Connacht Tribune
Flawed speed revisions ‘ripe for court challenge’
A barrister has predicted that the legal profession locally will ‘have a field day’ challenging speeding summonses in court if the county’s new speeding bylaws are passed next week.
James Charity, who is also a county councillor, said ‘every summons will be challenged’ in the District Court if he and his colleagues passed a report on the draft Road Traffic Special Speed Limits for County Galway Bylaws. “The District Court will have a field day,” he said.
“If I’m doing 62 kilometres (per hour) in a 60km/h zone, I’m going to go back and look for the maps and if there’s confusion (as to where the 60km/h zone starts) then it will be challenged. The proposals (for changes to speed limits) need to be mapped. You can’t say ‘lower the speed limit 200 metres from John Joe’s house to the crossroads’. It needs to be point A to point B and shown on a map,” he said.
Cllr Charity predicted a surge in challenges to speeding summons if the Athenry/Oranmore Municipal District proceeded to make changes to the draft plan without being shown where the proposed new speed limits would be on a map. Twice during the discussion on speed limits, Leas Cathaoirleach of the Municipal District, Cllr Martina Kinnane (FF) said ‘confusion reigns’.
“At least if we make the changes here, we won’t be doing it in a courthouse down the road,” she said.
Speed limits were also on the agenda at this week’s meeting of the Connemara Municipal District, where a proposal by Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) to reduce the speed limit on parts of the N59 to 80km/h caused outrage among some councillors.
The proposals by TII, includes maintaining the 100km/h limit between Galway City and Roscahill, a reduction to 80km/h between Rosscahill and Lettershea, and maintaining the 100km/h limit from there on to Clifden.
This, according to the TII, is taking into account the dangerous parts of the road where width and bends are most prevalent. Towns and villages along the road will see reduced limits on approach, with a 50km/h speed limit within the boundaries. There are also proposals to include periodic speed limits at schools such as Rosscahill and Scoil Doire Glinne.
However, local councillor Tom Healy (SF) said the move would make life more difficult for the people of Connemara who have to use the N59 to commute.
“An 80km/h journey already takes an hour-and-a-half. Do you want to throw a gate up somewhere and close the whole bloody place off?” he blasted.
Each of the five Municipal Districts in County Galway have discussed the proposed changes in speed limits for their area. The changes to each area arise following recommendations from elected representatives and the public following a statutory consultation process where the draft bylaws were out on public display.
Máire Ní Chíonna outlined to the Athenry/Oranmore meeting that there were 56 submission received about the bylaws. Some of the recommendations in these submissions were taken on board and included in the bylaws, and others were not.
Ms Ni Chíonna explained that eleven of the submissions related to Athenry/Oranmore Municipal District area, including one submission from Cllr Jim Cuddy (Ind), who made recommendations to lower the speed limit on 22 roads.
Cllr Cuddy said it was “for the birds” that some of his recommendations were ignored; and because speed limits on local roads was a reserved function of councillors, he wanted to vote through his proposals anyway.
Ms Ní Chíonna said that many of the proposals from Cllr Cuddy were for reduced speed limits on local roads that are rats runs and used by commuters to get to Galway City. She said residents in those areas were understandably frustrated but it would be preferable to use alternative methods to make those roads safer, such as traffic calming, rather than lowering speed limits.
The draft bylaws were due to be discussed at the next full County Council meeting but it was agreed to defer the passing of the bylaws until the November meeting in order that the confusion in Athenry/Oranmore was cleared-up first. They will discuss the matter again at next week’s meeting before it goes to the full Council.
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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.
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Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
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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
Marathon Man plans to call a halt – but not before he hits 160 races
