News
Funding in place for flood relief, but no work before winter
Almost a year on from the approval of funding for flood relief in the Kiltiernan area of South Galway, not a sod has been turned nor a cent spent on the project, the Connacht Tribune can confirm.
And now fears are growing that Kiltiernan National School – located between Kilcolgan and Ardrahan – could once again be facing into another winter of high flood risk.
OPW Minister, Sean Canney, told the Connacht Tribune that money allocated for the project in the second half of last year had been ‘ring-fenced’ for the completion of the flood relief measures at Kiltiernan.
“The County Council [Galway] are the contracting authority and I know that discussions have been ongoing between them and the NPWS (National Parks and Wildlife Service).
“I have had talks with the Council’s Director of Services to try and clear the way for the project to be carried out and I have offered the services and assistance of the OPW [Office of Public Works] to help resolve any issues arising,” said Minister Canney.
However long time campaigner for flood relief measures to be put in place in the area, Mattie Hallinan from Ballinderreen, warned that ‘time is passing and the winter is coming’.
“Here we are in the middle of September, 2016 – after the money being allocated to carry out the job last October – and not one blade of grass has been touched since.
“The people around here want to know what’s going on. We’ve got money to spend, the job to be done is a relatively simple one, and yet a few environmentalists in Dublin seem to be able to call a halt to this.
“It’s just good enough to tell the people of South Galway or the parents of children attending Kiltiernan National School that the Parks and Wildlife Service can hold up this project,” said Mattie Hallinan.
He said that the project to be done – involving a spend of around €400,000 – was not rocket science but simply involved the laying of a larger pipe network to take the floodwaters around Kiltiernan to the sea north of Kinvara.
Ardrahan independent councillors, Michael Fahy, told the Connacht Tribune that the local people were bewildered that almost a whole year had passed without one shovel being lifted to carry out the necessary work.
“I can tell you, that the last thing people in this area will want to see over the coming winter, is Government representatives coming up to have their pictures taken beside the floods.
“They have dilly-dallied over this since last spring and it won’t wash if they claim that the NPWS are responsible for holding up this project.
“There has been ample time for the Government to draft legislation that can ensure the NPWS cannot hold-up critical projects like this. That’s what Governments are for and they haven’t done their job,” said Cllr. Fahy.
During critical flood periods like November 2009 and December/January last winter, Kiltiernan NS has been under severe threat due to floodwaters.
Last October the OPW committed to allocating €250,000 for the project with a further €125,000 to €150,000 being provided by TII [Transport Infrastructure Ireland, formerly the NRA, National Roads Authority].
Local people are also fearful that works on the new M18 motorway project, now at an advanced stage, could worsen flooding problems in South Galway due to underground channels being blocked up.
In August 2015, the then Minister for the OPW, Simon Harris, visited the Kiltiernan area and gave the commitment to allocate money for the project, a pledge since reaffirmed by current OPW Minister Sean Canney.
According to Mattie Hallinan the flood alleviation measures to be put in place – essentially the laying of bigger capacity pipes – could be completed in a month or so.
“The problem is that the window to carry out this work is getting shorter and shorter. So far we’ve had a wet enough September – time is running out for us and the Winter’s on the way,” said Mattie Hallinan.
A wet start to September has heightened fears of an early start to the autumn/winter flood season – over the first twelve days of the month, the Athenry Met Éireann station recorded 68.5mms (2.7 inches) of rainfall.
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
