Connacht Tribune
New series filmed in city cultural space launches on TG4 Player this month
A curated showcase of emerging and established artists – both Irish and international – all filmed in a Galway venue known for its support for rising stars, will be available on the TG4 Player this month.
CUMASC: Seisiúin sa Black Gate is a new twelve-part music series that blends gorgeous concert film with intimate observational documentary and interviews.
It showcases concert performances recorded live at the Black Gate Cultural Centre in the heart of Galway, along with behind the scenes footage and interviews filmed in a variety of striking locations around the city and surrounding countryside.
The series was commissioned for TG4 under the BAI’s separate Live Music Sector funding stream. This initiative was created to support the live music sector that suffered as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The series opens with Grammy-award-winning American musician, Rhiannon Giddens, Italian composer, Francesco Turrisi, and Connemara-born sean-nós singer, Róisín Elsafty.
These three wonderful artists present a gorgeously inventive collaboration that draws from three distinct folk traditions and melds them perfectly. It is a wonderful moment in a series full of them.
Electronic musician Daithí Ó Drónaí and vocalist, songwriter and violinist Suzanne Savage get lost in improvisation and write an electrifying new song about a lightning strike on Suzanne’s train that very morning.
American singer-songwriter Sam Amidon sits in a boat on the River Corrib, the warmth of his playing and song puncturing the lingering greys of the Galway morning sky.
Singer-songwriter John Conneely and soulful performer Síomha breathe new life and beautiful harmonies into old classics and older castles.
Revered stalwarts Liam Ó Maonlaí, Niwel Tsumbu, and Eamonn Cagney talk of musical possibilities as innumerable as the stars in the sky before embarking on an improvised and celebratory jam.
And that’s only a sample of the talent on show throughout the series.
Rachael Lavelle, Peter Broderick, Seamus Begley, Junior Brother, Seamie O’Dowd, Daoirí Farrell, Anna Mullarkey, David Kitt, Colm Mac Con Iomaire, Arborist, John Blek, Inni-K, Jinx Lennon, and The Mary Wallopers also lend their immense musical talents.
The Black Gate Cultural Centre was co-founded by Peadar King and Eamonn Day in 2017, as a artistic space – with the needs of those artists at its core.
The Black Gate has evolved to be more than a cultural centre; it’s a renowned music venue, a state-of-the-art recording studio, an editing house, and home to both the Black Gate Label and Black Gate Productions.
Now this latest chapter, CUMASC: Seisiúin sa Black Gate, is to be launched as a digital-first series on the TG4 Player. It will broadcast at a later date on TG4.
Mairéad Ní Thréinir, a producer at Black Gate Productions, said they were proud to complete their very first television commission.
“We are proud that it stems organically from our venue’s unique relationship with musicians and artists from all over Ireland and abroad,” she said.
“We are especially proud to showcase our deep respect for our native tongue. CUMASC was commissioned for TG4 through a special BAI round, the Live Music Sector funding stream. This initiative was created to support a sector that was – and still is – severely suffering under the constraints of the pandemic.
“The production of this series not only created opportunities for musicians and production crew, but also enabled us to re-train live-performance crew in television production,” she added.
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
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