Connacht Tribune
Another €3m to be spent on ill-fated Galway City Ring Road
A further €3 million is to be spent by Galway County Council on Galway City’s ill-fated Ring Road.
County councillors were told at a meeting of the Athenry Oranmore Municipal District (MD) that the local authority was setting aside the money to be spent on legal and consultation fees this year as part of An Bord Pleanála’s ‘Further Information’ process.
The High Court overturned planning permission for the €600 million project in January after it was revealed that the Board failed to consider the Climate Action Plan in approving the project, and the application has been remitted back to the planning authority for reconsideration.
Cathaoirleach of the MD, Cllr Liam Carroll (FG), questioned if it was wise to be spending more money on the project.
“I hope this is not a black hole because, as I understand it, €33 million has already been spent on this,” said Cllr Carroll.
Cllr Jim Cuddy (Ind) said there was genuine anger in the city and county about the quashing of planning permission for the ring road as he criticised An Bord Pleanála for failing to properly consider climate legislation.
“I’d like to know what this [€3 million] is being spent on? If it’s for consultants, then by God, they’re having a great day out of the taxpayer,” he said, as he sought guarantees that those who would be appointed were “competent”.
Director of Services Derek Pender said there was no question of the Council’s or consultants’ competence to date, stating that their plan had been granted permission, only for new legislation to move the goalposts.
He said the Further Information request which the Council awaited would likely require additional environmental and traffic surveys, and incur legal fees, and “we need that money to fund it”.
Meanwhile Cllr Cuddy blasted the Government for failing to recognise the need for a relief road in Claregalway which he said had been dropped from the National Development Plan (NDP).
“You see other places with only a fraction of traffic going though and getting funding for projects,” said Cllr Cuddy, adding that Transport Infrastructure Ireland had indicated it would not fund the road as it was not in the NDP.
Cllr James Charity (Ind) said “we have a ‘Green’ problem in this country” as he blamed the Green Party Minister for Transport for the lack of progress on both the city ring road and the Claregalway relief road.
“We had a local Green Party senator actively celebrating the collapse of the [city ring road] application before the High Court.
“The Green Party is playing a blinder in terms of their remit,” said Cllr Charity as he expressed doubt that there would be progress on either project for as long as the Greens controlled the Department of Transport.
Mr Pender said he had written to the Department regularly in relation to the Claregalway relief road and believed it was “improbable” that it would be delivered.
“There are schemes that are actually in the NDP that are not progressing, including the upgrade of Clifden to Maam Cross which is much needed,” said Mr Pender.
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
