News
Galway documentary examines battle of the high seas
The David and Goliath battle endured by small fishermen along the west coast feature in the major new documentary from an award-winning Galway filmmaker which hit Irish cinemas this weekend.
From the maker of The Pipe, Risteard Ó Domhnaill’s new film Atlantic explores the battle between coastal communities and worldwide resource mismanagement eating up Ireland’s oceans.
And to illustrate that, he focuses on the traditional fishermen, as they face up against oil majors and the planet’s largest fishing companies
Filmed over three years, the Rossaveal native and his Galway-based team document how independent fishermen from Ireland, Norway and Newfoundland struggle to break through growing restrictions while large international trawlers go unchecked.
“I never planned on actually doing this documentary, though I did want to explore the bigger picture,” Risteard told the Connacht Tribune.
“As I discovered more and more that our resources are simply handed away to major companies, I decided to try and get some context by visiting communities in Canada and Norway. I was amazed by how similar the communities were and how, like fishermen here in Ireland, they were so badly treated by their government.”
Having won Best Irish Documentary at the Dublin International Film Festival earlier this year, the feature-length film is tipped to become a multi-award winning piece.
Risteard O Domhnaill with narrator Brendan Gleeson at the opening of Atlantic during the DublinFilm Festival.
Narrated by Emmy-winner Brendan Gleeson, coastal community members from Cork, Galway and Donegal tell of their struggles in some of the most remote and breathtaking locations by the North Atlantic.
Pádraig Campbell is a former rig-worker and national offshore committee of SIPTU from Barna who, having kicked up a fuss on the grounds of a lack transparency as to who owned resources, left to become a plumber in Galway city.
“Our rigs were hired by oil companies and what we had to say was a contradiction to what was happening,” he told the Connacht Tribune.
“When myself and other off-shore workers started advocating for fairer systems, it was then that major oil companies tried to squeeze us out. I think they saw us as a threat.”
Campbell adds that as a Union representative, he believes he was specifically targeted.
“A senior oil executive from a major oil company told me I’d never work anywhere again,” he said.
The advocate has since campaigned with political parties and believes that there is “huge potential” for greater conditions both for rig workers and fishermen in Ireland.
Martin Éinne, a fisherman hailing from Inis Mór, also features.
“I remember around two years ago, when myself and Martin were fishing for mackerel in the Porcupine Bank off the coast of Kerry,” said Risteard. “We were shocked by the number of super-trawlers we witnessed there.”
Jerry Early is a Donegal man fighting for his fishing rights to net wild salmon, as his dying island faces harsh competition from tycoon trawlers.
He feels that he should be an example to his sons on the basis of moral, rather than financial, grounds.
Risteard Ó Domhnaill said that his last documentary The Pipe, which focused on the clash between an Irish west coast community and the Corrib gas pipeline, left more questions rather than answers.
“Unfortunately, what I found when I looked across the Atlantic is that Ireland’s tale is not unique,” he commented.
“However, in both Norway and Newfoundland, the lessons learned by similarly affected communities can help us to chart a different course, before our most renewable resources are damaged beyond recognition, or sold to the highest bidders.”
Atlantic had initiated as an ambitious crowdfunding project, and is now backed by Bord Scannán na hÉireann, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the Newfoundland and Labrador Film Development Corporation and Nordnorsk Filmsenter, the North Norwegian Film Centre.
“I hit a brick wall with funding initially, until well into filming,” he said. “As we went along, we got support from Canada and Norway and that’s when The Irish Film Board stepped in, and matched their offers.”
Risteard Ó Domhnaill now plans to enjoy the Irish scenery in which he filmed, with plans to take his two daughters camping in Aran Mór, Cork and Kerry this summer.
Brendan Gleeson felt it an honour to be involved in the documentary, stating that “Atlantic is an engrossing piece of truth-seeking, visually stunning and crafted with clarity and insight.”
Atlantic opened in Galway’s Eye Cinema on Friday and continues to May 5.
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.
On the eve of completing his 150th marathon, an odyssey that has taken him across 53 countries, Loughrea’s Marathon Man has announced that he is planning to hang up his running shoes.
But not before Jarlath Fitzgerald completes another ten races, making it 160 marathons on the occasion of his 60th birthday.
“I want to draw the line in 2026. I turn 57 in October and when I reach 60 it’s the finishing line. The longer races are taking it out of me. I did 20 miles there two weeks ago and didn’t feel good. It’s getting harder,” he reveals.
“I’ve arthritis in both hips and there’s wear and tear in the knees.”
We speak as he is about to head out for a run before his shift in Supervalu Loughrea. Despite his physical complaints, he still clocks up 30 miles every second week and generally runs four days a week.
Jarlath receives injections to his left hip to keep the pain at bay while running on the road.
To give his joints a break, during the winter he runs cross country and often does a five-mile trek around Kylebrack Wood.
He is planning on running his 150th marathon in Cork on June 4, where a group of 20 made up of work colleagues, friends and running mates from Loughrea Athletics Club will join him.
Some are doing the 10k, others are doing the half marathon, but all will be there on the finishing line to cheer him on in the phenomenal achievement.
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.
From the Galway City Tribune – An impassioned plea for a ‘masterplan’ that would guide Galway City into the future has been made in the Dáil. Galway West TD Catherine Connolly stated this week that there needed to be an all-inclusive approach with “vision and leadership” in order to build a sustainable city.
Deputy Connolly spoke at length at the crisis surrounding traffic and housing in Galway city and said that not all of the blame could be laid at the door of the local authority.
She said that her preference would be the provision of light rail as the main form of public transport, but that this would have to be driven by the government.
“I sat on the local council for 17 years and despaired at all of the solutions going down one road, metaphorically and literally. In 2005 we put Park & Ride into the development plan, but that has not been rolled out. A 2016 transport strategy was outdated at the time and still has not been updated.
“Due to the housing crisis in the city, a task force was set up in 2019. Not a single report or analysis has been published on the cause of the crisis,” added Deputy Connolly.
She then referred to a report from the Land Development Agency (LDA) that identified lands suitable for the provision of housing. But she said that two-thirds of these had significant problems and a large portion was in Merlin Park University Hospital which, she said, would never have housing built on it.
In response, Minister Simon Harris spoke of the continuing job investment in the city and also in higher education, which is his portfolio.
But turning his attention to traffic congestion, he accepted that there were “real issues” when it came to transport, mobility and accessibility around Galway.
“We share the view that we need a Park & Ride facility and I understand there are also Bus Connects plans.
“I also suggest that the City Council reflect on her comments. I am proud to be in a Government that is providing unparalleled levels of investment to local authorities and unparalleled opportunities for local authorities to draw down,” he said.
Then Minister Harris referred to the controversial Galway City Outer Ring Road which he said was “struck down by An Bord Pleanála”, despite a lot of energy having been put into that project.
However, Deputy Connolly picked up on this and pointed out that An Bord Pleanála did not say ‘No’ to the ring road.
“The High Court said ‘No’ to the ring road because An Bord Pleanála acknowledged it failed utterly to consider climate change and our climate change obligations.
“That tells us something about An Bord Pleanála and the management that submitted such a plan.”
In the end, Minister Harris agreed that there needed to be a masterplan for Galway City.
“I suggest it is for the local authority to come up with a vision and then work with the Government to try to fund and implement that.”
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
