles in a Month challenge to support patient care at the Mater Public Hospital
In the past two years alone, over 400 people from County Galway have raised an incredible €44,000 for the Mater Hospital.
“Our 100 Miles in a Month challenge this September is so important,” emphasised Mary Moorhead, Chief Executive of the Mater Foundation.
“The funds raised from the challenge will directly impact patients from all across Ireland as they will ensure that we always have the funds needed to upgrade and replace life-saving equipment as it is needed.”
“It is only with the support of the Irish public, that we are continuously able to transform patient care, saving even more lives and make a long and lasting difference to all who come through the hospital doors.”
“I am ever so grateful to the incredible people of County Galway who have continued to support our work at the Mater Foundation, as well as to all of those who sign up to take on this tough physical challenge.”
“On behalf of the Mater Foundation and the Mater Hospital we cannot begin to thank everyone enough for their support.”
Walk, jog, or run, participants can take the 100 Miles a Month challenge anyway they please.
Funds raised from the challenge will allow the Mater Foundation to provide life-saving equipment across the hospital, equipment like our new state of the art PETCT scanner.
This scanner enables staff to quickly diagnose and treat patients with cancer, heart disease and brain disorders.
For more information or to register for 100 Miles in a Month Challenge, go to: https://www.materfoundation.
Hundreds of supercars and novelty cars will come to the streets of Galway next month as Cannonball 2022 makes its way around Ireland.
The official route for Cannonball 2022 has been confirmed, and rare supercars will dazzle in Salthill on September 10.
Spectators will be able get up close and personal with 200 of the finest cars on the planet and enjoy the unique free family festival atmosphere that Cannonball is renowned for.
Cannonball, the action-packed supercar spectacle, is set to roll on September 9-11, with proceeds to The HOPE Foundation.
Cannonball, fuelled by milesPLUS from Circle K, is the largest organised road trip in Europe and this year the event will have the highest ever number of car entries including Lamborghini, Ferrari, McLaren , Aston Martin Porsche, Rolls Royce Bentley and Maserati.
The event has already raised €1,298,779 for Irish charities over the years to date, and this year’s target is to raise €250,000 for The HOPE Foundation by the end of September.
This Irish Charity is doing incredible work with the street children of Kolkata (formerly Calcutta) in India.
HOPE funds and operates over 60 projects including 11 child protection homes, a hospital, an ambulance, counselling, food and nutrition, education, healthcare and the restoration of childhoods to children.
Along with supercars, Brazilian Dancers will bring all the glamour of carnival and live DJs, bands and festivals in host towns get the party started.
The notorious NYPD, German Polizei, Cannonballers and celebrities in crazy costumes add to the melee.
From Spiderman to Star Wars, Cat Woman to Wonder Woman, cheerleaders to Charlie’s Angels, Batman, the Joker and more, it is a totally unique free family day out.
This year, organisers are also calling on spectators to dress up in fancy dress with prizes for best dressed.
This month will see 49 Connacht Rugby players visiting clubs as part of the Care4Claire charity cycle from Galway to Sligo.
Connacht Rugby is organising the provincial-wide charity cycle in aid of 35 year old Claire Carpenter, which will take place on August 13.
The 218km Care4Claire cycle will take its staff and club volunteers in stages from the Sportsground to Sligo RFC, all with the aim of raising much-needed funds for Claire’s recovery from a life changing stroke.
The route will see the group travel via Ballinrobe, Ballyhaunis, Frenchpark, Carrick-on-Shannon and Coolaney before they reach Sligo RFC.
The club have confirmed 40 of the professional team and nine of the senior women’s team will be present along the route at each stop.
At these stops attendees will get an opportunity for photos and autographs with the players.
On February 10, Claire suffered a stroke at her home in Coolaney, Co. Sligo after days of feeling unwell.
After being rushed to the ICU unit of Beaumont Hospital she was placed in an induced coma for over a week following two life-saving operations.
The operations saved her life, but she was left with no power on the left side of body afterwards.
Significant funds need to be raised to allow her to continue her rehabilitation in Dun Laoghaire, and eventually lead an independent life at home.
Claire’s partner Ross Mannion is a Rugby Participation Officer with Connacht Rugby, and the couple have three children Luke (14), Anna (10) and Zach (7).
A GoFundMe page to help cover the costs of her recovery, and to help with her independent living has so far raised more than €101,000.
