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Over 5,000 people applied to NUIG in 2019

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Briain Kelly
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Galway Daily news NUIG Students' Union calls for repeat exam fees to be scrapped

More than 5,000 people have applied to study at NUIG this academic year as the largest university in the west of Ireland continues to expand.

NUIG saw a 5 percent year on year increase in student applications this year, and is currently the destination of choice for 64 percent of young people in Connacht heading to higher education.

It was recently announced that NUIG has climbed a hundred places in global rankings, with the latest Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings 2019/2020 places NUIG into the 250 -300 range, compared to 301-350 last year.

This weekend the university is holding a two day Open Day event for prospective undergraduate students with more than 80 stands, including four new courses.

More than 6,000 secondary school students, teachers, and parents are expected to attend the Open Days this Friday and Saturday, October 4 – 5.

The event will include talks about courses and schools within NUIG, as well as information sessions, interactive zones, and tours from current students who will be on hand to offer any questions.

The Bailey Allen Hall will host the main exhibition space where lecturers and students will be on hand to talk to prospective students and parents about all the courses on offer.

The four new undergraduate degree courses starting in 2020 will also be on display: Law and Taxation; Law, Criminology and Criminal Justice; BSc Genetics and Genomics, and BSc Geography and Geosystems.

Sarah Geraghty, Student Recruitment and Outreach Manager has the following advice for parents “Starting university is a major milestone in any young person’s life, bringing with it many new challenges and exciting opportunities.”

“The road to get there is one which requires careful planning and consideration, and parents won’t want to miss the Parents’ Talk at Open Day where there will be representatives from all the key student services and supports.”

“Parents and students are advised to be well prepared with questions, and the goal should be to come away knowing if the University will be a good fit for the students’ requirements and ambitions.”

A programme of talks, workshops and masterclasses will run throughout the day including:

  • Sport at NUI Galway
  • Mature Students information session
  • Drama Workshop
  • Careers Information- Building your Employability
  • Applying for a SUSI grant
  • Access routes into Education, including HEAR/DARE and FETAC
  • Engineering and IT interactive zone

The Open Day will run from 9am to 3pm on each of the two days and the full programme and a timetable of talks can be found here.

COPE domestic abuse shelter opening early next year

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Briain Kelly
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Galway Daily news COPE Galway Modh Eile domestic abuse shelter

The Modh Eile domestic abuse shelter for COPE Galway is nearing completion and is expected to open its doors early next year.

COPE expects the contractors on site to hand over the building before Christmas, and that they will be in a position to start outfitting the domestic abuse shelter in the new year.

To get construction and outfitting work over the line COPE is planning a series of fundraising events that will take place throughout the remainder of this year.

Sharon Fitzpatrick, COPE’s Head of Development said, “With less than three months to go to the completion of the development project, we are appealing to the people of Galway to help us raise the remaining funds needed to open the doors of Modh Eile House early next year”.

The first fundraising event for this vital service will be a Dinner Dance on Saturday, November 16 at the Galmont Hotel.

Co-hosted and organised by the Galway Solicitors’ Bar Association (GSBA) in partnership with COPE Galway, the event promises to be a night of good fun, great food and lively entertainment.

Tickets for the event cost €90 or €850 for a table of 10 and are available from COPE Galway or Eventbrite.

COPE Galway’s Domestic Abuse Service and Refuge is currently located at Waterside House which has been in use since the 80s.

It only has room for 6 women and 15 children in bedsit-type accommodation, far below the level of demand for COPE’s services, and the dignity deserved by women and families in this situation.

To put that in perspective, so far this year COPE has supported 507 women with its domestic abuse services of which 48 women and their 55 children were provided with refuge.

They also supported a further 119 women and their 204 children who they were unable to admit immediately to the refuge.

“We offer a safe place for women and their children who need to flee a dangerous situation”, says Service Manager, Dr. Carol Baumann.

“However, emergency refuge accommodation is just one aspect of the service we are offering. The majority of the women we work with use our outreach services, parenting supports and support groups.

