Connacht Tribune
Areas under ‘blanket’ of illegally-dumped rubbish
Illegal dumping continues to blight back roads around Gort – with Kinincha and the Pound Road just some of the areas constantly under a blanket of discarded waste of every description.
Galway County Councillor, Gerry Finnerty, said that while efforts over a number of years have seen the town centre become virtually litter-free, areas with less footfall continue to battle with professional illegal dumpers.
“Our town has been clean and tidy now for about 20 or 30 years but there are areas that have become black spots, like the railway line and Kinincha, because they are on quiet roads.
“There is an illegal operator in the area going to certain houses and taking away rubbish – he’s taking it from rental accommodation, social houses and from some foreign nationals who may not understand that he’s dumping it illegally,” said Cllr Finnerty.
According to the Fianna Fáil councillor, the individual in question is widely known by residents in the area but, as of yet, nobody is willing to identify him to the Council or to Gardaí.
“I have spoken to a number of the residents that I would know and warned them about the dangers of paying this individual to take away their rubbish but none of them are prepared to identify him,” he added.
As a member of Galway County Council’s Strategic Policy Committee on environment, Cllr Finnerty said he has called for a tougher stance on those enabling this type of activity.
“I have put down a motion that when we are paying rent supplement or when you are a tenant in a council house, you should have to prove that you have a contract with a reputable waste collector.
“This is happening everywhere – I was in Knock, County Clare, and I spotted a mattress dumped and I was talking to one of the council workers over the border and they cover an area from the Doolin coast to Ennis – he said there is more rubbish in that area than any other part of the county.
“He said that a lot of that is coming from the Gort area,” said Cllr Finnerty.
The situation at Kinincha is particularly dire and locals are often subjected to people dumping everything from tyres to household waste – something that creates a haven for vermin.
“There are two, if not three, spots where there is regularly the illegal burning of rubbish – there could be a fire there on a weekly basis.
“When a lot of what’s dumped is household and food waste, we all know what that attracts – it is disgusting what is going on,” said Cllr Finnerty.
Part of the problem is the excess amount of waste being generated and Cllr Finnerty believed retailers had a role in tackling some of the problems – in particular with coffee cups, plastic packaging and multiples of receipts for even the smallest purchase.
“Education is one part of the solution – people are not educated in the consequences of waste; we have to start reducing the amount of waste we’re generating.
“The plastic that’s being dumped causes huge harm to the area and could be part of the problem with drainage which leads to flooding – we are producing a huge amount of waste plastic,” he said.
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.
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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
