News
Government admits go-slow on rural broadband
Reliable internet will be still be a pipe dream for many rural households who are looking at 2020 at the earliest to get connected under the Government’s latest broadband initiative – with a date ten years out from now touted by some of the more “cynical” councillors.
A senior official in the Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources who reiterated the Government’s commitment that all premises in the State will have access to high speed broadband regardless of location was widely derided at this week’s Galway County Council meeting.
Sean Griffin explained to the councillors meeting in Loughrea that after commercial companies invested €2.5 billion to supply 1.6m premises, 70% of the country would have access to broadband of a minimum of 30 Mbps on download by next year.
State intervention was required to get the remaining 30% connected along 100,000km of road network, which included villages with less than 900 premises, rural ribbon developments and one-off houses.
A map was published last November which indicated every building in the country which either had or would have broadband by 2016. An intervention strategy will be published midway through the year outlining what level of work is required to ensure 100% coverage.
Tenders will be sought to roll out the broadband network by December with plans to start the work next year.
“We expect it will be a fibre-based solution to ensure it’s an infrastructure that will last into the future…we expect it to start being rolled out by 2016 and completed by 2020,” said the civil servant.
But councillors scoffed at the department’s broadband plan as nothing more than electioneering ahead of an upcoming election.
Cllr James Charity (Ind) labelled it an attempt to renege on commitments made to 86 rural locations in the run up to last year’s local elections. His fellow independent Des Joyce remarked that rural Ireland could well be left until 2025 to have such a basic resource.
Cllr Sean Canney (Ind) said jobs in Headford would have to move to Galway if companies wanted to grow and remain competitive due to the lack of broadband. “Shame on us,” he exclaimed.
“The whole thing is a farce and ye’ve known it for the last five years,” fumed Cllr Seamus Walsh (FF), who accused the department of hiding behind regulations to delay the roll-out.
Cllr Noel Thomas (FF) said he had proof that companies were claiming to have coverage in an area and once people were locked into expensive contracts “boom it’s gone”.
Fine Gael Cllr Aidan Donohue said the education of children was being put at risk because they were not able to use their computers at home.
Sinn Féin Cllr Tom Healy said it was no wonder the project was “in the state it’s in” when one of the Government’s commercial partners was Eircom, which maintained ‘dial up’ broadband as long as possible for exhorbitant rates and did not invest in infrastructure upgrades.
Councillor Tim Broderick (Ind) said you might as well burn the document if it is subject to a cost benefit analysis, citing a case of a house being constantly flooded which is not getting State support as it did not meet the cost benefit criteria.
Mr Griffin said while he understood the frustration and cynicism of councillors, his department was going full steam ahead with the plan, which had to meet regulations about public procurement, State aid and public consultation.
“Our policy is to have a high speed broadband service to every premises in the country no matter where they are – we are single-mindedly dedicated to that. I understand completely the frustration and empathise.
“This is the biggest and most important infrastructure project in the country for the next 20 years. Please don’t be under any illusion we’re not committed to making it happen because we are.”
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.
On the eve of completing his 150th marathon, an odyssey that has taken him across 53 countries, Loughrea’s Marathon Man has announced that he is planning to hang up his running shoes.
But not before Jarlath Fitzgerald completes another ten races, making it 160 marathons on the occasion of his 60th birthday.
“I want to draw the line in 2026. I turn 57 in October and when I reach 60 it’s the finishing line. The longer races are taking it out of me. I did 20 miles there two weeks ago and didn’t feel good. It’s getting harder,” he reveals.
“I’ve arthritis in both hips and there’s wear and tear in the knees.”
We speak as he is about to head out for a run before his shift in Supervalu Loughrea. Despite his physical complaints, he still clocks up 30 miles every second week and generally runs four days a week.
Jarlath receives injections to his left hip to keep the pain at bay while running on the road.
To give his joints a break, during the winter he runs cross country and often does a five-mile trek around Kylebrack Wood.
He is planning on running his 150th marathon in Cork on June 4, where a group of 20 made up of work colleagues, friends and running mates from Loughrea Athletics Club will join him.
Some are doing the 10k, others are doing the half marathon, but all will be there on the finishing line to cheer him on in the phenomenal achievement.
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.
From the Galway City Tribune – An impassioned plea for a ‘masterplan’ that would guide Galway City into the future has been made in the Dáil. Galway West TD Catherine Connolly stated this week that there needed to be an all-inclusive approach with “vision and leadership” in order to build a sustainable city.
Deputy Connolly spoke at length at the crisis surrounding traffic and housing in Galway city and said that not all of the blame could be laid at the door of the local authority.
She said that her preference would be the provision of light rail as the main form of public transport, but that this would have to be driven by the government.
“I sat on the local council for 17 years and despaired at all of the solutions going down one road, metaphorically and literally. In 2005 we put Park & Ride into the development plan, but that has not been rolled out. A 2016 transport strategy was outdated at the time and still has not been updated.
“Due to the housing crisis in the city, a task force was set up in 2019. Not a single report or analysis has been published on the cause of the crisis,” added Deputy Connolly.
She then referred to a report from the Land Development Agency (LDA) that identified lands suitable for the provision of housing. But she said that two-thirds of these had significant problems and a large portion was in Merlin Park University Hospital which, she said, would never have housing built on it.
In response, Minister Simon Harris spoke of the continuing job investment in the city and also in higher education, which is his portfolio.
But turning his attention to traffic congestion, he accepted that there were “real issues” when it came to transport, mobility and accessibility around Galway.
“We share the view that we need a Park & Ride facility and I understand there are also Bus Connects plans.
“I also suggest that the City Council reflect on her comments. I am proud to be in a Government that is providing unparalleled levels of investment to local authorities and unparalleled opportunities for local authorities to draw down,” he said.
Then Minister Harris referred to the controversial Galway City Outer Ring Road which he said was “struck down by An Bord Pleanála”, despite a lot of energy having been put into that project.
However, Deputy Connolly picked up on this and pointed out that An Bord Pleanála did not say ‘No’ to the ring road.
“The High Court said ‘No’ to the ring road because An Bord Pleanála acknowledged it failed utterly to consider climate change and our climate change obligations.
“That tells us something about An Bord Pleanála and the management that submitted such a plan.”
In the end, Minister Harris agreed that there needed to be a masterplan for Galway City.
“I suggest it is for the local authority to come up with a vision and then work with the Government to try to fund and implement that.”
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
