Connacht Tribune
Galway In Days Gone By

1918
Shot at by men dressed as women
One Sunday evening, at about 5 p.m., a boy named Patrick Ryan, son of Mrs. Ryan, Main-st., Loughrea, was fired at by two unknown men on a farm known as the Forde farm at Earlspark – recently the subject of litigation in the High Court – but fortunately escaped uninjured.
The assailants, who were dressed in female attire, with straw ropes tied around their feet, discharged one shot each at a distance of about twenty yards at young Ryan, and then fled. The police are making diligent inquiries into the affair, but so far no arrests have been made.
The farm on which the outrage was committed is being held in trust for the Forde minors and is at present under the supervision of the Ryan family.
Dangerous scourge
The alarming extent to which the influenza epidemic is spreading out to be taken as a serious warning by those who have so far escaped the scourge. In many instances, neglect to treat the outbreak seriously has ended fatally, and not a few deaths that have occurred in the West of Ireland are directly due to influenza.
1943
Ban on harvest amusements
During the agricultural debate in the Dáil, Mr. P. Beegan pleaded for the suspension of all public amusements during the “Harvest Season”, from July 20th to September 20th, so that farmers might concentrate upon harvesting.
He would have dance halls closed on week nights and open on Sunday nights only until an hour after midnight. In addition, he would ban horse-racing or dog-racing during the period mentioned.
“We all know,” went on the Deputy, “that there is such a craze for dancing and amusement all over the country all the year round, every night of the week, that it is interfering with the working capacity and usefulness of large numbers of young people in town and country.
“We all know that, no matter what they may pretend, those people are unable to work the next day after a night’s dancing. The fact that they are contemplating going to a dance disturbs their interest in their work and when they return out next morning, they are unable to give attention to what they are doing for the day.”
Another suggestion by the County Galway farmer deputy which found scant support amongst his colleagues of the Fianna Fáil party was increased remuneration for farm labourers during harvest periods.
New bus depot
Arrangements are nearing completion for the transfer of the Great Southern Railways road passenger services depot in Galway from Victoria Place to the railway station. A new waiting room and public inquiry office have been provided on the station platform and all ’buses plying to and from Galway will use the main entrance to the station platform as the terminus for journeys.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
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Connacht Tribune
West has lower cancer survival rates than rest

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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Connacht Tribune
Galway minors continue to lay waste to all opponents

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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Connacht Tribune
Gardaí and IFA issue a joint appeal on summer road safety

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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