“We also operate a service for children and our teams work with schools, colleges, and professional services to inform and increase awareness around domestic abuse in all its forms.”

“We eagerly await the completion of Modh Eile House, where we can build on our supports and offer a state-of-the-art Domestic Abuse Service and Refuge for the women and children in Galway’s community”.

The site for the new shelter is at the former Magdalene Convent on Forster Street which was donated to COPE by the Sisters of Mercy who used to run the Galway city Magdalene Laundry.

COPE Galway has made significant progress in raising the €4.3 million construction and fit-out costs for Modh Eile House, with a Department of Housing/Galway City Council Capital Assistance Scheme grant, generous philanthropic donations and support from the community through the “Buy a Brick” campaign.

“This project is for the community, by the community,” Sharon Fitzpatrick said.

“We still have some ground to cover to raise the remaining funds to enable us to complete the project and have a number of fundraising events planned between now and the end of the year to support this cost.”

“We are asking the Galway Community, who have been so supportive and to whom we are very grateful, to help us reach that final hurdle to complete the refurbishment of this community resource.”

“Watch this space to see the other events and activities we have occurring between now and the end of the year.”

Composer and writer Ailís Ní Ríain discovers a bold new world at sea

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Briain Kelly
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Ailís Ní Ríain, a contemporary classical composer and writer, spent three weeks at sea this August on board the Marine Institute’s RV Celtic Explorer searching for inspiration in new places.

The multi-talented artist, who was aboard the Celtic Explorer as part of the Aerial Sparks project, described the experience at sea as “unique on every level: physically, spiritually, emotionally, mentally.”

Aerial Sparks is an interdisciplinary art project with Galway 2020 that has seen many artists from Ireland and abroad spend time at sea with the Marine Institute exploring radio connectivity and its relationship to ocean space.

Ailís that when she was offered the invitation to take part in Aerial Sparks it was the “boldness of the idea” that resonated with her.

““I loved the fact that I couldn’t really renegotiate with it in any way. You need to go to sea and you need to be completely in that situation.”

“You’re signing up for something that you can’t know in advance and that doesn’t often come up for me,” she explained.”

The expedition she joined was a milestone on for Galway’s Marine Institute, marking the end of a three year investigating and mapping coral reefs off the shores of Ireland.

During its time exploring the depths of the Irish continental shelf the remotely operated RV Holland I submersible found incredible things like a baby shark nursery and reefs thriving in old shipwrecks.

RV Holland I

But while the research team was no doubt focused on every minutia of their mission, when watching the RV Holland disappear beneath the waves time and again Ailís was struck by something more classical.

“Greek mythology wasn’t far from my mind, the idea that something that we remotely operate is sent down to the ‘underworld’ and the experience he has down there.”

During her time aboard the Celtic Explorer Ailís kept a daily diary, filmed extensively and took over 1900 photographs, all of which will be used to inspire and create an immersive standalone art project for Aerial Sparks.

Ailís is keen to work with visuals as well as music in developing the piece, saying she’s “interested in what happens when you don’t give an audience what they’re expecting in terms of connecting music with visuals.”

For Ailís, creating work as part of the European Capital of Culture programme is an important consideration in itself.

“What is it we want to say as part of Galway 2020, having brought all these artists out on surveys? What is it we actually want to say to the public about that?”, she asked.

“There’s a lot that I’ve witnessed on the survey about what it means to work at sea that I didn’t know about, that those who live and work on the land wouldn’t generally know about. I hope I can bring some of this experience to a broader audience.”

Aerial/Sparks will be presented on the island of Inis Oírr in September 2020.

Oughterard direct provision centre plans dropped in victory for local campaigners

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Briain Kelly
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Galway Daily news Oughterard activists accuse government of evasion and dishonesty

In a rare victory for local opposition to government plans the decision to place a direct provision centre in Oughterard has been abandoned.

It was announced today that a tender for a contract to develop a direct provision centre in Oughterard has been withdrawn by the applicant.

