News
Costs to replace Sean Phádraic statue have reached €60,000
The cost of consultants and professionals associated with commissioning a Pádraic Ó Conaire replica statue has been criticised by a former mayor.
Galway City Council has confirmed that to date, the costs associated with the statue in Eyre Square have reached almost €60,000.
Fine Gael councillor Pádraig Conneely, who obtained the figures, said too much was being spent on consultants by the Council.
Cllr Conneely, a long-time supporter of the replica statue project, said much of the work should have been done in-house at City Hall.
“Maybe it’s time we brought back the role of City Engineer. That was done away with, and now we’re getting consultants to do everything.
“Even without a City Engineer, surely there are enough engineers and Directors of Services and employees who are more than capable of carrying out the work that is being done by consultants,” fumed Cllr Conneely.
Eileen Ruane, Acting Director of Services for Community and Culture, has confirmed in a letter to Cllr Conneely that the project to date has cost the guts of €60,000.
This includes around €45,000 to Cast Ltd (€36,750 plus VAT) for “restoration services”.
It also includes a further €6,000 to Maurice Quillinan, Fine Art Works, for “project management services for bronze replica and associated works”.
Another €2,615 for “professional engineering services in relation to reinstatement” from Harewood, Malone and O’Regan.
Some €700 was paid to Eoghan Daltun, a sculptor conservator, for “comprehensive condition report”. And another €799 was paid in solicitor fees to Blake & Kenny.
Meanwhile, in a separate response, Ms Ruane said that it cost around €4,050 for structural engineers to “carry out site suitability assessment works” at Eyre Square. The contractors appointed to do that job, following procurement, is Harewood, Malone & Regan.
That figure does not include the actual installation costs, or landscaping costs.
Cllr Conneely questioned why it was necessary to spend €4,000 on site investigation, particularly given all the amount that was spent on the revamp of Eyre Square.
“Surely to God they have any amount of reports at City Hall on the condition of the soil and what’s underground at Eyre Square. Didn’t they spend enough money on it the last time to know what is underneath?
“And why are there solicitors’ fees associated with this project? What legal advice could the Council possibly have needed to get in order to put Pádraic Ó Conaire back where he belongs? What questions did they ask the solicitors?”
Cllr Conneely said he would be requesting that the foundation of the replica statue matches the original, finished to the highest quality with Connemara marble.
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
