News
End of the road for motorhome holidaymakers
It was up to the Harbour Company and not Galway City Council to regularise planning in order to facilitate holiday vehicles down at the docks, City Hall has insisted.
The local authority has come into the firing line of supporters of motorhomes after a notice was put up by the Harbour Company that power points along the docks could no longer be used.
These had originally been installed for boats but had become a de facto camping site as caravans, motorhomes and campervans pulled in, paid an overnight parking fee and powered up and filled their tanks with water.
Galway City Council issued a notice to the Harbour Company a month ago that it had not attained planning permission to install the power points. It advised the private authority that in order to have them available to the public it needed to go through the proper planning channels.
So far, the Harbour Company has suspended their use but not submitted an application, said a council spokesman.
“Galway City Council is only implementing the planning regulations. They do not have a vendetta or campaign against motor homes. The Council welcomes all visitors to the city and all types of tourists, but we have a range of responsibilities and this is a planning enforcement issue.”
The motorhome industry is estimated to be worth €3.3 billion annually in Europe and surveys have shown the owners spend an average of €38 per person a day in the local economy where they overnight.
The move has raised the hackles of two city councillors – Cllr Noel Larkin and Niall McNeilis.
“Facilities for motorhomes are widely available throughout Europe and are essential for tourists visiting Galway City. Lorient, Galway’s twin city, provides a choice of motorhome parking areas within its environs, as does the Alsace area in France, especially for those visiting Christmas Markets in the area,” exclaimed Cllr Larkin.
With the advent of low ferry fares to Ireland, the West of Ireland should be a major destination for motorhome tourists.
“What a ridiculous decision. Banning the parking of motorhomes in Galway City – the tourism capital of the West of Ireland.”
Colin McCarthy, honorary secretary of Phoenix Motorhome Club of Ireland, has launched a campaign to reverse the decision, including lobbying politicians, claiming it was clear discrimination against owners whose vehicles were taxed, insured and roadworthiness tested.
“Having communicated with a number of stakeholders with an interest in the current situation none can see any substance to the arguments put forward by Galway City Council to date and many are left with the perception that there is another unspoken agenda at work,” he stated.
The January edition of the Motorcaravan Motorhome Monthly (MMM) – the UK and Ireland’s largest circulation magazine for motorhome enthusiasts – includes news of the Galway City regulation, just as people will be planning their 2015 holidays.
The council spokesman pointed out that a camping park was operated privately beside the Galway Golf Course where these vehicles could charge up.
Following summer 2009, a byelaw was passed banning caravans, campervans and motorhomes from overnight parking along ‘the Prom’ in Salthill after councillors complained they had hijacked the beachside suburb’s parking preventing locals and visitors from enjoying the facility.
“It’s like asking why is the City Council not providing WiFi from a Jacuzzi in a hotel. It’s not our business. These are private operators. We are not in the business of providing power points for caravans.”
Calls to the Harbour Company were not returned.
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
