Connacht Tribune
Councillors see red over pedestrian crossing

A Galway County Councillor has vowed to ‘take action’ over a pedestrian crossing which has installed in Gort to make it safer for hundreds of students attending a nearby secondary school.
The zebra crossing at Hennelly’s Corner and Georges Street in the town was put in more than a week ago at a cost of €55,000.
But councillors united to condemn the location of the crossing and call for traffic lights to be installed instead.
Councillor Gerry Finnerty (FF) said he goes through the junction many times day and night and there was now a long tailback caused by the removal of the left turning lane coming into town.
He stated that, if the Council wanted to remove the left turning lane, they should have moved the pedestrian crossing much further out the Loughrea road and it would not have interfered with the traffic flow on the inside lane.
Cllr Finnerty claimed that cars were at risk of being rear-ended because they did not have enough time to see people crossing and those with mobility issues faced being knocked over by motorists who had little time to react.
He highlighted the fact that 850 students attended the nearby Gort Community School. “We can’t take what we’ve got,” he fumed.
“I’m totally uncomfortable with it. It hasn’t done one thing to address safety issues. I’m not a big fan of traffic lights, they’re delayful (sic) and tedious when there’s no traffic…this is a typical project of misplaced, misspent money.
“People have had to leave earlier. Kids are not allowed to access classes because they were late going in. If it’s going to go on another week, we are prepared to take action by the end of the week.”
He said the Council must reinstate the left-hand turning lane fully and to do that they would have to redesign the crossing or move it further out the Loughrea Road. The second option would be to install fully automated traffic lights at the junction and then the current pedestrian crossing could remain.
Cllr Shane Curley (FF) said he was driving from Limerick recently and nearly hit someone on the junction.
“It’s very dangerous,” he stressed.
Cllr Geraldine Donohue said the filter lane that had now been removed was very useful for traffic not going straight. She also recalled that councillor’s notice of motion money had been allocated towards a signalised junction at this location.
Executive engineer Damien Mitchell said changes to road design always caused “consternation” while the public adjust.
Crossings had to be 5m from a junction, not further away, and the road had to narrowed for a pedestrian crossing to allow for wider footpaths on either side. The “pseudo left turn”, which had been used for quite some time, could not be facilitated with a narrower road.
“The reality is it won’t be used if it’s too far from the junction. A signalised junction would delay traffic further and would cause a build-up. I’d like to see the public getting used to it. The fundamental issue is safety of children crossing the road,” he retorted.
He said a local area engineer observed traffic at the location last Thursday morning for 45 minutes. Maximum queue time just before 9am was three minutes.
After 9am the queue time was less than a minute, with a maximum of six vehicles queuing at any one time.
He stressed that the design followed all current guidelines. The Council was willing to carry out a road safety audit but it “is only going to tell us what we know”.
“It’s too soon to take this out. You highlighted a safety issues. That’s why we put it in. Now you’re saying there is no issue…the removal of a zebra crossing after one week of operation is premature.
“That’s all I’m asking for is to monitor it for a few weeks.”
He was urged to monitor it closely over the next week and come back to councillors on any observations.
Connacht Tribune
West has lower cancer survival rates than rest

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.
Connacht Tribune
Galway minors continue to lay waste to all opponents

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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Connacht Tribune
Gardaí and IFA issue a joint appeal on summer road safety

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.
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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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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.