Connacht Tribune
Galway Ladies’ management lodge complaint over Connacht Final referee
Management of the Galway Senior Ladies’ Football team have made a formal complaint about the decision to appoint former Mayo ladies’ manager Gerry Carmody as match referee for this weekend’s Connacht Final clash with Mayo.
Team Manager Stephen Glennon issued the following statement this morning: “The Galway senior ladies football management expresses its dismay and disappointment and that the appointment by Connacht LGFA of former Mayo minor ladies football manager Gerry Carmody as referee for their Connacht senior final with Mayo at MacHale Park, Castlebar this Sunday stands as is.
“The decision by Connacht LGFA to dismiss Galway’s objection, we believe, calls not only the integrity of this year’s Connacht final into question but also that of an administration which has shown a blatant disregard for Galway ladies football with this appointment and, indeed, the spirit of the game of ladies’ football.
“We would consequently call on LGFA and Croke Park to investigate this matter thoroughly, determining as to how such an appointment could be made, and take swift and appropriate action.
“This is the fifth consecutive year Galway must travel to MacHale Park for the provincial decider and the appointment of Mr. Carmody, who has mentored a number of the current Mayo senior players as Mayo minor boss between 2012 – 2013, is a gross error of judgement by Connacht LGFA.
“We recognise Mr. Carmody, who changed his inter-county designation from Mayo to Roscommon, is not to blame for this current predicament but, by the same token, it would be remiss of Galway senior ladies management, on behalf of our set-up, not to object to the appointment of someone who has represented Mayo as both a ladies’ football inter-county manager and as one of their designated referees over a number of years.
“Galway Ladies Board has informed us this morning that the appointment stands on two grounds – both of which we would dispute. The first is that Mr. Carmody changed his designation two years ago – which is irrelevant given his close association to Mayo. However, it is also untrue as the LGFA national website featured Mr. Carmody in a profile as ‘Mayo Referee’ in September 2016, which is less than two years ago.
“Secondly, Connacht LGFA assert that Mr. Carmody is the most qualified referee in Connacht. This may be the case but, in light of his previous history with Mayo, this doesn’t align with the spirit of the game.
“Indeed, we, as a management, would question why a referee with no affiliation to either of the competing counties could not have been selected for Sunday’s game by Connacht LGFA.
“This is a regrettable situation. We had endeavoured to deal with this in a quieter manner by bringing our appeal to Connacht Council this week but the failure of this administration to satisfactorily address our concerns has forced us to take this issue into the public arena.
“We are disappointed that we have to do so and that we have to deal with this disruption in the week leading into the Connacht final. However, we would hope that by bringing this matter to light in the public domain that this decision would be reversed.”
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
