Connacht Tribune
Galway rolls out the red carpet for new Bishop
More than 2,000 people – including President Michael D Higgins – are set to attend the Installation of Bishop Brendan Kelly as Bishop of Galway and Kilmacduagh today.
Bishop Kelly, who is a native of Derrybrien in South Galway – will be formally installed in a ceremony at Galway Cathedral at 3pm today (Sunday).
Among those in attendance will be members of the Bishop’s family, representatives of every parish, public representatives and those associated with the life and work of the Church across the diocese.
His official title will be ‘Bishop of Galway and Kilmacduagh and Apostolic Administrator of Kilfenora’.
Michael Neary, the Archbishop of Tuam, will be the presiding prelate, while Martin Drennan, the retired bishop of Galway, will concelebrate.
At the beginning of the ceremony, a formal Apostolic Letter from Pope Francis will be read by the outgoing Diocesan Administrator, Canon Michael McLoughlin which will formally name Bishop Kelly as the new Bishop of Galway and Kilmacduagh and name him also as the Apostolic Administrator of Kilfenora.
This letter will then be formally viewed by the Chancellor of the Diocese, Canon Ian O’Neill and subsequently by the Chapter of Canons. Bishop Kelly is then accepted to be the new bishop.
Following the ceremony, there will be an informal reception in a marquee erected adjacent to the Cathedral.
A traffic management and parking plan will be in force in the Cathedral and Gaol Road carparks, and the surrounding area, which will be implemented by the Gardaí, Galway City Council and NUI Galway.
Because of capacity constraints in the Cathedral, the Installation will be “ticketed”, and more than 2,000 tickets have already been distributed within the diocese.
One of Bishop Kelly’s first engagements will be to celebrate Mass for the students and staff of GMIT the following week, February 14, which is both Ash Wednesday and Valentine’s Day.
Bishop Drennan formally retired on July 29, 2016 due to ill health, and the dioceses were administered by Canon McLoughlin (Moycullen parish priest) since then. He relinquishes his responsibilities this afternoon.
Brendan Kelly was born in Derrybrien in May 1946 to Seán and Annie Kelly, the second of nine children, and attended Craughwell National School before boarding at St Mary’s College in Galway.
In 1964 he was accepted to study for the priesthood by then bishop, Michael Browne, and went to Maynooth that year, where he completed his Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Divinity degrees and was ordained in Galway Cathedral in 1971.
His first parish was Kinvara and in 1972, he became a teacher at Coláiste Éinde in Salthill, completing a Higher Diploma in Education at University College Galway in 1973.
He remained on the teaching staff at St Enda’s until 1980, when he moved to Our Lady’s College in Gort, where he became President in 1986.
In 1995, with the amalgamation of the three Gort secondary schools, Bishop Kelly was granted sabbatical leave from his diocese which led him to spending a year with the L’Arche Community in France – a movement that seeks to create an environment where people with and without intellectual disabilities live in harmony.
Returning to his diocese in 1996, he was appointed Parish Priest of Lisdoonvarna in Co Clare and in 2003, Parish Priest of An Spidéal.
On November 2007, Bishop Brendan was appointed by Pope Benedict as Bishop of Achonry – bringing him to Ballaghaderreen where he has remained up to now.
A fluent Irish speaker, he also has a working knowledge of French.
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
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