Connacht Tribune
Construction to get underway on €14 million school development
Works are finally expected to commence in the autumn on the provision of a new €14 million school for Presentation College Athenry at a greenfield site on the outskirts of the town.
Planning permission for the new facility – on what is known locally as the Raheen Woods site – was granted and the tendering process is already well advanced.
There was opposition from the IDA to the school going ahead at this location. The 20 site is located beside extensive IDA-owned lands which were purchased from Teagasc in recent years.
When a new Pres secondary school was being mooted, the Department of Education confirmed that the IDA had concerns in relation to the development because of the “potential impact on enterprise development”.
This sparked a lot of local anger as the school, with more than 1,100 students on its roll, is currently bursting at the seams and is using 25 prefabricated buildings in addition to its existing premises, which was designed in the 1980s for 400 students and has no outdoor playing facilities.
But now Minister Sean Canney, who has responsibility for the Office of Public Works, has said he expects work on a new school to start by next September as the tendering process is now well advanced.
Minister Canney has confirmed that he also expects the preferred bidder to be selected by the late summer. A new building for a 1,000 plus student school is part of an overall plan by the Department of Education to relocate four schools in Athenry town.
“The tendering process is well advanced and I expect the contractor to be appointed by the late summer with the preferred bidder likely to be on site by this coming September”.
“The news is very welcome as delays and frustrations have unfortunately been part and parcel of a long running saga surrounding this project.
“I am delighted to note that progressing of the tendering process is the first major step in providing the new school building that is so earnestly needed for the pupils, parents and teachers in Athenry”, added Minister Canney.
The new building will be two storeys in height, with a linked single storey sports facility as well as on-site parking. The school will be located on a site already owned by the school, opposite the Raheen Woods Hotel.
Local FG councillor Peter Feeney said that it was a much needed development and would provide essential parking and playing pitches for the students.
“It is brilliant news for the town and the students as they are currently operating in very cramped conditions. I am led to believe that the new school will be completed by the end of 2018,” Cllr Feeney added.
Around eight years ago Presentation College in Athenry acquired a 20 acre site for the provision of a new school – it is situated close to IDA-owned lands and the authority have expressed concerns over its impact on enterprise development.
The Department were intent on lodging a planning application around that but the process was stalled when it became known that the IDA were likely to lodge an objection.
Department officials spent a lot of time trying to acquire an alternative site and the options were a seven acre site on the Tuam Road beside a Community Council-owned pitch and a four acre site, which was deemed much too small to accommodate a school with a student population in excess of 1,100.
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
