Connacht Tribune
Farmers should engage on Galway-Athlone greenway consultation
Property owners and farmers impacted by the proposed Greenway route from Galway City to Athlone have been strongly advised to engage fully with the project team.
This week, four major public information days are being held in Oranmore, Gort, Portumna and Ballinasloe – with an open invitation issued to landowners and community representatives to attend.
Connacht IFA Chair, Pat Murphy from Ardrahan, told the Connacht Tribune, that any farmer or landowner affected by the Greenway route ‘should make it their business’ to engage fully with the project team.
He said that earlier this week, he had attended a Code of Practice meeting in Mullingar, aimed at ensuring that there was a full and comprehensive consultation process in place for affected landowners.
“I know that over the past year, many landowners weren’t happy with the level of engagement being undertaken by those involved with the project, but we are doing everything we can to change this.
“Get in there; meet those people behind the project; make sure your voice is heard; and don’t sit back to let things happen without being involved,” said Pat Murphy.
He added that a lot of potential problems could be ironed out through the consultation process with farmers and property owners now in a far better position to deal with issues than they were when the project was first mooted nearly a decade ago.
“We have also ensured that the services of a professional agronomist [Philip Farrelly] will be available to the landowners concerned, free of charge, and I would urge farmers to avail of this advice.
“As things stand, we have worked to ensure that any farm severances are kept to an absolute minimum – we have been assured that no severances will take place if at all possible,” said Pat Murphy.
The public information events (all 3pm to 8pm) began on Tuesday last in the Oranmore Lodge Hotel and continued in the Lady Gregory Hotel, Gort, yesterday (Wednesday).
Portumna Town Hall will host the event today (Thursday) while on Friday, the sessions conclude for the week in the Shearwater Hotel, Ballinasloe.
Last week, Project Co-ordinator, Michael Kelly [Westmeath County Council) urged anyone with an interest in the Greenway [officially called, ‘The Galway to Athlone Cycleway Project’] to attend one of the information sessions.
“Meeting one-to-one is best for all concerned so that issues can be discussed in-depth and possible solutions identified. Where feasible, the route has been amended to address issues identified in our meetings with landowners over the last two years,” said Michael Kelly.
He also stressed that the goodwill and co-operation of the farming community was important to make the cycleway a success – this involved real and open engagement with landowners and communities.
Galway IFA Environment Rep., Henry Walsh from Oranmore, said that Tuesday’s public information session in the Oranmore Lodge Hotel, seemed to have gone very well with a lot of engagement between landowners and the project officials.
“Where issues arise, many of these things can be sorted out with consultation and co-operation, but I would urge any landowner affected to engage, consult and to tease out any problems face-to-face with the project team.
“A lot of issues can be worked out and solutions found but engagement and consultation are the keys to this process. This is the way to go, and we certainly don’t want to hear any mention of CPOs (Compulsory Purchase Orders),” said Henry Walsh.
The Emerging Preferred Route (EPR) was published by the project team in late 2021 with a planning application to be lodge in Quarter 3 (July to September) of next year [2024], after which an oral hearing will take place.
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.
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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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.
Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App
Download the Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App to access to Galway’s best-selling newspaper.
Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
Or purchase the Digital Edition for PC, Mac or Laptop from Pagesuite HERE.
Get the Connacht Tribune Live app
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.
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
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