News
€7m in pipeline to plug city water leaks
Irish Water plans to upgrade the city’s leaky pipe network with a €7.3 million investment.
The replacement of about 20 kilometres of defective water mains pipes throughout the city forms part of the company’s water conservation plan for Galway.
It is one project of many announced by Irish Water in its new €36 million programme of work to develop new and upgrade existing water and wastewater infrastructure throughout Galway.
The central plank of the city aspect of the Galway plan includes upgrading of 20 kilometres of defective pipes.
Irish Water said “site investigation” work on the city’s pipe network will begin this coming January and construction work is expected to begin in the first three months of 2017.
The company said, “sections of water mains in the poorest condition will be replaced first,” and the entire upgrade is due to be completed in the autumn of 2018.
The remainder of the ‘new’ elements in this latest announcement by Irish Water are for projects located in the county.
Some €3 million has been set aside for the upgrade of Oughterard wastewater treatment plant, which will have a significant impact on the quality of water sources supplying city homes and businesses. The project will go to tender next month and is expected to be finished by 2017.
Irish Water said: “The upgraded wastewater treatment plant will result in a significant improvement in water quality, will allow for growth and will reduce the risk of pollution to the Owenriff River and Lough Corrib, one of the premier fishing lakes in the country and the drinking water source for much of Galway City and County.”
Other new announcements in the latest investment plan include upgrading water supply schemes in Leenane, An Cheathrú Rua, Inis Oírr, Inis Meáin, and Williamston. All five schemes are on the Environmental Protection Agency’s remedial action list. The boil water notices in place in Leenane and Williamstown will be lifted once the works are complete.
Meanwhile, Irish Water used this latest announcement to give updates on city projects that are underway and nearing completion. The replacement of water mains on Thomas Hynes Road in the city are on schedule to be completed later this month, the company said. This €420,000 project began last June and was needed “to alleviate water supply problems” that have been experienced in the area for more than a year.
The upgrade of Mutton Island wastewater treatment plant is due to be finished before Christmas. The €5.7 million works will almost double the capacity of the plant from 91,000 population equivalent to 170,000 population equivalent.
Galway West Fine Gael TD, Seán Kyne welcomed the investment and said it was made possible through the people of Galway paying water charges.
Deputy Kyne said: “Investment of this scale in our wastewater network will help end the discharge of untreated waste into rivers in Galway and off the Galway coast which will improve the environment and protect the water supply.
“The substantial investment is being made after decades of under-investment in our water and wastewater services. Undoubtedly this investment will be welcomed by public representatives who are opposed to paying for treated water and the proper and safe disposal of wastewater.
“It must, however, be recognised that this substantial and necessary investment is only possible through the combination of central Government funding and the revenue being collected by Irish Water through the payment of water charges by many citizens across Galway.”
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
