Breaking News
Gridlock in Oranmore as funeral of hurling legend Tony Keady gets underway
Galway Bay fm newsroom – There’s gridlock in Oranmore this afternoon as the funeral of Tony Keady is set to get underway in the next few minutes.
Gardai are implementing traffic plans in the village as thousands of people have been arriving to the Church of the Immaculate Conception to bid farewell to the hurling legend.
The public are being advised to avoid the Maree Road towards Renville between 3 and 5 o’ clock to facilitate the Funeral.
There were severe traffic delays and lengthy queues yesterday as up to 15 thousand people flocked to the village to attend the reposal of the hurling legend, who passed away on Wednesday following a sudden illness.
Oranmore is once again coming to a standstill this afternoon as thousands of people have been arriving in the village for this afternoon’s requiem mass for hurling icon Tony Keady, which will get underway within the half hour.
It follows traffic chaos and lengthy delays in the village yesterday as people began queuing from mid-day to attend the reposal of the hurling legend – and continued to arrive in a seemingly endless stream.
Killimordaly native Tony, who was 53 years of age, lived at Frenchfort in Oranmore and worked at Calasanctius College in the heart of the village, where he was heavily involved in coaching.
He’s survived by his wife Margaret and their four children.
The double All-Ireland winner and All Star played hurling with his local club Killimordaly, and was a member of the Galway senior inter-county team in the 1980s and 1990s.
Tony has been remembered in recent days as a true giant of Galway hurling who dominated the half back line alongside Pete Finnerty and Ger McInerney – a trio long considered some of the finest players to ever wear the maroon jersey.
Among an estimated 15 thousand mourners who gathered yesterday to pay their respects were hurlers and GAA players from all over Ireland.
They included Tony’s former Galway and Killimordaly teammates – and the Tipperary team which battled Galway for the all-Ireland crown in the 1980s, led by Manager Michael ‘Babs’ Keating.
Requiem mass is taking place at the Church of the Immaculate Conception in Oranmore at 2 o’ clock, after which Tony will be laid to rest on the shores of Galway Bay at Renville Cemetery.
Gardai and GAA stewards will be on-site to direct traffic – and the public are asked to avoid the Maree Road to Renville and Renville Park areas between 3-5pm today to facilitate the Funeral.
The Keady family has requested that instead of flowers, donations can be made to the Make a Wish Foundation.
The death has occurred of the former Bishop of Galway, Kilmacduagh and Kilfenora Martin Drennan, six years after he announced his retirement on health grounds. He was aged 78.
The Galway Diocesan Office confirmed the death this (Saturday) afternoon of the Bishop and Apostolic Administrator Emeritus, who oversaw the Diocese for eleven years.
Born on January 2, 1944 in Piltown, County Kilkenny, he studied for the priesthood at Saint Patrick’s College, Maynooth, from where he was ordained to the priesthood in 1968. His brother Michael is also a priest.
Following his ordination, he continued his studies in Rome where he was awarded a Licentiate in both sacred theology and sacred scripture. He returned to Rome in 1980 to become spiritual director at the Pontifical Irish College for the next five years.
He became a lecturer in sacred scripture at Saint Patrick’s College, Maynooth, where he continued to teach until his appointment as Auxiliary Bishop of Dublin in 1997 with responsibility for East Wicklow and South Dublin.
Following the retirement of Bishop James McLoughlin, Bishop Drennan was appointed Bishop of Galway and Kilmacduagh and Apostolic Administrator of Kilfenora and he was installed on July 3, 2005 in Galway Cathedral.
Outgoing Cllr Terry O’Flaherty (Ind) is on course to retain her City Council seat – and top the poll in City East.
With 33% of the boxes tallied, Cllr O’Flaherty is polling strongly, particularly in Renmore.
Michael John Crowe is ahead of his running mate Alan Cheevers for the Fianna Fáil vote, according to the early figures, although that could change when Doughiska and Roscam boxes are opened.
The Green Party’s Claire Hillery is on about 7%, with Fine Gael on 10% and Sinn Fein on 5%.
The opening of boxes for the local elections began at 9am this morning in Leisureland when the tallymen (and women) kicked into gear.
As regards the Galway County Council elections, the smaller areas are being opened first which means that the four-seater Connemara North boxes will be first in the pecking order.
It will be followed by Gort-Kinvara (5 seats), Connemara South (5 seats), Athenry-Oranmore (7 seats), Ballinasloe (6 seats), Loughrea (5 seats) and finally Tuam (7 seats).
The boxes in these areas will be opened and tallied in that particular order before being transferred to the Galway Lawn Tennis Club on Threadneedle Road where the counting will commence around mid-morning.
That is when the fun will really begin – although the tallies should give a good indication as to where most of the seats are destined.
As regards the city, the Galway City East boxes were opened first, followed by Galway City Central and finally Galway City West. These votes will be transferred to the Westside Centre by around 11am for counting.
There are 39 seats on Galway County Council to be filled with 18 on Galway City Council. The City Council count is expected to conclude on Saturday night but the County Council count – with seven electoral areas to be filled – could well go into Monday.
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
