Breaking News
Galway now at Status Orange for snow and ice but travel still dangerous in many parts
Galway Bay fm newsroom – Galway’s weather alert has been downgraded to the second highest Orange warning.
The Red alert was to stay in place until 6 this evening but in a surprise move given the extent of snow coverage in parts of the county Met Eireann downgraded the snow and ice alert just after 4 this afternoon.
The orange alert, which is the second highest level of warning, will be in place until 9 tomorrow morning
The public is still advised to exercise care, and only to travel if it’s essentialas many it is still snowing in many parts of galway and roads remain treacherous, particularly tertiary roads.
Meanwhile the top level red alert for snow-ice has been updated and extended until tomorrow morning – with more snow forecast tonight in Dublin, Kildare, Wexford, Wicklow and Meath.
Munster, the rest of Leinster, Cavan, Monaghan and Galway have a status orange warning – all valid until 9 am tomorrow, while a yellow warning is in place for the northwest.
Meanwhile, most public transport is expected to resume tomorrow, but commuters are being warned to expect delays and cancellations.
Storm Emma has brought the country to a standstill today with no planes, trains or buses operating nationwide.
Bus Eireann, Irish Rail and Dublin Bus all expected to resume operations at some level.
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Around 260 stranded passengers face a second night sleeping at Dublin airport, however flights are expected to resume in the morning, with delays likely – spokesperson is Siobhan O’Donnell:
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Cork Shannon and Knock are also due to re-open.
Bus Eireann says it may be able to resume “a level” of services tomorrow morning, depending on local road conditions.
Irish Rail now says some services will start running from 7am with Darts starting at 8am.
The death has occurred of the former Bishop of Galway, Kilmacduagh and Kilfenora Martin Drennan, six years after he announced his retirement on health grounds. He was aged 78.
The Galway Diocesan Office confirmed the death this (Saturday) afternoon of the Bishop and Apostolic Administrator Emeritus, who oversaw the Diocese for eleven years.
Born on January 2, 1944 in Piltown, County Kilkenny, he studied for the priesthood at Saint Patrick’s College, Maynooth, from where he was ordained to the priesthood in 1968. His brother Michael is also a priest.
Following his ordination, he continued his studies in Rome where he was awarded a Licentiate in both sacred theology and sacred scripture. He returned to Rome in 1980 to become spiritual director at the Pontifical Irish College for the next five years.
He became a lecturer in sacred scripture at Saint Patrick’s College, Maynooth, where he continued to teach until his appointment as Auxiliary Bishop of Dublin in 1997 with responsibility for East Wicklow and South Dublin.
Following the retirement of Bishop James McLoughlin, Bishop Drennan was appointed Bishop of Galway and Kilmacduagh and Apostolic Administrator of Kilfenora and he was installed on July 3, 2005 in Galway Cathedral.
Outgoing Cllr Terry O’Flaherty (Ind) is on course to retain her City Council seat – and top the poll in City East.
With 33% of the boxes tallied, Cllr O’Flaherty is polling strongly, particularly in Renmore.
Michael John Crowe is ahead of his running mate Alan Cheevers for the Fianna Fáil vote, according to the early figures, although that could change when Doughiska and Roscam boxes are opened.
The Green Party’s Claire Hillery is on about 7%, with Fine Gael on 10% and Sinn Fein on 5%.
The opening of boxes for the local elections began at 9am this morning in Leisureland when the tallymen (and women) kicked into gear.
As regards the Galway County Council elections, the smaller areas are being opened first which means that the four-seater Connemara North boxes will be first in the pecking order.
It will be followed by Gort-Kinvara (5 seats), Connemara South (5 seats), Athenry-Oranmore (7 seats), Ballinasloe (6 seats), Loughrea (5 seats) and finally Tuam (7 seats).
The boxes in these areas will be opened and tallied in that particular order before being transferred to the Galway Lawn Tennis Club on Threadneedle Road where the counting will commence around mid-morning.
That is when the fun will really begin – although the tallies should give a good indication as to where most of the seats are destined.
As regards the city, the Galway City East boxes were opened first, followed by Galway City Central and finally Galway City West. These votes will be transferred to the Westside Centre by around 11am for counting.
There are 39 seats on Galway County Council to be filled with 18 on Galway City Council. The City Council count is expected to conclude on Saturday night but the County Council count – with seven electoral areas to be filled – could well go into Monday.
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