Connacht Tribune
Galway Airport to house film and TV studios
The first steps were taken this week to set up a film, TV and audio-visual studio facility on part of the site of the former Galway Airport at Carnmore.
Galway City Council agreed in principle to lease the hangar buildings on the site – covering a total of 4.4 acres – to Danú Media Teoranta based in An Spidéal, for a 20-year period.
BY FRANCIS FARRAGHER and DARA BRADLEY
Now, Galway County Council – joint owners of the old airport site [115 acres] – must also give approval in principle to the development before Danú will formally proceed with a planning application.
However that might be a tougher battle than envisaged – after one group of County Councillors complained of being kept ‘in the dark’ over plans for the future use of Galway Airport.
A number of elected representatives of the Athenry/Oranmore Municipal District were highly critical of the City and County Council management team for not keeping them updated on proposals for the site in Carnmore.
They were responding after hearing of the report presented to last Monday’s meeting of Galway City Council, when Director of Services, Brian Barrett, said that in 2015 a feasibility study had recommended that expressions of interest be sought from the film industry as regards this site.
“Following the agreement of the Chief Executives, the Galway Local Authorities (County and City Councils) commenced a tendering process in 2017 in relation to the leasing of the hangars . . . Danú Media Teo came through the various phases of the procurement process,” he said.
Danú Media Teo, who were established in 2015 under award winning company directors, John Brady and Siobhán Ní Ghadhra, produce film and TV dramas for a host of production companies.
City councillors agreed to give the ‘approval in principle’ for the leasing deal which will be proceeded with under Section 183 of the Local Government Act, 2001.
However, a number of councillors cautioned that the leasing go-ahead would have to come back before them once the detail of the planning application had been finalised.
Former Mayor of Galway, Cllr. Noel Larkin (Ind.) said that the Council should carefully consider what was a long-term lease deal. “If we agree now in principle with the lease, it will be very hard to row back on it later on,” said Cllr. Larkin.
Fianna Fáil councillor, Michael Crowe, said that the two local authorities owned what was a very important site for Galway and it was important that the right decisions were made.
Former Mayor, Cllr. Mike Cubbard (Ind.) said that while it was a good news story, he was worried about any ‘piecemeal developments’ at the airport site. “We need an overall strategy to plan for the entire site,” he said.
City Council Chief Executive, Brendan McGrath, said that the two hangars were 15,000 square feet each and would involve a significant capital investment from the company [Danú] to bring them into use as film studios.
“All we are looking for is agreement in principle on the leasing deal with the caveat that this will be coming back before the Council when planning is finalised. As well as that, both Councils have to agree,” said Brendan McGrath.
Labour councillor, Niall McNelis and Independent, Donal Lyons, both said that the development had the potential to ‘put Galway on the map’ as a centre for film, TV and audio-visual productions.
But news of the City Council’s discussion angered County Cllr James Charity (Ind), who raised the matter at the latest Oranmore/Athenry meeting, said it was ‘disrespectful’ that elected representatives had to learn of that motion in local media.
He said that ‘as a basic courtesy’, elected members of Athenry/Oranmore MD – where Carnmore is based – should’ve been consulted first.
Ger Mullarkey, Director of Services for Finance at Galway County Council, said he was not aware of what City Council motion Cllr Charity was talking about. “I don’t read the local papers,” he said.
It’s understood a similar motion to the one debated at City Council level, was due to be debated at the County Council plenary meeting next week.
But members of the Oranmore/Athenry passed a motion stating that it should come before them for consideration first.
Cllr Shelly Herterich-Quinn (FF) said she was concerned about protocol and how the Council conducts its business. It was a matter of “manners and courtesy” that elected reps in the area would learn of future plans for the site through the proper channels.
Cllr Jim Cuddy (Ind) said that the site was purchased jointly by Galway’s two local authorities in 2013 from Galway Chamber. Some €1.1m was paid for 115 acres, and a ‘master plan’ for the site was to be drawn up.
He said it was ‘not good enough’ that Athenry/Oranmore County Councillors are not being kept informed about plans for the airport site; and they have not been presented with a master plan.
Cllr Gabe Cronnelly (Ind) said plans appeared to be ‘lost in translation’ and there was a lack of communication.
Cllr Cuddy said that ‘nothing should happen’ to the Carnmore site until the new County Development plan is completed. Cllr Liam Carroll (FG) said that it is unlikely that commercial flights will ever return to Carnmore, given how airports such as Knock, Kerry and Shannon are struggling currently during Covid restrictions.
But Cllr Charity said that an air link in Galway could be vital for attracting future Foreign Direct Investment, and it should be kept as aviation.
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
Marathon Man plans to call a halt – but not before he hits 160 races
