Connacht Tribune
Charities provide comfort over loneliest time of the year
The festive period can be one of the most isolating for older people and those living alone – but thanks to the efforts of dedicated volunteers across Galway, there has been support for those feeling alone this Christmas season.
Whether it was a food parcel coming to the door or an invite to a Christmas social, the work of charities such as COPE Galway has been invaluable.
Head of Senior Support at COPE, Jacquie Lynskey (pictured), says supports such as their Meals4Health social enterprise – which provides nutritious food delivered to the door – are invaluable to those in need of support all year round.
But Christmas is a particularly tough time for some people, she says, particularly since Covid-19 put the kibosh on social gatherings for the best part of two years.
“Isolation has always been an issue, but Covid made it so much worse,” says Jacquie.
In addition to Meals4Health’s regular list of participants, COPE’s Senior Support Service was out in force in the days before Christmas to provide food packs to those who needed them.
“On top of our regular meals service, we delivered over 50 meal packs the day before Christmas Eve which included food for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.
“As part of that, we were also delivering to some people who might not be on our lists during the year, but they might have specific dietary requirements and the person who normally prepares their food may not have been available over Christmas,” explains Jacquie.
COPE volunteers calling to the doors of those living in isolation can be a lifeline for people feeling isolated, but so too are the organised social occasions that COPE and others provide.
Before Covid, Thermo King played host to an annual party on Christmas Day where food was served and entertainment provided for people who might otherwise see nobody from one end of the day to the other.
During Covid, the event couldn’t run and this year, it didn’t get off the ground either.
COPE and several other organisations were involved with the party, but didn’t directly organise it, and according to Jacquie, it provided a brilliant outlet for those not wanting to spend the day on their own.
“It didn’t happen this year but hopefully next year, there will be an entity able to organise it again.
“Thermo King generously made a donation to ourselves this year and last year as the party wasn’t going ahead which helped with the delivery of our food packages,” says the former COPE Chief Executive who moved roles in 2020 to head up the organisation’s senior supports.
For some people though, the event was as important, if not more important than the food.
And in the wake of Covid-19, following months of rolling lockdowns and fear, particularly among older people who are those most common to suffer isolation, social outlets are crucially important.
“We had our Christmas party the week before Christmas, on a day during the cold snap when it was really frosty outside.
“I was driving a few people home afterwards. Some had very poor mobility and it occurred to me that despite that, they weren’t willing to give in to the weather because they wanted to go,” says Jacquie.
“They so badly wanted a social event and it just shows that people have become even more isolated than ever before.”
For more information on participating in Meals4Health, visit the website or call (091) 354000/085 8719384.
Significant state investment is required to address ‘shocking’ inequalities that leave cancer patients in the West at greater risk of succumbing to the disease.
A meeting of Regional Health Forum West heard that survival rates for breast, lung and colorectal cancers than the national average, and with the most deprived quintile of the population, the West’s residents faced poorer outcomes from a cancer diagnosis.
For breast cancer patients, the five-year survival rate was 80% in the West versus 85% nationally; for lung cancer patients it was 16.7% in the west against a 19.5% national survival rate; and in the West’s colorectal cancer patients, there was a 62.6% survival rate where the national average was 63.1%.
These startling statistics were provided in answer to a question from Ballinasloe-based Cllr Evelyn Parsons (Ind) who said it was yet another reminder that cancer treatment infrastructure in the West was in dire need of improvement.
“The situation is pretty stark. In the Western Regional Health Forum area, we have the highest incidence of deprivation and the highest health inequalities because of that – we have the highest incidences of cancer nationally because of that,” said Cllr Parsons, who is also a general practitioner.
In details provided by CEO of Saolta Health Care Group, which operates Galway’s hospitals, it was stated that a number of factors were impacting on patient outcomes.
Get the full story in this week’s Connacht Tribune, on sale in shops now, or you can download the digital edition from www.connachttribune.ie. You can also download our Connacht Tribune App from Apple’s App Store or get the Android Version from Google Play.
Galway 3-18
Cork 1-10
NEW setting; new opposition; new challenge. It made no difference to the Galway minor hurlers as they chalked up a remarkable sixth consecutive double digits championship victory at Semple Stadium on Saturday.
The final scoreline in Thurles may have been a little harsh on Cork, but there was no doubting Galway’s overall superiority in setting up only a second-ever All-Ireland showdown against Clare at the same venue on Sunday week.
Having claimed an historic Leinster title the previous weekend, Galway took a while to get going against the Rebels and also endured their first period in a match in which they were heavily outscored, but still the boys in maroon roll on.
Beating a decent Cork outfit by 14 points sums up how formidable Galway are. No team has managed to lay a glove on them so far, and though Clare might ask them questions other challengers haven’t, they are going to have to find significant improvement on their semi-final win over 14-man Kilkenny to pull off a final upset.
Galway just aren’t winning their matches; they are overpowering the teams which have stood in their way. Their level of consistency is admirable for young players starting off on the inter-county journey, while the team’s temperament appears to be bombproof, no matter what is thrown at them.
Having romped through Leinster, Galway should have been a bit rattled by being only level (0-4 each) after 20 minutes and being a little fortunate not to have been behind; or when Cork stormed out of the blocks at the start of the second half by hitting 1-4 to just a solitary point in reply, but there was never any trace of panic in their ranks.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
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GARDAÍ and the IFA have issued a joint appeal to all road users to take extra care as the silage season gets under way across the country.
Silage harvesting started in many parts of Galway last week – and over the coming month, the sight of tractors and trailers on rural roads will be getting far more frequent.
Inspector Conor Madden, who is in charge of Galway Roads Policing, told the Farming Tribune that a bit of extra care and common-sense from all road users would go a long way towards preventing serious collisions on roads this summer.
“One thing I would ask farmers and contractors to consider is to try and get more experienced drivers working for them.
“Tractors have got faster and bigger – and they are also towing heavy loads of silage – so care and experience are a great help in terms of accident prevention,” Inspector Madden told the Farming Tribune.
He said that tractor drivers should always be aware of traffic building up behind them and to pull in and let these vehicles pass, where it was safe to do so.
“By the same token, other road users should always exercise extra care; drive that bit slower; and ‘pull in’ that bit more, when meeting tractors and heavy machinery.
“We all want to see everyone enjoying a safe summer on our roads – that extra bit of care, and consideration for other roads users can make a huge difference,” said Conor Madden.
He also advised motorists and tractor drivers to be acutely aware of pedestrians and cyclists on the roads during the summer season when more people would be out walking and cycling on the roads.
The IFA has also joined in on the road safety appeal with Galway IFA Farm Family and Social Affairs Chair Teresa Roche asking all road users to exercise that extra bit of care and caution.
“We are renewing our annual appeal for motorists to be on the look out for tractors, trailers and other agricultural machinery exiting from fields and farmyards,” she said.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App
Download the Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App to access to Galway’s best-selling newspaper.
Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
Or purchase the Digital Edition for PC, Mac or Laptop from Pagesuite HERE.
Get the Connacht Tribune Live app
The Connacht Tribune Live app is the home of everything that is happening in Galway City and county. It’s completely FREE and features all the latest news, sport and information on what’s on in your area. Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
Families queue up for school’s offer of free house
West has lower cancer survival rates than rest
Galway minors continue to lay waste to all opponents
Gardaí and IFA issue a joint appeal on summer road safety
Marathon Man plans to call a halt – but not before he hits 160 races
