News
Family hit with €7,000 bill for water connection

Building their dream home turned into something of a nightmare for a Galway couple when they went to connect to the public water supply.
They’ve been hit with bills totalling more than €7,000 for connecting to the water pipe running directly past the site of their new house — a distance of less than a metre.
The blame for the huge cost has been placed firmly at the door of Irish Water by Independent TD Noel Grealish.
When Willie and Alma Shaw applied to Irish Water for permission to connect their new home under construction at Curragrean, on the coast road from Galway City to Oranmore, to the public supply, they received an offer letter putting the “total connection charge” at €3,199.
But then they were shocked to be told by Galway City Council that they would have to pay various other charges and bonds that more than doubled the cost, shooting it up to €7,149.
“When I contacted the City Council at the start, I was told I would have to make the application to Irish Water and there was no mention whatsoever of any additional charges,” said Willie Shaw.
“So when I got the offer letter from Irish Water, it clearly stated that the total connection charge — and they used that term in print — was €3,199, and naturally we assumed that was all we would have to pay.
“But when we got back onto the City Council, which manages the connection on behalf of Irish Water, we were referred to a link on their web page that outlines a whole series of extra charges.
“I have to pay €250 for a road opening licence, €200 towards long term damage to the road, a €2,000 bond charge also to cover possible damage to the road that may or may not be refunded in two years’ time.
“Then I also have to hire a specialist contractor, who has to have a traffic management plan, a traffic management method statement and risk assessment, public liability insurance etc, which will cost another €1,500.
“All this just to dig a small hole at my gate to expose the water main – which is on the hard shoulder, not even on the road,” added Willie.
Mr Shaw said that after all that, it was highly likely that the road would be dug up again in the not too distant future to replace the asbestos pipe currently carrying the public supply.
And he claimed that if his house was a few hundred yards further out the road, past the city boundary, the whole connection would cost roughly €1,800 as Galway County Council operated a different set of charges.
Galway West Independent TD Noel Grealish said that the blame for the shockingly high charge laid with Irish Water. He said that prior to the establishment of Irish Water, for people building a one-off house in the city or county, the cost to connect to the water main was around €3,000, all of which went to the local authority.
“Now that charge has transferred over to Irish Water, but that means that the local authority are down more than €3,000 per house.
“So now what the local authority are doing, they are imposing charges like €400 for a person to come out and look at you while you have the hole dug, they want €250 for a road opening licence, €200 for damage to the road, then €2,000 for a restoration of the road opening which may or may not be refunded. Then you have to get an established contractor who has to dig the hole, all adding up to well over €7,000 to connect to the main.
“I said in the Dáil that Irish Water were going to get their money back some way, and I’ve been proven right,” added Deputy Grealish.
Willie and Alma Shaw and their 16-year-old daughter Nicole last year sold the home in Kilcolgan where they had lived for 15 years. They hope to move into their new home at Curragrean before Christmas.
“If I had any inkling that the water connection would cost me this much, I would have definitely sunk a well — that would have cost about €3,500, and no more water charges for life.
“It’s only too late because we are moving in before Christmas, if it wasn’t too late I would definitely go after that option because of all this nonsense,” said Mr Shaw.
“A really good comparison is the ESB, who are charging €1,800 in total, while an Internet connection from Vodafone, including a pole, is free —I just have to sign an 18-month contract at €40 a month. That’s a stark contrast,” he added.
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
Marathon Man plans to call a halt – but not before he hits 160 races

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.
CITY TRIBUNE
Galway ‘masterplan’ needed to tackle housing and transport crises

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.”