Connacht Tribune
Council commits to €2m in Galway 2020 funding
Galway County councillors have approved a further €2 million in funding for Galway 2020 – money the beleaguered organisation said it needed to fund projects outside the city.
Outlining the position of Galway 2020 to councillors, CEO of Galway County Council Kevin Kelly said the €2 million required from the Council’s coffers was to form part of an €8 million fund the 2020 board aims to generate, “to add more significant events of national and international significance”.
In a document presented to councillors, Galway 2020 outlined a list of events planned as part of next year’s designation as European Capital of Culture – including a programme of 30 projects with a total value of €12.7 million.
The €8 million required for more significant events would enable them to create “a new and exciting programme”, devised to “respond to the gaps that exist”, which included large scale innovation across the city and county.
Part of this was a contribution towards the February 2020 opening ceremony, which will take place in six towns – with a commitment from 2020 that “every effort will be made to achieve a geographical spread across the county”.
Cllr Jimmy McClearn (FG) questioned whether the current Council, “on its last legs” ahead of the May 24 local election, should be making a financial decision of such magnitude.
“It could easily be addressed in six weeks’ time when there are people in here with a renewed mandate,” said Cllr McClearn.
Galway 2020’s current available budget is €20.5 million – with ten per cent of this contributed by the County Council.
Originally planned to be a €47 million project, this was revised down to €39 million last year when the project became embroiled in controversy – failure to attract private sponsorship has severely curtailed finances.
The Irish Government has committed €15 million to the project. Galway City Council will have contributed €6 million by the end of 2020 and the EU has pledged €1.5 million if its requirements are met – while the Board of 2020 recently told Galway City Council that an announcement of major private sponsorship was imminent.
CEO Kevin Kelly said this additional €2 million in funding would not be coming out of the Council’s budget, but instead would be raised through savings made on debts that have now been paid off by the local authority.
He said it had been agreed by the Corporate Policy Group that the Council should give €1.5 million to Galway 2020 for next year’s events, holding back €500,000 for legacy events thereafter.
The remaining €6 million for “significant events” would be acquired through yet to be determined private sponsorship sources, he added.
“The reason I brought this to the current Council is you have the knowledge and the experience,” he said, something he claimed the next Council may be lacking when it comes to Galway 2020.
“Everyone knows the project is behind schedule. Ideally, this should have happened this time last year,” said Mr Kelly.
However, Cllr James Charity (Ind) said the people of Galway were being told that there was no money available for vital services in Galway County Council.
“When we’re out canvassing, I’m telling people that there’s not enough money to keep the roads in order, or for vital services,” he said, adding that it was hard to understand that there was an additional €2 million to give to Galway 2020.
Cllr Eileen Mannion (FG) said the current batch of councillors would be shirking their responsibilities if they didn’t support 2020’s request.
“This is our baby – we have supported it all the way,” said the Clifden-based councillor.
In the end, councillors voted to grant the €2 million to Galway 2020 – €1.5 million in advance of next year’s events, and €500,000 for legacy projects.
After the meeting, Galway 2020 CEO Patricia Philbin welcomed the County Council’s support.
“I’d like to take this opportunity to thank Galway County Council for their support. Galway will be the cultural capital of Europe next year and it is our ambition to show Ireland, Europe and the World exactly what Galway has to offer.
“We anticipate that this is just the first of many financial contributions to enable us to deliver this showcase. This ongoing support from Galway County Council is an expression of confidence that we hope will encourage others to come forward and ensure a lasting legacy that will benefit Galway for many years to come,” said Ms Philbin.
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.
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