The Connacht team members taking part in the the charity cycle are:
Ballinrobe RFC – 8.30am – 9.30am
Conor Fitzgerald
Ava Ryder
Matthew Burke
Grace Browne Moran
Josh Murphy
Jessica Loftus
Paul Boyle
Mary Healy
Sean Masterson
Muireann Cawley
Colm Reilly
Rebecca Gavin
Grant Stewart
Frenchpark – 11.30am – 1.30pm
Denis Buckley
Mary Healy
Jack Aungier
Noreen Cassidy
Conor Oliver
David Hawkshaw
Caolin Blade
Shane Bolton
Oran McNulty
Jordan Duggan
Carrick-on-Shannon – 1.30pm – 3pm
Gavin Thornbury
Mary Healy
Shane Delahunt
Byron Ralston
Kieran Marmion
Darragh Murray
Shane Jennings
Cathal Forde
Sam Illo
Adam Byrne
Coolaney Community Park – 3pm – 4pm
Peter Dooley
Mary Healy
Tom Daly
Nicole Fowley
Shamus Hurley-Langton
Oisin McCormack
Tiernan O’Halloran
John Porch
Dominic Robertson-McCoy
Sligo RFC – 4.30pm – 7pm
Jack Carty
Mary Healy
Ciaran Booth
Nicole Fowley
Alex Wootton
Shannon Touhey
Dylan Tierney-Martin
Jarrad Butler
Diarmuid Kilgallen
Oisin Dowling
Niall Murray
The August Bank Holiday weekend saw more than 150 people arrested for drink and drugs driving in Ireland, and 2,000 caught speeding.
During the road policing operation over the Bank Holiday weekend, a total of 173 people were arrested for drink or drug driving.
Gardaí carried out a total of 810 Mandatory Intoxicant Checkpoints around the country during this time.
The operation saw 63 drivers arrested for alleged drug driving and 110 drivers arrested for alleged drink driving, a minor decrease on last year.
An Garda Síochána saw its August Bank Holiday Road Safety Operation run from 7am on Thursday, July 28 through to 7am on Wednesday, August 3.
Over the course of the operation, 2,937 drivers were caught speeding, and 180 were issued fines for using a phone.
Assistant Commissioner Paula Hilman said, “There has been an alarming increase in road fatalities in 2022.”
“I would like to thank all those road users who endeavoured to improve safety of our roads this August Bank Holiday weekend, unfortunately there are people who continue to disregard the safety messages.”
There was one person killed in a fatal collision over the course of the Bank Holiday weekend, along with 15 collisions that resulted in serious injuries.
This compares with six deaths on the roads in the 2021 August Bank Holiday weekend, and 27 Serious Injury Collisions.
To date, there have have been 96 people killed on Ireland’s roads in 2022.
Environmental watchdog An Taisce has said that untreated sewage was discharged into the Claddagh Basin this week.
The environmental group claims that the the Storm Water Outfall at Claddagh Church discharged untreated sewage on Monday after Mutton Island wastewater treatment plant ran out of capacity.
According to An Taisce, this is a repeated breach of the operating license issued to Irish Water and Galway City Council by the Environmental Protection Agency and is therefore a breach of EU Regulations.
Galway City Council has issued swimming bans for three beaches in the city at Ballyloughane, Grattan, and Silverstrand this week.
The bans were imposed after elevated levels of E. coli and Intestinal Enterococci were detected in samples taken on Tuesday.
Peter Butler, Chairperson of the Galway Planning Committee of An Taisce said “This is the second incident during the bathing season, that An Taisce is aware of, where untreated wastewater into the Claddagh Basin, the previous one being in June.”
He added that the June incident also led to increased levels of E. coli and Intestinal Enterococci at city beaches.
Commenting on the beach closures, Peter Butler, said “Galway City Council has primary responsibility for providing safe bathing water and for proper treatment of waste water generated by the city’s households.”
“Blaming Irish Water for a problem inherited from Galway City Council is not an excuse,” he said, adding that it is “well past time” that council funds a fix for this problem, and that it should be a specific objective of the draft City Development Plan.
E. coli levels at Grattan Beach on Tuesday were 31 times (2359 versus 75 MPN/100 ml) the levels measured at Salthill Beach on the same day by HSE, the levels at Ballyloughane Beach were 2247 versus 75 MPN/100 ml.
Both were more than 100 times above the level of 20 MPN/100 ml that is considered to be Excellent Water Quality results.
