News
Campaign for Free To Air access for GAA on TV
A campaign has commenced locally to ensure that all GAA matches are ‘free-to-air’ following the failure to transmit the recently replayed Connacht football final.
Musicians, politicians and footballers, past and present, are behind the campaign to ensure that all football and hurling matches are readily available and not subscription-based.
At the Connacht football final replay in Castlebar between Galway and Roscommon, Tuam singer-songwriter Seamus Ruttledge held a one-man protest outside the ground over the fact that it was not being televised live.
The match was available on the RTE website but many had difficulty in actually accessing the link to the player and were left more than infuriated. The free-to-air campaign is already gathering momentum.
It has the support of Leo Moran of The Saw Doctors, Senator John O’Mahony, who guided Galway to two All-Ireland successes and actually raised the matter in the Seanad, and well known journalist Jim Carney. There are several Galway and Mayo footballers who are also behind the campaign not the sell the viewing rights to Sky.
Seamus Ruttledge told The Connacht Tribune that the Connacht football final replay could not be played or televised on the Saturday evening because Sky had the rights to some of the qualifiers so the match had to be played on the Sunday.
Given the fact that the Ulster football final and the Leinster football final were down for decision on the same day, the Connacht final replay could not be televised live and was only available on the RTE Player, which became inaccessible for thousands of fans who wanted to watch the match.
Tuam’s Cllr Shaun Cunniffe is also behind the campaign to ensure all GAA games are free to the public in view of the fact that it is an amateur game and none of the players are being paid for their commitment.
“What happened for the Connacht final replay was unforgivable. It was still a provincial decider and the fact that it could not be held on the Saturday because of Sky commitments meant that it could not be broadcast live the following day.
“There are people who simply cannot get to games and who don’t subscribe to the likes of Sky but the least they should be entitled to is to watch a Connacht final on their televisions,” Cllr Cunniffe added.
Outside the Connacht football final replay in Castlebar, Seamus Ruttledge displaying signs saying that Gaelic games are not for sale and that he did not support a pay-per-view arrangement between the GAA and Sky Sports.
He said that he intended to form a lobby group to ensure that all GAA matches are available free-to-air. “Most GAA followers have no direct connection with GAA headquarters or the annual GAA congress,” he said.
Seamus Ruttledge added that it was this cohort of followers who wanted to watch matches over the summer months and should not be alienated by having to subscribe to Sky Sports. “It seems as if Sky is dictating everything at the moment”, he said.
“It just seems that the rank and file supporter has no input on deals that are made with Sky Sports. What is happening at the moment is horrendous and the fact that we cannot watch a Connacht football final is totally unacceptable,” Seamus Ruttledge added.
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.
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.
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.”
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
