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CITY TRIBUNE

Cancer patients need better Covid protocols

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Galway City Councillor Alan Cheevers with Taoiseach Micheál Martin on his recent visit to the Dáil to petition for greater bowel cancer screening.

A CITY councillor and current cancer patient at University Hospital Galway (UHG) said this week that a better system should be put in place as regards Covid procedures for those undergoing chemotherapy, radium and other acute day-care treatments.

Cllr. Alan Cheevers told the Galway City Tribune that cancer patients on day treatment programmes at UHG should be completing an antigen test prior to entering the hospital.

“This would eliminate the need for phone surveys prior to their treatments and would be a lot more efficient in indicating as to whether a person was Covid-free or not,” said Cllr. Cheevers.

He stressed that he was suggesting this, not as a criticism, but as a practical way of ensuring that both patients and staff could go about their business in a far safer environment.

“What happens at present is that patients are contacted by phone the day before they are due to go for treatment and asked a series of questions.

“Given that in most cases the omicron variant seems so mild, the patient might have no idea that they could have Covid. “What I would like to see is the HSE providing free antigen tests which the patient could undergo a day or two before going in for treatment and then be able to provide the results of those to the hospital.

“It would just take all the guessing out of whether someone going in for treatment had, or had not, the Covid virus,” said Cllr. Cheevers.

The Fianna Fáil councillor from Roscam – who is currently undergoing a cancer treatment programme at UHG – also called for changes to be made as regards cancer and other vulnerable patients who might need to be admitted to hospital if they were feeling very unwell after treatment.

“If that happens, we are currently being told to seek admission to the hospital via the Accident and Emergency Department but I really don’t think that is satisfactory for such patients,” said Cllr. Cheevers.

He said that such patients – by virtue of their condition and treatment programme – would be that bit more vulnerable to picking up colds, viruses and infections.

“I just think that it should be possible for such patients to be admitted to the hospital – rather than having to go through the Emergency Department – which can get quite crowded at times.

“I believe that a solution could be provided whereby cancer patients would be admitted to the hospital without having to go through what is a high-risk environment,” said Cllr. Cheevers.

He added that where patients were vulnerable – such as those on cancer treatment – it should be possible to admit them to the hospital without having to go through ED.

“I think that it should be possible for example to be able to admit such patients through the cancer wards of the hospital. Again, I feel, that would be a safer way of doing things for both patients and staff,” said Cllr. Cheevers.

He said that he was making those observations not as a politician but as a cancer patient of UHG where he described the treatment and care provided to him and other patients as ‘second to none’.

“The oncology department at the hospital provide the most professional and caring service for their patients – it really is a wonderful service and delivered with great expertise and compassion by all involved, I would have to say. They are exceptional.

“My two concerns about the lack of pre-treatment antigen tests and the necessity to get admission through ED, are meant as constructive suggestions in the context of the current Covid situation,” said Cllr. Cheevers.

CITY TRIBUNE

Galway ‘masterplan’ needed to tackle housing and transport crises

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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.”

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CITY TRIBUNE

Official opening of Galway’s new pedestrian and cycle bridge

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The new Salmon Weir pedestrian and cycle bridge will be officially opened to the public next Friday, May 26.

Work on the €10 million bridge got underway in April 2022, before the main structure was hoisted into place in early December.

A lunchtime tape-cutting ceremony will take place on Friday, as the first pedestrians and cyclists traverse the as-yet-unnamed bridge.

The Chief Executive of Galway City Council, Brendan McGrath, previously said the bridge, once opened, would remove existing conflicts between pedestrians, cyclists and traffic “as well as facilitating the Cross-City Link public transport corridor over the existing 200-year-old bridge”.

The naming of the new bridge has been under discussion by the Council’s Civic Commemorations Committee since late last year.

One name that has been in the mix for some time is that of the first woman in Europe to graduate with an engineering degree – Alice Perry.

Ms Perry, who was from Wellpark, graduated from Queen’s College Galway (now University of Galway) in 1906. The university’s engineering building is named in her honour.

The bridge was built by Jons Civil Engineering firm in County Meath and was assembled off-site before being transported to Galway. Funding for the project was provided in full by the National Transport Authority and the European Regional Development Fund.

(Photo: Sheila Gallagher captured the city’s new pedestrian footbridge being raised on the south side of the Salmon Weir Bridge in December. It will officially open next Friday, May 26).

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CITY TRIBUNE

Minister branded ‘a disgrace’ for reversing land rezoning in Galway City

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From the Galway City Tribune – Minister of State for Local Government and Planning, Kieran O’Donnell was labelled a “disgrace” for overturning councillors’ decisions to rezone land in the new City Development Plan.

Minister O’Donnell (pictured) confirmed in a letter to Council Chief Executive Brendan McGrath last week that he was reversing 25 material alternations made by councillors to the CDP 2023-29. He made the decision on the advice of Office of Planning Regulator (OPR).

Minister O’Donnell directed that 14 land parcels that were subject to land-use zoning changes by councillors as part of the Material Alterations to the Draft CDP should be reversed.

He directed that a further 11 land parcels in the city should become “unzoned”.

The Minister found that the CDP had not been made in a manner consistent with recommendations of the OPR, which required specific changes to the plan to ensure consistency with the national planning laws and guidelines.

At last week’s Council meeting Cllr Eddie Hoare (FG) asked for clarity on the process by which councillors could rezone the lands that had been changed by the Minister’s direction.

Cllr Declan McDonnell said, “What he [Minister O’Donnell] has done is an absolute disgrace”.

And he asked: “Do we have to have another development plan meeting to deal with it?”

Both Cllrs Hoare and McDonnell wondered what would become of the lands that were rezoned or unzoned by the ministerial direction.

Mr McGrath said the Council had put forward an argument in favour of retaining the material alterations in the plan, but ultimately the Minister sided with OPR.

He said if councillors want to make alterations to the new plan, they could go through the process of making a material alteration but this was lengthy.

The Save Roscam Peninsula campaign welcomed the Minister’s decision.

In a statement to the Galway City Tribune, it said the direction would mean the Roscam village area on the Roscam Peninsula will be unzoned and a number of land parcels would revert back to agriculture/high amenity.

A spokesperson for the campaign said: “the material alterations made by city councillors following lobbying by developers continued the long-standing practice of councillors facilitating a developer-led plan rather than an evidence- and policy-based plan that meets the needs of the city.

“The Minister’s direction is an important step in restoring confidence in the planning system. It is clear from the City Council’s own evidence on future housing projections that there was no requirement to zone these lands for residential purposes in order to meet the needs of the targeted population increase up to 2029,” the spokesperson added.

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