Connacht Tribune
Garda overhaul ‘will see additional feet on the beat’
More community Gardaí will be assigned to towns across Galway under the ongoing roll-out of the State’s new policing model.
Under the new structure, Galway Garda Division will have two community engagement hubs – one in Galway City at Millstreet, and one in either Loughrea or Ballinasloe.
Each hub will be assigned community Garda superintendents, and they will ‘feed into’ what were the old Garda District headquarters of Clifden, Tuam, Loughrea and Gort.
Garda Chief Superintendent Tom Curley said a new community Garda will be assigned to Salthill, and Oranmore was in line for a new permanent community Garda also.
Permanent community Gardaí will be stationed in Tuam, Clifden, Loughrea, Gort and Ballinasloe, he said.
Chief Supt Curley said there would be at least ten additional Gardaí assigned to community policing in the Galway Division, and more inspectors and sergeants.
An update on the new policing model, which has been unveiled previously, was given by Chief Supt Curley at the latest Galway City Joint Policing Committee meeting.
He rejected suggestions that Connemara was not covered by the new community policing plan.
Cllr Pauline O’Reilly (Green) said a community engagement hub in the city and either Ballinasloe or Loughrea only, meant that, “Connemara will be left behind”. Cllr Owen Hanley (Soc Dems) said there was a “huge gap” for community policing in Connemara.
“Definitely not,” replied Chief Supt Curley, who added an inspector will be assigned to Clifden Garda Station, who will have an input into policing of Gaeltacht areas including Ros Muc, An Cheathrú Rua, An Spidéal and Indreabhán. Clifden and the Connemara Gaeltacht will be included in all monthly meetings with the community engagement superintendents, he said.
He pointed out that he has assigned Gardaí to stations in rural County Galway that had no Gardaí for some time, including Corofin, Milltown and Milltown.
The ‘job description’ of the new police is being drawn up, he said, but they will have a “dual role, not just community Gardaí”.
Asked by chair of the JPC, Cllr Niall McNelis (Lab) if he had adequate staffing levels to roll-out the new model, Chief Supt Curley said he was “over 90% staffed, which is very good” but he would continue to lobby for more. “I’m not shy when it comes to looking for resources and I’ll continue to do that,” he said.
As Gardaí are deployed to community policing there will be a ‘back fill’ that needs to be filled.
He acknowledged that no new Gardaí were assigned to Galway in the latest passing out ceremony from Templemore but he was confident Galway would get more graduates in the next round, as well as some more established Gardaí reassigned from around the country.
Under the new policing model, the number of Garda Divisions has been reduced from 29 to 19. Galway Garda Division has been left as Galway City and County, and not joined to any other county, which was “a good thing”, said Chief Supt Curley.
After 96 years, he said it was time for An Garda Síochána to change because communities have changed, crime has changed and the workforce has changed.
As part of the overhaul, Galway had been chosen as a pilot for the new policing model and so it is already well advanced with a civilianisation of the Force, he said. For example, 999 calls are now answered by civilians stationed at the new North Western Regional HQ and Divisional HQ at Murrough in Renmore in the city. “When you’re doing something for 37 years, and you have to change, then you have to bring people with you,” he said adding that the new model was “all about the frontline”.
Cllr Eddie Hoare (FG) said the new policing model was a “good news story”.
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.
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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.
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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.
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
