News
Astronomer’s talk comes on coat-tails of total lunar eclipse

It may not make him popular with employers in Galway but David Moore is advising people to take Monday, September 28, off in order to witness a total lunar eclipse, which will start at around 2am and last until 5.30am.
The founder of Astronomy Ireland says this is a special event that won’t be seen again for years and shouldn’t be missed.
The following night, September 29, David will be in the Town Hall Theatre to discuss, among other subjects, how the Irish invented astronomy. In a lecture that will embrace the universe, Black Holes, Dark Matter, Dark Energy and the Big Bang theory will all be up for discussion.
Closer to earth, David will talk about the sun and its family of planets, asteroids and comets, looking at where life might exist in our solar system.
Crediting the Irish with inventing astronomy might sound a bit far-fetched, but David, whose enthusiasm for his subject is unparalleled, points to Newgrange burial tomb in Meath. At 5,000 years old, this Neolithic structure predates the pyramids and Stonehenge, he says.
Newgrange was built so that the sun would shine directly into the passage leading to its tomb on the shortest day of the year. That meant its creators knew how a calendar worked. In fact, he says, they were able to figure out that there were 365-and a-quarter-days in a year. That quarter-day might not seem like much, but it added up to a month every century. For early farmers, that could have meant the difference between living and dying, as it dictated when they planted crops.
“Then fast forward to the 1800s, when the biggest telescope in the world was in Birr. It was the Hubble Space Telescope of its day and attracted astronomers from all over the world, despite our weather,” David explains. Birr’s telescope, built by Lord Ross, remained the biggest in the world for half a century.
Even today, it would be a mistake to think Ireland’s influence has declined. The Rosetta space mission, launched by the European Space Agency in 2004 to rendezvous with a comet and send a probe to its surface, is co-managed from Spain by Mullingar man, Laurence O’Rourke, a graduate of Maynooth and UCC.
The Philae probe landed on the comet last November, the first time ever such a feat was achieved. And while the €1 billion mission has not been without its difficulties, the probe has been sending back data to Rosetta and from there to Earth since it ‘woke up’ in June. Part of the technology involved in this was built in Maynooth, says David.
As a member of the European Space Agency, Ireland is allowed to tender for contracts, and does, whether those are scientific or commercial projects – such as communication satellites.
Sixty per cent of Ireland’s GDP is driven by science and technology, something most people aren’t aware of, says David. Even at the height of the boom this sector was three times higher than the construction business and was the biggest employer in Ireland.
And while there may not be very many jobs in Ireland for astronomers, it’s a great subject to study at university alongside other science subjects such as IT, maths or physics.
In fact, David adds, many financial institutions claim to prefer astro-physics graduates than people with MBAs. That may be because they are more creative and less likely to be driven by money.
Outside of business, astronomy is huge in this country, he says. Relative to our population, Astronomy Ireland has the biggest membership of any group of its type in the world.
“You might wonder, with the weather we have, why there should be any interest in astronomy, but if the skies are always clear where you live, you mightn’t take so much notice. Here in Ireland, we nearly have a party when the sun shines!”
And, says David, people realise, too, that astronomy isn’t just about places far away.
“It has everything to do with everyday life. Every particle in our body and being, we want to know where it comes from. It is possible we are made of comets. Our oceans are made of comets and it’s likely that all the organic material in our body comes from comets.”
You don’t need a degree in maths or science to learn more about the universe. All that’s required is curiosity and wonder, he says, pointing to Einstein whose interest in physics was piqued in childhood by watching magnets at work.
David’s own passion also began in childhood, courtesy of a friend who had a telescope – rare in those days, he adds. His friend had been looking at Jupiter but when David wanted to do likewise, he was told Jupiter was gone. When he asked why, he was referred to a book! He read all he could find in the school library and local bookshops, then sent for books in the post – it was the pre-internet era.
The size of the universe and realisation that the earth was so tiny blew his mind, he recalls.
“And nobody was teaching us that in school. There is still very little astronomy taught in schools.”
Twenty-five years ago it wasn’t being taught in university much either, but now almost every Irish university offers it, thanks to the work of Astronomy Ireland.
For those who want to dip their toes in the mysteries of the universe, David will be in the Town Hall Theatre on Tuesday, September 29, at 8pm to discuss life, the universe and everything.
His aim is “to convert all six million people in Ireland to astronomy” and given his passion and knowledge, he’ll probably find several converts following his Town Hall talk.
Connacht Tribune
West has lower cancer survival rates than rest

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.
Connacht Tribune
Marathon Man plans to call a halt – but not before he hits 160 races

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.
CITY TRIBUNE
Galway ‘masterplan’ needed to tackle housing and transport crises

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.”