It’s understood that the decision was made by Fazyard Ltd, the company applying for the tender, after recent meeting with the Department of Justice and the current owner of the hotel.

Patrick Curran of the Oughterard Says No to Inhuman Direct Provision group said that this is a victory for their community, the country, and all the people who come to Ireland seeking a new life.

“We have not only cancelled the centre in Oughterard we have made a positive change for the people of Ireland and also for the asylum seekers themselves.

“This started out as a village opposed to a DP centre but in ended up as a village finding its voice and standing up for an entire nation on behalf of democracy and humanity. We stood up for the people that had no voice.”

Mr Curran said that there were left-wing and right-wing people who were trying to hijack the campaign for their own purposes but “we pushed them all out in the early days”.

“People united around one message, which was the humanity of it really,” Patrick Curran added.

At first people were angry about the secrecy under which this process was taking place, but a deeper look into the system provoked “complete moral opposition to the inhumanity of direct provision”

Patrick thanked developer Sean Lyons for listening to the community in Oughterard, admitting that it can’t have been an easy decision to make.

Wide opposition to any plans for a direct provision centre in Oughterard has built up over recent weeks.

A public meeting in early September to discuss the issue attracted somewhere in the region of 800 people, and a follow up march through the town centre that weekend was attended by roughly 1,500.

That was followed up by another silent march through the town to the Connemara Gateway Hotel on Saturday where up to 3,000 people attended.

In between major marches campaigners have maintained round the clock protests outside the entrance of the Connemara Gateway Hotel.

Throughout this campaigners have been unbending on the front that this is not and has never been a protest against immigration or refugees, but against the direct provision system which has been characterised as “inhumane”.

Demonstrators from the ‘Oughterard Says No’ group at those marches or on the picket lines of the Connemara Gateway Hotel have carried placards which read ‘Oughterard says yes to refugees, no to direct provision’

Recently the Bishop of Galway also came out in opposition to the plans, saying that direct provision strips people of “their independence, their cultural identity, and their dignity and has lasting traumatic impact on residents”.

Irish language courses in higher education receive €1.6 million support

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Briain Kelly
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Galway Daily news Call for Revenue to extend COVID-19 tax bill assistance deadline

Nine Irish language courses and institutes of higher education including NUI Galway have been approved €1.63 million in additional funding.

The funding was announced this week by Galway West TD and Minister of State for the Irish Language Seán Kyne under the Advanced Irish Language Initiative.

The funding supports a range of specialised third level Irish language courses in areas such as translation, interpretation and law which provide opportunities both in Ireland or at the EU level.

The institutes receiving support under this initiative are NUI Galway, UCD, DCU, and NUI Maynooth as well as the Kings Inn and the Irish based training organisation Gaelchultúr.

In total this initiative supports 12 courses, with a stated goal of helping to meet our commitments under the Official Languages Act and support the ongoing work to make Gaeilge a full working language of the European Union.

The funding will be delivered over the two coming academic years in payments totalling €811,953 and €817,539 respectively.

Minister Kyne said that this is about delivering “high quality and practical” third level education in Irish around the country.

“A range of courses including masters and higher diplomas in translation, in law and in interpretation will equip students with the skills necessary to take up employment opportunities here at home and in the EU,” Seán Kyne said.

N67 realignment to commence within weeks

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Briain Kelly
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Galway Daily news N67 realignment to begin shortly

Work on the N67 Realignment scheme between Foy’s Hill and Toureen is expected to commence withing a few short weeks.

Fox Civil Engineering were issued with a Letter of Acceptance for the N67 realignment work last week Councillor Joe Byrne said.

Under the terms of their contract work was to commence within four weeks the county councillor added.

Councillor Byrne welcomed the news that locals would soon have a safe new carriageway with a walking and cycling path.

The Loughrea District Cllr said that continuing on from this project, the next work undertaken in the area should be a path for pedestrians and cyclists on the grassed margin between Ballinderreen and Kilcolgan.

