Connacht Tribune
County Council agrees on terms for free Christmas parking
There will be free parking across Galway towns in the run up to Christmas – but not to the extent that some members of the County Council would like.
Free parking will apply to Athenry, Ballinasloe, Cleggan, Clifden, Gort, Loughrea and Tuam on the first three Saturdays in December and in the week leading up to Christmas.
There was a proposal that the free parking apply every day from the beginning of December right up to Christmas – but members of Galway County Council were told that this would cost €30,000 in lost revenue.
However, Cllr Gerry Finnerty from Gort said that the opening of the new motorway was having a serious impact on the South Galway town and he believed that every effort should be made to help the local businesses.
Several councillors supported his proposal but others disagreed by saying that the Council’s coffers could not take another hit. It was stated that there was already a shortfall of almost €1.5 million compared to last year and a further loss was not sustainable.
The matter went to a vote amongst the 27 councillors present and it ended up tied 13-13 with Cllr Jimmy McClearn abstaining. It was then down to Mayor Cllr Eileen Mannion to decide what should happen as she had the casting vote.
She said that she would go with her earlier decision by voting against the proposal of Cllr Gerry Finnerty to allow free parking each day. She said that this would have resulted in towns being clogged up with all day parking.
It was proposed by Director of Services Michael Timmins that there would be free parking on the Saturdays of December 2, 9 and 16 and on the week from Monday, December 18 to Saturday, December 24.
He explained that this would cost the Council around €5,000 in lost revenue whereas the other proposal would cost €30,000.
Cllr Finnerty said that paid parking was an issue in Gort and the local businesses needed every assistance they could get and that was why he was proposing free parking every day up to Christmas.
The Fianna Fail councillor wanted to know if there was evidence to substantiate the €30,000 figure that was mentioned. He added that it was not substantial and would be a boost to the local businesses.
Cllr James Charity said that the income from commercial rates was down by €3.5 million and this was mainly due to businesses shutting up shop. He said that the Council should be doing everything to help businesses.
But Oughterard’s Cllr Tom Welby was vehemently opposed to the proposal as he said that the Council’s finances were in a critical state and a situation of almost a month of free parking was not acceptable.
“If we agree to this proposal then something else will have to lose out. We cannot be Santa Claus all of the time,” Cllr Welby added.
Cllr Pete Roche of Fine Gael agreed and said that continuous free parking would result in people just parking their cars for the day and that this would certainly not be good for business.
“We introduced similar free parking a number of years back and I don’t recall the business community jumping for joy. It can cause more problems than it would solve and the parking would be a free-for-all,” Cllr Roche said.
On the Fianna Fail side Cllr Shane Donnellan said that it would be of benefit to the small retailers in the town centres like Loughrea while Cllr Donal Burke said that it would be a help to Ballinasloe and certainly in view of the town enhancement works that are to take place next year with the ensuing disruption.
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
