News
Council blows meters claim out of the water
Water works carried out at a city estate are not connected with meters installation for individual homes, the local authority has insisted.
Galway City Council was forced yesterday to deny it is carrying out metering preparation work after accusations from Sinn Féin that it was doing Irish Water’s “dirty work”.
City Councillor, Mairéad Farrell, claimed Council workers are carrying out work in Claremont Park in Rahoon, on behalf of Irish Water.
“City Council workers spent Monday working on the stopcocks outside people’s homes. I have been informed that this work is being carried out on behalf of Irish Water. It is apparently part of the preparatory work for the installation of water meters. I would urge the City Council workers to cease doing Irish Water’s dirty work,” she said in a statement.
The City Council, however, has rejected the claims, and said the work has nothing to do with Irish Water.
Rejecting the charge that it was doing Irish Water’s ‘dirty work’, a spokesperson for the Council said: “Councillor Farrell is putting two and two together and coming up with eight . . . the works have absolutely nothing to do with installing individual meters to gauge water consumption in homes.”
Edel McCormack, Director of Services with Galway City Council, also separately insisted the works being carried out at Claremont Park were routine and have nothing to do with metering for Irish Water.
Ms McCormack explained that leaks were detected in the Claremont Park, and City Council crews replaced two stopcocks. They hope the two new stopcocks will rectify the leakages. It was decided to install two meter boxes – not meters – so that if the new stopcocks haven’t rectified the problem, the Council can go back and install meters. The meters will help to identify the source of the leaks, and are not to measure consumption of individual homes, she insisted.
“This is routine work, we’ve been doing it for years and we will continue to do it,” she said.
Despite the denials, Cllr Farrell insists that the works carried out by the Council is preparatory work that is facilitating Irish Water in its meter installation plans.
She added: “The majority of Galwegians, indeed the majority of people in the 26 Counties, are diametrically opposed to water metering. It is just the first step in the planned privatisation of water. What the right-wing political parties did with refuse collection, they now intend to do with water. It is not in the interests of the people of Galway or your own interests.”
Cllr Farrell, and Independent Cllr Mike Cubbard, are proposing an emergency motion at Monday’s City Council meeting. It calls for the abolition of Irish Water and the abolition of water charges.
The motion reads: “‘This Council recognises that water is a human right and as such calls for the abolition of water charges and the dismantling of Irish Water. This Council reaffirms its commitment to remain an independent authority and as such declares itself unwilling to supply details of council tenants to Irish Water.” City Councillors’ inboxes have been inundated by emails from people urging them to support the emergency motion.
Meanwhile, Cllr Farrell will join the Right2Water protest in Dublin, next Wednesday, December 10. Four buses are already filled for the trip to the Dáil on Wednesday and scores more are expected to travel separately.
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