“I must thank all the landowners, TII, Minister Cannon and Galway County Council and indeed the local community who have called for this project for 40 years, for ensuring this is at last happening,” Joe Byrne said.

“So motorists, prepare for some short term delays for long term gain and while works are being done let’s hope “rat runs” don’t develop on our local roads.”

Aer Arann flights to continue for another four months

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Briain Kelly
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Galway Daily news Aer Arann four month contract extension

Flights to and from the Aran Islands will continue on their regular schedule until the end of January under a four month contract extension agreed with Aer Arann.

Aer Arann has been in a long running dispute with the government over its services to the Aran Islands, saying that their contract with the government is simply not sustainable.

Last December an emergency contract extension was agreed after the airline threatened to close, which was expiring this week.

The new four month extension comes into effect from today, RTÉ reports, and will last until January 31.

Minister of State for the Islands Seán Kyne said that the maximum allowable subvention of €300,000 will be paid to Aer Arann over this four month period.

The company and government had been arguing over a subsidy of €800,000 covering the last ten months.

However while this might reassure islanders that they will not be unexpectedly caught out in the coming weeks, there is still no information about the long term future of travel to and from the islands.

The government announced previously that it intends to advertise for a Public Service Obligation contract for a new provider, but no information is available yet about when that might happen.

A separate deal was struck last year to continue using Connemara’a Na Mine airport, also owned by the airline, for any service to the islands until 2021.

Trip for a pack of cigarettes nets drink driving charge

By
Briain Kelly
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Galway Daily news 33 Almost 200 people arrested for drug and drunk driving over Bank Holiday weekend

One man’s poor decision to go out and buy cigarettes while drinking with friends in the city earned him a drink driving charge.

Rossa Doyle, who lives in Edgesworthtown, Longford, was brought before District Court on charges of drink driving and careless driving, and pleaded guilty to both charges.

The court heard that on July 15 of last year Gardaí were operating a checkpoint on the Tuam road when an approaching Audi turned away from the checkpoint without indicating.

Gardaí followed the Audi in their own patrol vehicle with the blue lights on. The car didn’t stop and turned onto the Wellpark Road before mounting the path and stopping.

Garda Costello said that when he spoke to Mr Doyle his speech was slurred and his eyes were glazed.

A breath test was administered and returned a result of 80mg of alcohol per 100ml of breath and he was arrested for drink driving.

Mr Doyle’s solicitor said that his client is an IT analyst who works in Dublin, and had been visiting friends in Galway that day.

After they had been drinking he made a “terrible error in judgement” by deciding to go and drive to get a packet of cigarettes before being caught by gardaí.

For driving while under the influence of alcohol Doyle received a fine of €400 and was suspended from driving for three years.

A further fine of €200 was imposed for the careless driving driving.

Second run taken at building Lidl in Knocknacarra

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Briain Kelly
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Galway Daily news Green light for new Lidl supermarket in Moycullen

Plans have been submitted to the city council for a new Lidl in Knocknacarra in the second attempt to build a discount supermarket on this site.

Lidl Ireland is seeking planning permission for the construction of a shopping centre with a supermarket and several other businesses at the junction of the Western Distributor road and Bothar Stiofain.

The mixed used development will range from one to two storeys tall, with roof mounted solar panels and a total floor space of 2,594sqm.

Other business aside from the Lidl store which are part of the planning application include a café/restaurant, a barbers, a nail bar, and a physiotherapy clinic.

A Retail Impact Assessment for the surrounding area was carried out for this application which claims that this development will not have any negative impact on businesses nearby.

The developer also submitted a Traffic and Transport Assessment to the city council.

An Bord Pleanála previously overturned the city council’s decision to grant permission for a similar development at this site, against the recommendation of its own inspector.

The higher planning authority raised concerns at the time about the visual design of the store, describing it as “monolithic and poor quality”, concerns which this application says have been addressed in a revised design.

It is expected that the Lidl store will create 20 – 25 permanent jobs, with construction creating another 50 jobs for the duration of the build.

The planning application states that this development will create “an enhanced retail offer, along with a number of additional complementary uses, serving this localised residential catchment”.

