CITY TRIBUNE
Bringing together women from all walks of life in the community
For four years now, the ARD Women’s Circle (Ardaun-Roscam-Doughiska) has been bringing together women from the locality to develop networks in the community, learn new skills and at its very essence provide an opportunity to meet neighbours and friends in an area that is just finding its feet.
Coordinator and facilitator of the group, Grace Jennane, says that it all started with a realisation that countless women were dropping into the ARD Family Resource Centre but never actually interacting with each other.
Grace, who was doing a Tús Scheme – at the centre, saw an opportunity for a group that would bring women of all cultures, nationalities and religions together – and so the ARD Women’s Circle was founded.
“They weren’t talking to each other, because they were all from different cultures,” says Grace.
“There was a lot of women that didn’t even want to come in because they were feeling socially excluded for one reason or another.”
Originally, the group was set up to do art and painting, but such was the demand for joining the group that it became apparent there would be scope to do more.
“I couldn’t believe that in the first few weeks, we had over 30 people who wanted to join.
“They all realised that that even though they might be from a different belief, religion, culture, country or whatever – they all had similar experiences and similar problems in their lives,” explains Grace.
It is for that reason that Grace believes the group’s primary role, ahead of all the skill workshops and classes they hold, is that of a social outlet where local women from the area can communicate with each other for two hours every week.
“I didn’t think it would be so fluid,” concedes Grace. “But it’s amazing that there is nobody sitting there on their own – straight away, if a new person comes in, they’re actually all sitting around her and it’s really good to see that.”
In everything that the group does, each person is learning something about someone else’s culture – be that food, dress, religion or anything else. Just by talking to each other, they are educating each other.
This, according to Grace, opens people’s minds and gives them an opportunity to ignore prejudice and make their own decisions based on the people around them.
“We brought the ladies to the mosque and they went around to the Imam who talked to them and they asked questions like, ‘why do women have to wear the hijab’, so he explained that it is not necessary. While some people might think it is obligatory, it is a choice, some women wear it to feel closer to God.
“They realise that it is just a piece of material but she is the same as me,” says Grace.
Grace smiles as she talks about her pride in the group, and for the way they have worked together to create a positive impact for the women of Doughiska.
“It takes you out of that social exclusion box, which can be a very dark place,” she says.
For a group that started just to do art, its repertoire has expanded greatly over the years.
To date, the group has created mosaics, become au fait with the intricacies of decoupage, got involved in the community garden, sold Christmas gifts in a pop-up shop that they were part of setting up, not to mention the daytrips and outings they have had.
Already marked on the schedule for this year is wood coppicing, and this is something that Grace says all the members are waiting with great anticipation for.
“I think they are really looking forward to the coppicing and the wood burning because when the Galway 2020 were in the woods, Debbie, the lady who does it, they went down and they were looking at what she was doing and they were very impressed.
“We had a lady in before we started the mosaic and she did perfume making with us using flowers they found in the woods – we are also going to make jewellery with one of the women from the group,” outlines Grace as she reels off the extensive list of activities the group are involved with.
She reserved much praise for her fellow facilitator, Karen Roberts, whom she credits with organising the outings the group go on.
She explains that the process of choosing what the group will do is based on a vote by those involved – with meetings regularly attracting up to 20 attendees per week.
The group collaborates with the ARD Gardening Group, having worked on various projects with them in the past.
One of its biggest successes was the summer barbeque last year where the community had the opportunity to come together and view the work that goes on in the area.
“We had a picnic in the community garden last summer and that was with a social inclusion grant from the Council – it was amazing and the ladies from the mosque came and brought their Pakistani food and everyone absolutely loved it,” says Grace.
For all the work that the ARD Women’s Circle do, Grace believes none of it would be possible without the huge support that the ARD Family Resource Centre provides.
“We have to be grateful for a lot of people that live around us in this community for putting Doughiska first.
“There’s many different nationalities here – it’s like our own little globe and it’s working because people are working hard to make it work, and it wouldn’t if things were left.
“There’s still a lot to do, especially in the woods, where a few of the younger people are causing problems but hopefully, as they grow up, they’ll start to do things with the woods.
It will be nice to see Merlin Woods being used because it is very important for one’s mental health and wellbeing,” she says.
Grace believes that it is thanks to the dedication of those who work in the ARD Family Resource Centre that a community exists in the Doughiska-Roscam-Ardaun area – with that famous Galway friendliness extending out to the city’s newest suburb.
“Lidl is lethal now,” she laughs. “You go in and you can’t get out for two hours. It’s nice to have a smiling face when you leave your house – it makes your day a little bit less stressful and life is stressful enough.”
The ARD Women’s Circle meets every Wednesday morning from 10am in the ARD Family Resource Centre.
“We are always open and welcoming to new members. We are a non-judgemental group and we are open to all women of all cultures, races and backgrounds from all areas of Galway,” says Grace.
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.”
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).
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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