E. coli levels at Silverstrand beach were six times higher than Salthill beach on the same day.
The winners of Wednesday’s €5.5 million Lotto jackpot in Galway City have made contact with the National Lottery to claim their prize.
The winning ticket of Wednesday night’s Lotto draw was sold at Newspoint newsagent at the Galway Shopping Centre, on the Headford Road.
The ticket was sold at the newsagents last Sunday, July 31 for this week’s draw, and staff there have been celebrating the news of the big win.
The National Lottery have confirmed that the winner of the €5,541,001 prize has made contact and arrangements are now being made for the prize to be paid.
Store owner Billy Shearer was overjoyed to hear the news about one of his customers life-changing win. “I’m absolutely over the moon and delighted.
“We’re a small newsagent open about a year and we employ eight people. This is our first ever big win!”
“Our shop motto is, ‘local newsagent for local people’, so we’re hoping that it’s a local person or syndicate that’s won the big prize”, he said.
“There’s a great buzz and atmosphere around the town. Something like this really lifts people’s spirits”, Billy added added.
The Galway player is the seventh Lotto jackpot winner of 2022 following wins by players in Wexford, Mayo, Meath, Dublin (2) and Kilkenny.
The Galway winner is also the 23rd National Lottery millionaire of this year.
Four games in the first round of the Galway Senior Football Club Championship will be livestreamed this weekend.
The Ben Secours Club Championship is getting underway this weekend, with fixtures and ticketing details already announced for Saturday and Sunday.
On Saturday, Galway GAA will be livestreaming Corofin v Oughterard, throw in at 5:30pm, and Salthill-Knocknacarra v CLG Bhearna later that evening at 7:15pm.
The following day will see Caherlistrane v Monivea-Abbey at 4:15pm, and Mountbellew/Moylough v Annaghdown at 6pm livestreamed.
Saturday’s matches will both take place in Pearse Stadium, with Sunday’s game being held at Tuam Stadium.
A day pass, allowing you to watch both games taking place that day, costs €10, while a season pass costs €120. Both can be purchased online here.
Season pass holders have access to the games for 1 year, day pass holders for 7 days.
There will be a series of rolling road closures across Galway City on Saturday evening to accommodated the Streets of Galway race.
The 8km race route will take participants past the Spanish Arch, Eyre Square, Galway Cathedral and NUI Galway, before they head to Salthill and then return along Galway Bay.
Rolling closures will be in effect from 7pm to 10pm approximately to allow the race to take place.
The first Streets of Galway race was held in 1986, and it is now one of the most prestigious sporting events in the West of Ireland, with 989 participants completing the race last year.
Galway Clinic has been sponsoring the ‘Streets of Galway 8k’ road race since 2017, and is back as the sponsor again this year.
Those taking part are also advised to drink up to two litres of water per day, and to incorporate carbohydrates and protein into their diets at least two hours before exercising and within 30 minutes of finishing.
More than 100 primary school teachers from Galway and beyond have been learning to teach their pupils about the oceans and coasts through the Marine Institute.
The Oranmore based Marine institute has been delivering a five day training course for over 70 teachers from Galway, Kerry, Waterford, and Cork as part of the Explorers Education Programme.
A further 40 teachers have been completing the continuing professional development programme online.
The Explorers Programme’s teacher training courses provide teachers with the knowledge and skills to introduce marine themes to science, maths, geography, English and arts in the classroom, as well as conducting field trips to the seashore.
Among the interactive activities it highlights to engage children are exploring sand dunes and rock pools, beach clean ups, and learning about the seashore animals and the different types of seaweed.
Ms Cushla Dromgool-Regan of the Explorers Education Programme said that they were delighted with the feedback from teachers on how what they learned was of use in the classroom and wider community.
“One teacher explained that she had recently seen a mother finding it difficult to answer her child’s questions about what they were seeing on the shore in the rockpools, and unfortunately quickly pulled the child along.”
“The teacher said at the time she felt disappointed she couldn’t help, but now after completing the Explorers course, she feels confident to help potential seashore explorers in this situation.”
“She is now looking forward to paying it forward and encouraging children and parents to keep exploring over the summer – as well as when she gets back to school.”
The Explorers Education Programme is managed by the Camden Education Trust and support services are provided by Galway Atlantaquaria.
The programme is funded by the Marine Institute, Ireland’s state agency for marine research, technology development and innovation.
© 2026 GalwayDaily. All rights reserved. | Designed by Web Design Ireland
