Connacht Tribune
Galway teacher heads to European Gymnastics Championships
A Galway teacher is to represent Ireland in the European Gymnastics Championships next month. Molly Nightingale from Gort has been training with Renmore Gymnastics Club since she was ten.
From an early age, Molly was a real star in the discipline of tumbling and travelled all around the country and abroad to compete nationally and on the world stage.
Tumbling is the execution of acrobatic movements such as rolls, twists, handsprings or somersaults down a 25 metres long sprung track. Unlike most other disciplines in gymnastics, tumbling does not involve the use of apparatuses.
It dates back to Ancient China, Egypt, and Greece when it was performed by travelling bands of entertainers.
Molly’s best results saw her take bronze in 2018 and 2019 in the internationally regarded Scalabis Cup competition where gymnasts from all over the world compete, including Olympic gymnasts.
At age 28, this is the first time she will compete at senior level, which is a massive achievement for herself and her club, as well long-time coach Elaine Ryan.
She qualified for the contest by hitting a particular score at trials held by Gymnastics Ireland.
She is the only senior female in the country competing in Tumbling. There are two other boys from Renmore Gymnastics also going – Cian Hayes and Hugo Kinehan – who are from Limerick but go to college in Galway.
“The three of us are at senior level. Ireland has very few at our level. A lot of the time we’re competing against ourselves here,” she explains, on a break from her school sports weeks.
She will be up against gymnasts as young as 17 – but this doesn’t faze the consummate professional.
“I’m not considered old. I’m actually peaking,” she enthuses.
The European Championships take place in Rimini, Italy, from June 1 to 5, which she also must cough up for out of her own coffers”.
The gymnast spent six years in college to qualify as a PE teacher and has a Masters in Physical Education from the University of Limerick.
For over two years Molly has been a PE and learning support teacher for students with additional needs at Merlin Woods College in Doughiska.
She enjoys teaching pupils gymnastics during PE class, as it is traditionally a module that teachers shy away from due to concerns about safety.
“They’re always asking me ‘Miss, can you do this, can you do that?’ They put a video on Instagram of me tumbling. I love showing them how to do gymnastics correctly. It is such a technical sport.”
Praising the support of her secondary school, Molly is also grateful to Renmore Gynastics which has such an impressive track record in producing top class gymnasts.
“The enthusiasm and determination of the coaches, their dedication to us is amazing. They put so much time into it.”
She currently spends twelve hours training in the club and a further three hours in the gym, so it’s a real commitment.
“Yeah, it is a big commitment. But I absolutely love it. I would have to still love it to be still doing it at 28,” she laughs.
She hopes to make the final eight in the European Championships.
“It will depend on the standard when I get over there,” she reflects.
“I’ve competed at world championships when I was 16. But it’s taken a long time to get to seniors. I had to put my career first. Now, it’s a good time for me. I’m financially stable. I’m able to focus rather than worry about college, paying bills.
“Now I can support myself to get the strength and conditioning and nutritional support. I fund it all myself. Of course, I’d love a sponsor – that would be amazing.”
Connacht Tribune
West has lower cancer survival rates than rest
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.
Connacht Tribune
Galway minors continue to lay waste to all opponents
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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Connacht Tribune
Gardaí and IFA issue a joint appeal on summer road safety
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.
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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.