Science filmmakers from Galway were honoured at the recent Galway Science and Technology Festival Exhibition for their awards at the national ReelLIFE SCIENCE video competition.

More than 1,250 science enthusiasts from 80 schools and community groups around Ireland entered the competition.

The winning videos were selected by a distinguished panel of judges including aeronautical engineer and astronaut-candidate Norah Patten, BT Young Scientist and Technologist of the Year 2018 Simon Meehan, and comedian and TV presenter Dara Ó Briain.

The Mock the Week presenter said: “I was delighted to be a guest judge in this year’s competition and see how much enthusiasm, knowledge and energy is pouring out of Science classes across the country!”

A group of 24 third and fourth class students from Powerscourt National School, along with their teacher Rachael Kinkead, won first prize at Primary School level for their video ’Science and Me: The Skin’, presented by Laurie Ryan, Senior Executive – Education and Public Engagement with Science Foundation Ireland.

Primary school runners-up were Gaelscoil Riabhach from Loughrea, Co. Galway, while Scoil Mhuire Gan Smál from Carlow finished third.

Transition year students Emer Tobin and Katherine Morrow from Loreto Secondary School Kilkenny, claimed the Secondary School award, presented by Director of the CÚRAM Centre for Research in Medical Devices, Professor Abhay Pandit, for their short film about Rosalind Franklin, who was instrumental in the discovery of the structure of DNA.

Sixth year St. Mary’s College Galway students Jakub Szymonik and Alex Polchowski were runners-up, while Skerries Community College fifth years Sam Enright and Adam Kelly were third.

Seán Janson from Lackagh Foróige group in Lackagh, Co. Galway demonstrated the ‘Science of Smashing’ with equations, experiments and “tons of personality” to achieve first place at Community level, presented by Dr Muriel Grenon, Director of the science education and outreach programme, Cell EXPLORERS.

Members of the Westside Youth Project in Galway City were runners-up with a video about volcanoes, while third place went to the Galway Parkinson’s Association for ‘Living with Parkinson’s’.

Commenting on the programme, special guest judge Norah Patten said: “I think this is a fantastic initiative because the students are not only learning about a scientific topic – they are also developing skills to communicate what they’ve learnt. These types of hands on, practical projects will be really valuable as they progress through to the next stage of their career.”

A new permanent flood relief scheme will be of great support to businesses and community groups in Galway, according to a Galway East TD.

Minister Ciaran Cannon has said that the Government yesterday approved the establishment of a permanent flood relief scheme for small businesses, community, voluntary and sporting bodies affected by flooding.

Minister Cannon said: “A new permanent flood relief scheme will be of great support to businesses and community groups in Galway, helping them to deal with the aftermath of the flood events we know will become increasingly common.

“My Fine Gael colleagues, the Minister with responsibility for Defence, Paul Kehoe, and Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation, Heather Humphreys, sought Cabinet approval for the measure … and I am delighted that it has been given the green light.

“The target group for this scheme are sole traders and small businesses with a small number of employees, as well as voluntary, community and sporting bodies.

“It will be demand-led when these groups experience flood damage as a consequence of a severe weather event to their premises and where they have been refused flood insurance.

“Successful applicants will receive a ‘quick’ payment which will be capped at an upper limit of €5,000.

“While the cap of €5,000 is likely to meet the requirements of the majority of applicants there is scope for a further payment of up to €15,000 after a more detailed assessment of the loss incurred.”

Hannah Durand, a doctoral researcher in the School of Psychology at NUI Galway, has received an Early Career Award from the International Society of Behavioural Medicine (ISBM).

The award ceremony, which took place recently in Santiago, Chile, honoured ten outstanding early career researchers in the field of behavioural medicine.

Hannah, from Kingston, Galway City, recently completed her PhD in Health Psychology.

Her research, supervised by Dr Gerry Molloy of the School of Psychology and Professor Andrew Murphy of the Discipline of General Practice at NUI Galway, investigated the  reasons for non-adherence to antihypertensive medications for treatment-resistant hypertension in primary care.

She is the only Irish recipient of the ISBM Early Career Award in its history.

Dr Anne Berman, Chair of the ISBM Education and Training Committee, said: “This award recognises an important contribution to the science of behavioural medicine at an early career stage.

“Recipients have distinguished themselves in their scientific or clinical practice career.

“This award is presented to Hannah Durand in recognition of her outstanding contribution to the study of medication adherence as well as her total career achievement to date.

“It is our hope that Early Career Award winners will go on to be world leaders in the field of behavioural medicine.”

