Connacht Tribune
Grazing horses damage headstones in cemetery
Horses left to graze along the disused rail track in Tuam are finding their way into the local cemetery and destroying graves and headstones.
Representatives from Irish Rail are being summoned to a meeting of Tuam Municipal Council to explain how they are allowing horses to graze along the track and yet will not allow a greenway to be provided there.
It has been stated that four or five piebald horses were spotted in Tuam Cemetery last weekend and they had caused considerable damage to graves.
According to Cllr Donagh Killilea, the horses had come from the adjoining railway track where they have been grazing for a considerable time.
He made reference to the fact that Iarnród Eireann seems to have no problem with stray horses grazing along the track and yet they closed of a section of the railway line in Tuam which had been used by students and members of the public going about their daily business.
The Fianna Fáil councillor said that the horses were doing considerable damage to graves in Tuam Cemetery and Irish Rail should shoulder some accountability for this.
“The horses are grazing on the railway line and are not being prevented from doing so. And yet when we want to enhance a section of the track near the town centre, they put up barricades.
“We have to do something about the horses that are finding their way onto the graveyard by either confiscating them or prosecuting their owners but something needs to be done,” Cllr Killilea added.
He said that Irish Rail were riding roughshod over Tuam and particularly in its inability to get a greenway provided along the track, which has been the subject of a three year long campaign.
Cllr Shaun Cunniffe said that there was a section of the railway from Vicar Street to the Galway Road which was cleaned up, bottles and needles removed and there were plans to provide shrubbery there.
But he said that “political intervention” resulted in nine feet high steel gates being erected at either end to prevent any notion of a greenway being provided.
The independent councillor said that Irish Rail had done a lot to prevent developments in Tuam and blamed them for their willingness be guided by political interests.
“They have built a fence around the railway track in Tuam without any planning permission and now they have to go seeking retention.
“I have spoken to Irish Rail about them preventing public access along the stretch in town and they won’t respond.
“Tuam Tidy Towns put a lot of work into cleaning up this section of the railway line and they were going to enhance it with flowers and shrubs but Irish Rail just closed it down by erecting high gates on either end,” Cllr Cunniffe said.
A letter is being sent to Irish Rail asking them to attend a special meeting of Tuam Municipal Council.
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
