Connacht Tribune
Anticipated changes will have massive fall-out for Fianna Fáil in Galway
There will be “an absolute bloodbath” among Fianna Fáil candidates in the Athenry/Oranmore local electoral area in County Galway if anticipated boundary changes come to pass.
A number of party sources have told the Connacht Tribune that members are bracing themselves for significant changes across the county – but none more so than the sitting councillors in the Athenry area.
Despite being over a year out from the next local elections, panic is setting in about the Electoral Commission’s redrawing of boundaries which is understood to be going before Cabinet in the coming days.
When the boundaries were last redrawn in 2018, Clarinbridge and a slice of Oranmore, taking in Renville, were moved into the Gort/Kinvara electoral area.
However, suspicion is rife that those areas will be returned to Oranmore as the commission seeks to rebalance Municipal Districts based on population.
“We’re fully expecting and preparing for Clarinbridge to go back into Athenry/Oranmore, and that presents its own problems,” said a senior Fianna Fáil source.
Those problems start and end with an oversupply of candidates, they said, as sitting councillors in the Athenry area – Cllr Albert Dolan and Cllr Shelly Herterich Quinn – will be joined by Cllr Martina Kinane.
Cllr Kinane has proven a vote-winner in both areas, securing election in Athenry/Oranmore in 2014 and again in Gort Kinvara in 2019.
There was concern before the last local elections that she would struggle to hold her seat, having lost Oranmore Village where she is active in a number of community initiatives – and a return to that electoral area will suit her heading into the next election.
“It would suit Martina, no doubt about it, but that would mean we have Martina, Shelly and Albert all on the one ticket – and we may need another,” said the source.
Fianna Fáil also has to consider Claregalway, where a growing electorate would likely be drawn to a local candidate ahead of Cllr Dolan in Monivea, Cllr Herterich Quinn in Athenry, or Cllr Kinane from Clarinbridge.
The party ran Michael Hannon from Claregalway in 2019 when he attracted over 750 first preference votes – outpolling Cllr Herterich Quinn on the first count but proving less transfer-friendly. However, those transfers provided a substantial boost to his party colleague in Athenry.
“We will have to run a candidate in Claregalway. It would be criminal not to, given the size of the area and how well the fella who ran last time did. But the dynamics are changing with Clarinbridge coming back in – it will be a bloodbath with four of them fighting it out.
“That would have to be managed very carefully, because do it wrong and we may not be able to hold what we have,” said another Fianna Fáil source.
“With Sinn Féin on the rise, and the usual hammering the Government parties get at the locals, we’ll be up against it.”
Concerns will be bubbling on high too as the party needs women to run in the general election, and with the gender quota rising to 40%, the senior party source said they would struggle to get there.
“Depending on how Galway East and Galway West shape up after the boundary review, we would be looking at running Shelly Herterich Quinn in Galway East to bolster Anne Rabbitte’s chances, and possibly Martina Kinane could be added in Galway West. We suspect Galway West could run down as far as Kinvara after the review, with Headford and the surrounding areas potentially going into Mayo” they said.
Cllr Albert Dolan may well have his eyes set on a Dáil run, “but we don’t need another man on the ticket”.
All of this is with an eye on Sinn Féin’s Louis O’Hara who is expected to take a seat in Galway East next time out, having nearly taken Deputy Anne Rabbitte out at the 2020 General Election.
“It’s looking very likely that Galway East will go from three seats to four, so we’re less concerned than we were, but it will take serious vote management to make sure Anne Rabbitte in Portumna gets the transfers she needs from areas like Gort, Tuam, and possibly even Ballinasloe which could end up in Galway East after the boundary commission’s done.
(Photo: Councillor Shelly Herterich Quinn)
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
