Connacht Tribune
Galway Minister defends spend on recruiting comedy writer as adviser
Last summer, before becoming Minister for Disabilities, Anne Rabbitte, a Galway East TD, did an interview on RTÉ Radio One’s News at One that turned into a bit of a car crash.
During the course of the interview, the Galway East Fianna Fáil TD, with a reputation for ‘straight talking’, suggested university students were ‘better off’ on the Pandemic Unemployment Payments.
The backlash was instant. Social media erupted. Backbenchers were boiling. Her detractors had a field day. The Portumna politician knew she had messed-up live on air. And she decided that she had to address her issues with communicating.
Stefanie Preissner
The solution? She hired Stefanie Preissner, writer of RTÉ comedy drama Can’t Cope, Won’t Cope, to improve her messaging.
People Before Profit Galway representative, Adrian Curran, this week said it was ‘a bad joke’ that she paid €6,000 to Ms Preissner, as part of a PR package, which was revealed in the Daily Mail following an FOI.
“This government is a bad joke. Between Health Minister Stephen Donnelly forcing his officials, during a global pandemic, to go through and count every tweet that mentioned him, and Anne Rabbitte paying out this kind of money for PR, it is clear this government is more concerned with their image, than focusing on policies that might actually improve people’s lives,” said Mr Curran.
But speaking with the Connacht Tribune, Minister Rabbitte said she has no regrets about the spend.
“If I was a manager on the county team, I’d need a physio, a strength and condition coach and so on. You need to put a team around you so you can be the best you can possibly be. That’s what I did,” said Deputy Rabbitte.
“I’ve flowery language; I admit that. But do you know what, that doesn’t do you when you’re a minister. I was never a politician until recently. And I was never a minister before July.
“So there is a way of engaging without being offensive. I would always describe myself as having flowery language. Nothing wrong with that. I’m a plain talker, and I can communicate on a plain level without using high English,” she said.
“That’s fine. My constituents have no problem with that. But there was national outrage with my straight talking on a radio programme.
“I was very concerned and I didn’t want to find myself in that position again, because I felt I had let myself down and the people who had elected me,” she added.
Minister Rabbitte said all ministers in her position are given a secretarial allowance.
Ms Preissner was chosen, not because her partner is Noel Byrne, Minister Rabbitte’s special advisor – but because they are alike, she said.
“Not everyone would understand my way of thinking; I’ve a plain straight-talking way of thinking and speaking, I’ve a black sense of humour, and for me to find someone who is a little bit like me but who could phrase my messaging a little bit better and to help me out. Stephanie has all that.
“I recognised the strengths that Stephanie had to offer, I also understood my own weaknesses. I don’t want to change the person that I am. I’m still the plain speaking and straight talking communicator.
“That sometimes gets me in and out of trouble but I didn’t want to lose the core values of the person I am and I needed somebody who could assist me to get the best out of me and still not lose the person I am,” added Minister Rabbitte.
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