“Knocknacarra is of a scale to accommodate an increase in the number and distribution of convenience outlets, being designated as a District Centre.”

“The proposed development will complement existing provision in the centre (Dunnes Stores and Aldi) by providing additional choice to shoppers, along with facilitating linked trips.”

Also involved in this project would be creation of a new car park with 87 parking spaces and vehicular access at te northeast end of the site.

Galway City Council is due to make a decision on this planning application by October 29.

Milltown tops Tidy Towns list in Galway once again

By
Briain Kelly
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Galway Daily news Grant funding awarded to 42 Galway Tidy Towns groups
Milltown tidy towns 2019

Milltown is the cleanest town in Galway once again according to the results of the 2019 Tidy Towns competition, while Abbey and Monivea were both commended.

No town in Galway won any of the main Tidy Towns categories, or took home any of the gold medal awards.

However Milltown, Abbey, and Galway City Centre all won silver medals worth €700, and Milltown took home the County award for Galway of €1,000.

This is Milltown’s third year topping the charts in Galway with a score of 339, closely followed by Abbey with 336 and Monivea with 329.

The lowest ranked town or village in Galway was Tullycross with 200 points according to the results book.

Kilkerrin won the County Endeavor prize for Galway, showing a 6 percent improvement on its score from 2018 to get 265 points this year.

The School Award for the North West & West region went to Eglish National School in Ahascragh, which was also the overall winner of the School Award.

The overall winner of the 2019 Supervalu Tidy Towns competition was Glaslough in Cork which comes with a €10,000 prize.

Glaslough also won the Tidiest Village category with 346 points, adding another €5,000 to the prize fund.

Blackrock, Co. Louth won Tidiest Small Town; Westport, Co. Mayo is the Tidiest Large Tow; and the Tidiest Urban Centre is Ennis all of which scored 345 points.

311 adults homeless in Galway in August

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Briain Kelly
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Galway Daily news Homelessness increases

There were 311 homeless people in Galway in August as the number of people being forced into emergency accommodation continues to grow.

The most recent figures released by the Department of Housing show that efforts to combat this crisis are failing to have an impact with 19 more people homeless in Galway than in the last report released for June.

All told there are 351 homeless adults in the west of Ireland region covering Galway, Mayo, and Roscommon.

The bulk of those, 195 people, were aged between 25 and 44, but there were also 95 people between 45 and 64 living in homelessness.

More worryingly there were 12 people over the age of 65 living in emergency accommodation.

August saw a marginal improvement in family homelessness as the number of families in the west living in emergency accommodation dropped from 87 to 83.

However this didn’t translate into an improvement in the figures for child homelessness, as those homeless families included 199 dependents last month, just one child less than in June.

NUI Galway launch new social network for overseas Irish language learners

By
Michael Malone
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Galway Daily news climate and environmental challenges

A new website for people learning Gaeilge overseas will be launched at NUI Galway next week.

Gaeltacht.net is designed to help people learning the Irish language make contact with fellow learners and to develop their language skills.

Members on the site can build a profile and message each other.

The site also includes a feature allowing for instant messaging and video chats. The slogan of Gaeltacht.net is ‘Connect, Create, Communicate’.

Members are given the opportunity to meet on the online social network, develop their language skills through creative language tasks and help each other to improve.

The project will run for four weeks.

There are three courses available at Gaeltacht.net: Tasc An Lae, Dúshlán na Seachtaine and Misean na Míosa. Short, simple tasks are provided for A1 and A2 (Beginner and Elementary) learners every day during the course.

Each day focuses on one language skills – Monday is listening, Tuesday is reading, on Wednesday and Saturday a structured conversation session is available.

On Thursday there is a written task, Friday is left open for participant suggestions, and Sunday is used as a day to revise, reflect and offer feedback to the research team.

In the course Dúshlán na Seachtaine there will be a task provided every Monday for learners at B1 (Intermediate) level to complete during the course. Finally, the Misean na Míosa is for those with a high level of Irish who want one Irish language challenge each month.

