Connacht Tribune
Galway gardener believes he has world’s biggest Dahlia!
An Ardrahan gardener believes he has cultivated the world’s largest Dahlia flower which he hopes will secure him a Guinness World Record.
The giant pink Dahlia which appeared in Densil Joseph’s front garden last July measured 15.4 inches in diameter. From all records he has trawled the largest Dahlia ever recorded was 14.3 inches wide in Finland.
At the urging of astonished friends, he sent in evidence of his supersized flower to the committee of the Guinness World Record, which takes 12 weeks to adjudicate on each application.
Densil grows 27 different varieties of Dahlias in his front garden and every year they have returned bigger and stronger blooms than the year before thanks to a couple of insider tricks. Every second October he digs up the tubers and keeps them inside for over five months under a bed of sawdust to completely dry them out. He returns them to the soil in late April or early May and douses them with a homemade fertiliser created from seaweed that he collects from a nearby beach.
He places the seaweed in water, adds two spoons of sugar and keeps in a dark and airtight container in a warm location to aid the fermentation for 21 days. The fluid strained from the seaweed is then diluted with water at a ratio of 6:1 and fed to the plants every 20 days.
“The seaweed is pure organic and it prevents diseases and pests like snails. My Dahlias have the most beautiful colours and they last for ages – at least two-and-a-half months,” he exclaims.
He also grows 21 varieties of gladiolis but even with the careful staking of these tall beauties they tend to last just 12 days.
Densil and his wife Smitha moved from the Kerala district of southern India to Limerick in 2010. A year later they both got jobs in the Little Flower Nursing Home in Labane and settled in Ardrahan. Both qualified nurses, Densil works as a carer in the home while Smitha is now nursing in University Hospital Galway. They bought their home in 2016 so Densil could nurture his love of gardening after work on their very own patch of land. Their two children Anna Maria, 2, and Dionn, 7, delight in the presence of so many butterflies throughout the summer.
“My mum and dad are good gardeners in India so that’s how I got interested in gardening. I spend an hour every day gardening in April and May. I weed a lot. In July, August and September you don’t need to do much – just enjoy the colours.”
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.
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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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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.
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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
