Connacht Tribune
Ballinasloe has huge potential to grow
Ballinasloe has lost around 2,500 jobs in the past decade alone – and the IDA has admitted that would-be employers in the west prefer to locate closer to Galway city.
And yet, according to Fianna Fail spokesman on Finance Michael McGrath, the town had huge potential to grow, with top class sporting and educational facilities – but it needed to work at attracting more investment and employment opportunities.
The past decade has seen the closure of major employers like AT Cross, Square D and St Brigid’s Hospital while the workforce employed at Dubarry has been reduced significantly.
But Deputy McGrath, addressing local business interests and the FF organisation in the area, argued that Ballinasloe had great potential as it had a low cost base and a great quality of life and it was centrally located between the larger urban centres of Athlone and Galway city.
Deputy McGrath said that proper balanced sustainable development was vital for the regions and areas such as Ballinasloe in a bid to make them attractive places to live and work.
The meeting with the business community in Ballinasloe was organised by Roscommon-Galway FF TD Eugene Murphy who said that the town and surrounding area had suffered major economic setback in recent years.
“But there is a great community spirit in the town and there are real efforts being made at a local level to attract investment and enterprise,” Deputy Murphy added. The meeting was also attended by local councillors Donal Burke and Michael Connolly.
“Ballinasloe has in the region of €26 million worth of sports facilities, a strong schools base, a fabulous new library and prime office space so it could be an ideal commuter town based between Athlone and Galway but it is needs more funding at local authority level and needs to continue to attract more investment,” Deputy Murphy said.
The group paid a visit to the Ballinasloe Enterprise Centre in Creagh and met with members of the Ballinasloe Area Community Development Ltd including Seamus Duffy, Colm Croffy and Jacinta Divilly.
Mr Duffy outlined the efforts to create sustainable employment in the area and he noted that the enterprise centre had almost full occupancy rates at its Creagh base.
Cllr Michael Connolly said that there was an ‘overflow of medical devices companies in Galway city’ and Ballinasloe had a range of fantastic facilities including a beautiful marina which posed great potential in terms of attracting people to the area.
The meeting also heard that job opportunities were being created in Ballinasloe and reference was made to the success of Surmodics Medical Ltd at the IDA Park while it was noted that the IDA had an additional 17 acres of development land at its disposal and more work needed to be done to attract additional employment.
The derelict building and grounds of St Brigid’s Hospital in Ballinasloe was also highlighted as an eyesore in the town and there was much debate about its dilapidated state.
“The loss of a town council in Ballinasloe was also a major disadvantage to the area as Ballinasloe is on the periphery of Galway and having a town council helps bring a focus to a town and means that county council officials are in touch with the area and visiting on regular occasions,” added Deputy Murphy.
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