Ronan Connolly, a PhD student with NUI Galway’s School of Education, said: “The success of this community depends on participants being active, helping each other and fostering collaboration.

“The biggest challenge with a project like this is encouraging those with a good level of Irish to participate or register as a ‘Language Helper’ and encourage the learners, the majority of whom are located in the USA. We are looking forward to many participants and helpers getting involved in this trial.

“This research project aims to provide support to learners overseas based on good educational practise. Everyone is welcome to register and take part, and all feedback is appreciated.”

At the information session on 7 October the research project will be discussed and there will be sneak preview of the upcoming tasks for the weeks ahead.

The event will be open to the public.

Foil Arms and Hog announce Galway tour dates

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Briain Kelly
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Galway Daily arts & culture Foil Arms and Hog announce Galway tour dates

The beloved Irish sketch comedy trio Foil Arms and Hog have announced tour dates for Galway next January.

Foil Arms and Hog will play for two days on January 23 & 24 at Leisureland in Salthill as part of their Swines tour of Ireland and the UK.

Coming to popularity through YoutTube with their fantastic piss take of all things Irish Sean Finnegan (Foil), Conor McKenna (Arms), and Sean Flanagan (Hog) are one of the hottest things to come out of the Irish comedy scene in recent years.

The boys have proven that their sketches work just as well on stage as they do on screen, with audiences packing venues wherever they go whether it’s a long run at Vicar Street or coming to the Vodafone Comedy Carnival here in Galway.

Galway will be the second stop on the Swines tour in Ireland after opening in Dublin in late September.

Currently they are touring the US and Europe, with new videos still going up on YouTube every Thursday.

Tickets for the Galway tour dates are now available to purchase online.

Galway girls dominate shortlist for Camogie Player of the Year Awards

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Briain Kelly
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Galway daily sport Cathaoirleach Charity offers best wishes to Galway Camogie team

The shortlist for the fifth Camogie Association/WGPA Players’ Player of the Year Awards with women from Galway taking up a third of the list.

The Players’ Player of the Year Awards honour the outstanding achievement of an individual player in the Senior, Intermediate and Premier Junior Camogie Championships.

Sarah Dervan and Niamh Killkenny of the Galway Senior Camogie team have both been nominated for Senior Player of the Year along with Michelle Quilty of Kilkenny.

The Galway women defeated Kilkenny in the All-Ireland Senior Final earlier in September, and it looks like they’ll be facing off once again to see who is best.

Dervla Higgins, who plays for Athenry Camogie Club has been shortlisted for Intermediate Player of the Year.

She is running in that category with Pamela Greville of Westmeath and Sabrina Larkin from Tipperary.

No Galway players made the shortlist in the Junior Player category which is comprised of Patrice Diggin (Kerry), Sara Murphy (Kerry), and Rebecca Noonan (Limerick).

The winner of will be announced on the night of the 16th annual Camogie All-Stars Awards on October 19 at the Citywest hotel in Dublin.

Camogie Association President Kathleen Woods said: “The Players’ Player of the Year Awards are unique and prestigious honours for any player as they recognise the esteem in which players are held amongst their peers”.

She added that they are delighted to join with the WGPA and Liberty Insurance in “acknowledging these outstanding players in what was an exceptional season”.

Chairperson of the WGPA Maria Kinsella congratulated all the players who made the shortlist, saying that it is a well-deserved recognition for an incredible season’s work.

“The Players’ Player of the Year Award is a special honour for our nominees with unique recognition from their peers.”

“Best wishes to all of the nominees and we hope everyone has a brilliant night of celebrations at the All-Star Awards.”

Direct Provision centres deny people dignity and humanity – SocDems

By
Michael Malone
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Social Democrats have reiterated their call for Direct Provison to be abolished following a period of heightened fear within local communities about the setting up of new centres.

Social Democrats Councillor Owen Hanley spoke at the Galway Anti-Racism Network‘s march against Direct Provision centres and racism on Saturday, where he said that people are suffering due to ‘immature and inactive’ politics.