Dr John Bogue, Head of Psychology at NUI Galway, added : “The School of Psychology at NUI Galway has recently been ranked in the top 1% of psychology departments in the world – this award confirms that our standards of education and research are at the very top in international standings. We are very proud of Hannah’s remarkable achievement.”

Hannah’s research was funded by the Health Research Board Patient-Oriented Research Award and supported by the Primary Care Clinical Trials Network Ireland.

Unless you have been hibernating for the last two years, you should be well aware that the housing crisis has been at the forefront of conversations around the country.

The problem is particularly prevalent in Galway.

This is illustrated by the fact that homelessness in the West of Ireland is growing faster than anywhere else in the country.

This Saturday, 1 December, there is a national demonstration taking place in Dublin to protest the ongoing housing situation.

The #HomesForAll protest aims to build on the success of the #RaiseTheRoof rally in October which saw roughly 12,000 people take to the streets.

The Galway Branch of the National Homeless and Housing Coalition are promoting a bus to the #HomesForAll rally in Dublin this Saturday.

The bus will be leaving the Cathedral Carpark at 9.30am for Dublin.

It will leave Dublin at 5.30pm after the demonstration is over.

A return ticket for the bus will cost €10.00.

The final of the European Young Chef Award 2018 took place last night in Galway as part of Galway, West of Ireland’s designation as a 2018 European Region of Gastronomy (ERoG).

Galway was the first region in Ireland to hold this award, and the year-long programme’s key goal was to draw attention to the food industry in Galway and how central it is to the present and future.

Hosting the prestigious European Young Chef Award has built on the wide-ranging and vibrant programme of events, festivals, projects and initiatives which have taken place throughout the year as part of the Galway, West of Ireland ERoG 2018.

Programme co-ordinator for ERoG, Galway, Elaine Donohue said: “The ERoG designation has been hugely important for paving the way for the future of food in Galway city and county.

“Every inch of our regional fabric is woven with a strong rooted food culture right through from farm to fork and from our heritage right through to our modern day engagement with food .

“Hosting the European Young Chef Award in Galway has been a fantastic culmination to the year’s programme of events, which has provided an opportunity for the next generation of innovative chefs to learn, grow and flourish – aptly tying into our theme of ‘From the Ground Up, Feeding Our Future’.

“It has been fantastic for competing chefs to get a first-hand experience of our region’s rich food industry and heritage.”

The European Young Chef Award aims to promote culinary innovation using traditional cuisine and local produce, highlight sustainable food cultures and inspire future ambassadors for the Regions of Gastronomy in Europe.

Dr. Diane Dodd, President of International Institute of Gastronomy, Culture, Arts and Tourism, said: “Galway was chosen as the hosts for this year’s competition in recognition of the wonderful local food enthusiasts producing innovative products across the region and of course, for the high quality hospitality training provided by our hosts for the event, GMIT.

“We’re honoured to be here and I know that the food experts from around Europe that will be attending will be deeply impressed by this hidden gem that is a true European Region of Gastronomy.”

The event provided participants with the opportunity to learn about the gastronomic heritage of different regions, and saw the young chefs showcase traditional dishes and local food products from their own region as well as compete for the title of European Young Chef 2018 by creating an innovative version of a dish which is traditional to their region.

Galway chef Aisling Rock held the title from last year’s awards which took place in Barcelona, while Andreas Bjerring from Aarhus-Central Denmark, European Region of Gastronomy was announced as the European Young Chef 2018, with his dish ‘Memory of my Childhood’ which was an  innovative take on the traditional Danish recipe ‘Larded Apples’.

Ireland’s 2018 representative, Galway chef and final year student in the GMIT Culinary Arts programme, Andrew Ishmael, served his signature dish of beetroot-cured mackerel with horseradish panna cotta, pickled shallot and fennel, which is a twist on the classic combination of mackerel with horseradish cream.

The panel comprised of leading chefs and international experts, including Michelin-starred chef and restaurateur JP McMahon, judged the dishes based on their innovation, taste, presentation and cleanliness.

The judging panel commented that they were very impressed with this year’s standard, and head judge JP McMahon highlighted the interesting storytelling which came from all of the contestants’ presentations and cooking.

The competition saw contestants from Ireland, Portugal, Catalonia, Romania, Slovenia, Italy, Finland and The Netherlands compete for the title of European Young Chef 2018.

The European Young Chef Award was organised by the International Institute of Gastronomy, Culture, Art and Tourism (IGCAT) in collaboration with key partners in the Regions of Gastronomy.

The European Young Chef Award was hosted by the four key European Region of Gastronomy 2018 partners: Galway County Council, Galway City Council, GMIT and Teagasc.