News
Councils jettison another €100k on airport
It is costing Galway City and County Councils €105,000 to lease Galway Airport to a commercial operator, which is making €10,000 alone in landing fees from private jets.
The Carnmore site, which was leased to Carnmore Aviation until December 15, was jointly purchased by the two local authorities from the Galway Chamber of Commerce when subsidies were withdrawn from Aer Arann to operate commercial flights there.
Oranmore Councillor Jim Cuddy asked what the loan repayments were and how much money the council was getting from leasing the facility at the budget meeting of Galway County Council.
He said 58 private planes had landed there since January and were being charged a landing fee of between €120 and €160 – amounting to nearly €10,000 in income. The facility had also been used by the Air Corps and Irish Coastguard to refuel.
He also queried Galway Flying Club’s contract to use the runway and what progress had been made regarding a proposal to turn the 115-acre site into an international hub for drones testing, which could generate 100 jobs.
“Is it true some of the assets on the site are for sale on Done Deal? That’s absolutely scandalous considering those assets were bought by the taxpayer,” he stated.
Interim Chief Executive Kevin Kelly said a lease agreement was put in place which saw the two councils pay €105,000 per annum to keep the facility open for aviation. At the expiration of the lease, the council was willing to enter a new agreement for 11 months but on the basis the local authorities would break even.
He did not want to replace an airport which had been subsidised by the Government with an aviation facility subsidised by the councils.
“Discussions are ongoing with interested parties. It remains to be seen whether there’s an outcome,” he explained.
“My understanding is the Galway Flying Club are independent of any other activity. We’re open to have that used . . . but I was not open to paying for the privilege of having someone on site.”
Cllr Cuddy told the Connacht Tribune the agreement was strange.
“We are actually paying them to be there – I’ve never heard of a property being leased to a commercial company that is costing us. This is also costing the council for repayments of the €1.1m loan, just how much I never got an answer about from the Executive,” he stated.
“Galway Chamber sold off that equipment at €500,000 – a knockdown price before the deal was done with the councils and a lot of that equipment was bought by the taxpayer.
“One fire tender alone cost €240,000 when it was bought. The runway cost €300,000. It was a good deal to buy the facility but they need to be more forthcoming about what it is being used for.”
He pointed out that a film company was currently renting out one of the hangars to film a 1916 series, the proceeds of which would go to the Carnmore Aviation rather than the council.
“I believe some form of aviation should be retained at Galway Airport because it’s vital for rescue services, it’s being used to transfer vital organs and the multinationals are using it to bring in their top executives and they’re a very important part of Galway commercial life.”
Cllr Joe Byrne proposed a motion – passed without a vote – calling on the councils to extend the current lease arrangements with Carnmore Aviation for a minimum of 11 months.
“The purpose of this motion is to ensure that we don’t have a situation on December 16, that the gates are closed, IAA licencing agreements expired and we are all asking how did we allow a situation develop which sees the end of a service for facilitating our multinational companies, Coastguard and Air Corps landings.”
He pointed out that the €105,000 from the councils was a contribution for matters relating to security, maintenance and insurance.
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
