Connacht Tribune
Galway politicians produce 600,000 items at Oireachts print facility
Galway politicians used the Oireachtas print facility to produce more than 600,000 items of material to communicate with constituents over the past two years.
The items are produced and printed free of charge for senators and TDs but they cost the Houses of the Oireachtas in excess of €15,000 in 2020 and 2021.
The outlay does not include the cost of printing staff including graphic designers who designed the material.
Customised promotional material that was printed for local TDs and Senators included greeting cards, Christmas cards, business cards, letterheads, compliment slips, Oireachtas-headed paper, newsletters and leaflets.
Independent Senator Rónán Mullen, from Ahascragh, had some 246,900 items printed costing €4,237. That included 900 Christmas cards, 116,000 newsletters and 140,000 A4 colour printed letterheads.
Galway West TD, Hildegarde Naughton (FG) had material worth €3,632 printed since she was promoted to Minister of State at the Department of Transport attending Cabinet. Minister Naughton printed 145,000 items including 47,000 A4 colour newsletters.
Galway East TD, Anne Rabbitte (FF) Minister of State at the Department of Health with responsibility for Disability had some 46,500 items printed at a cost of €1,345. Among the printed material were 500 greeting cards and 21,000 A4 colour newsletters.
Former Government chief whip and former Galway West TD, Senator Seán Kyne (FG) had material printed that cost €878. It included 2,000 compliment slips and 2,000 Oireachtas headed paper.
In Roscommon/Galway, Deputy Claire Kerrane (SF) and Senator Eugene Murphy (FF) produced material worth €781 and €776 respectively.
Deputy Kerrane’s 26,820 items included 20,000 A4 colour newsletters while Senator Murphy’s 18,900 items included 10,000 newsletters and 2,000 business cards.
Independent TD in Roscommon/Galway Michael Fitzmaurice had an outlay of just €64 on 500 compliment slips and 500 business cards.
Former Fine Gael Minister now independent TD Denis Naughton had material costing €235 printed, which included 500 business cards.
Independent Senator Pádraig Ó Ceidigh had some 11,500 items printed at a cost of €282; these included 3,000 newsletters.
Green Party Senator Pauline O’Reilly produced 95,850 items that cost €1,703, including 95,000 colour newsletters.
The cost of items produced for Galway East TD, and former Minister of State, Ciaran Cannon (FG) was €357. Among the 5,000 items were business cards, compliment slips and Oireachtas-headed paper.
Another former Junior Minister in Galway East, Seán Canney (Ind) had 6,000 Oireachtas-headed paper produced at a cost of €233.
In Galway West, Mairead Farrell (SF) had 26,700 items printed at a cost of €726, including 12,000 newsletters, 200 business cards, 2,000 clinic query forms.
Galway West TD Éamon Ó Cuív’s printing costs amounted to €157 for 10,000 items including gold foiled letterheads. His party colleague in the constituency, Senator Ollie Crowe also had 10,000 items produced at a cost of €329, including 5,000 newsletters and 400 business cards.
Leas Ceann Comhairle and Galway West TD, Catherine Connolly (Ind) had 1,000 Dáil-headed paper printed at a cost of €45.
The costs incurred by the Oireachtas, released following a Freedom of Information request, include consumables such as paper and ink, and does not include other costs associated with the printing jobs including staff costs, premises rent, IT, machinery and so on.
(Photo: Senator Rónán Mullen, who had some 246,900 items printed costing €4,237).
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.
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Galway minors continue to lay waste to all opponents
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