“Direct Provision is an institution that denies people their dignity and humanity. It denies their human rights. It cannot continue and we will not stand for it,” he said.

Councillor Hanley has tabled a motion to Galway City Council that will call for the closure of Galway-based Direct Provison centres.

“What we saw in Oughterard was cynical politicans and alt-right agigators fanning the flames of fear that Direct Provision creates to push their racist and exclusionary agenda. This is not reflective of the compassionate, welcoming majority of people in Ireland. We will not let their hate divide us.”

Yearly Direct Provision costs the State €80 million which goes into the privately run centres.

Social Democrats argue that these funds would be better spent on cost effective housing which would include community based housing for asylum seekers.

Hanley added: “Now is the time to move beyond politics. We must push aggressively for the abolition of Direct Provision and a cross-party workshop to build a non-partisan consensus for afterwards. We cannot let people suffer due to immature and inactive politics.”

 

Over €210,000 awarded for sports and athletics in Galway gaeltacht schools

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Briain Kelly
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Galway Daily news Four Galway community groups awarded funding for special transport vehicles

Primary schools in the Galway gaeltacht will benefit from over €210,000 in funding for a Sports and Athletics Programme to bring Irish out of the classroom.

Galway West TD and Minister of State for the Irish Language, the Gaeltacht and the Islands Seán Kyne has approved €213,588 over three years to Connemara-based organisation Muintearas to administer the Athletics and Sports Programme to primary schools in the Gaeltacht.

This includes 15 schools in Connemara, with 1,000 pupils in the language planning areas of Conamara Láir, the islands, An Cheathru Rua, Cois Fharraige and Joyce Country/Thuar Mhic Éadaigh.

Minister Kyne emphasised the importance of programmes like this which tackle the often difficult issue of getting young people interested in active pastimes, especially when they don’t have an existing interest in activities like football.

“There is a clear link between exercise and social, mental and physical health and we are all advised to be active and exercise on a regular basis,” Seán Kyne said.

“In addition, this programme is a practical way to encourage and promote the use of the Irish language among pupils in an enjoyable away outside of the classroom setting.”

The funding of the Athletics and Sports Programme is under action 2.20 – the Community and Language Support Programme – of the Government’s Five Year Action Plan for the Irish Language 2018-22.

Hurricane Lorenzo heading towards West of Ireland

By
Michael Malone
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Galway Daily news Storm Amy

Met Eireann is keeping a close eye on a hurricane in the Atlantic Ocean which is heading in the direction of Ireland.

Hurricane Lorenzo is expected to be ‘in the vicinity’ on Thursday, but it will likely be an ex-tropical storm by that stage.

However, Met Eireann says its exact track and central pressure remain very uncertain.

The weather experts say it is likely to stay to the west of Ireland and it will become mild over the country due to the influence of the tropical origin air.

“The risk of severe weather continues and the progress of Lorenzo and any potential impacts for Ireland are being closely monitored,” said Met Eireann.

Tomorrow (Tuesday) will start out damp, blustery and cloudy with patchy rain and drizzle. This will make way for brighter, clearer and mainly dry weather during the morning.

It will be cool, with maximum temperatures of just 13 or 14 degrees.

UHG is the second most overcrowded hospital once again

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Briain Kelly
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UHG has retained its frequent pole position as the second most overcrowded hospital in Ireland today.

There are currently 44 patients waiting on trolleys at UHG according to the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation’s Trolley/Ward Watch.

The INMO keeps a daily count of the number of patients without a proper bed in Emergency Departments and overpacked wards in public hospitals.

University Hospital Limerick is unchallenged as by far the worst affected hospital in the country with 67 people waiting on trolleys today.

Back in Galway there are three patients without a bed at Portiuncula University Hospital out of a total of 485 at hospitals nationwide today.

The staffing problem across the Saolta Group, which include UHG and Portiuncula, has become severe enough that the INMO has warned that services will need to be curtailed for safety’s sake.

The union has warned that high levels of missed or delayed care and poor patient outcomes should be gravely concerning to Saolta officials.

“Our frontline members tell us that day staffing levels now resemble the night shift,” said Anne Burke, INMO officer for Galway, Mayo, and Roscommon.

“We provided management with specific examples of missed care and impacts on patients, but services have still not been curtailed to ensure safe staffing.”

There are currently 64 nursing vacancies at UHG alone the INMO says, with not enough student nurses being retained when they graduate.

Calls for immediate release of €30 million in bog rehabilitation funds

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Briain Kelly
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Galway Daily news Farmers must be consulted on local bog rehabilitation plans Fitzmaurice says

Calls have been made for the government to move up its schedule of cut away bog rehabilitation plans and release €30 million in funding so work can begin immediately.

Galway Roscommon TD Denis Naughten said should be used to start work on bog rehabilitation now in light of concerns raised by unions about the future of 2,000 jobs at Bord na Mona.

Deputy Naughten said that the Taoiseach has assured him money from the Climate Action Fund will be used on bog rehabilitation to secure those jobs in the short term.

A letter from Leo Varadkar to Deputy Naughten said that the cabinet has met to discuss issues with jobs at Bord na Mona, and he agreed that “funding the rehabilitation of cut away bogs from the Climate Action Fund should form part of the solution”.

“On foot of the Taoiseach’s commitment I have written to the Department of Energy asking that these funds be released without delay,” the Deputy confirmed.

“Bord na Mona has a land holding of just under 200,000 acres across the country and while some of it can be considered for new commercial uses, such as the growing of herbs, other lands will naturally return to nature,” Denis Naughten said.

“As a result, there is a considerable land bank where peat extraction has already ceased, which would naturally flood, and where work on rehabilitation can start including the provision of recreational facilities such as walking and cycling trails.”

One project the Independent TD cited is Ballinasloe Parkland Project, which would utilise the cut away bogs outside the town of Ballinasloe which will eventually be park of the Galway-Dublin greenway.

To highlight the potential of such rehabilitation projects and the benefits they can bring to the community Deputy Naughten pointed to Mount Lucas in Offaly, which already attracts 50,000 visitors a year.

“It was originally intended to carry out rehabilitation works on the bogs over a 15 year period and tie this in with the winding down of peat harvesting”.

“But the commentary by the Bord na Mona group of unions, now means that these plans must now be put into action immediately,” stated Denis Naughten.

On top of securing jobs, getting started on bog rehabilitation as quickly as possible will also reduce peat oxidation and carbon loss in them, as well as providing a window of time to a create a revised economic plan for the midlands to be created he added.

“It is important that any development plan not only looks at the 2000 people working directly in Bord na Mona & the ESB, even though that’s the immediate priority but also focuses on about  2000 indirect jobs in other local businesses and the children of those 4,000 families who need to have sustainable employment in our region long into the future”

Man charged with repeatedly attacking family vehicles

By
Briain Kelly
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0
Galway Daily courts Man receives jail sentence for racial abuse

A man was brought before Galway District Court charged repeatedly attacking vehicles owned by a family and possession of a weapon.

James Mongan (23), of 42 Fana Glas, Ballybane faces three charges of criminal damage to vehicles owned by the Donovan family, and one count of possession of a weapons.

It is alleged that on August 11 of last year at Corrib View, Polkeen, Castlegar, Mongan criminally damaged a silver Toyota Avensis belonging to Bridget Donovan.

He is also charged with three more offences all from the same day on January 7, 2019.

Once again at Corrib View, it is alleged that Mongan criminally damaged the same Toyota Avensis, as well as a Swift Challenger caravan belonging to Daniel Donovan.

Gardaí are also charging him with the possession of a slash hook on that same day under Section 9 of the Firearms & Offensive Weapons Act.

The Director of Public Prosecutions directed that this case be handled by indictment, and consented to Mongan being sent forward to trial.

The case was adjourned to October 21 for a Book of Evidence to be served before it is sent to the Circuit Court.

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