CITY TRIBUNE
Islanders claim health centre is no longer fit for purpose
Islanders on Inishbofin are urgently calling for a new health centre as the current structure, built in the 1970s as a temporary facility, is covered in mould, and according to angry locals is “sub-standard” and “not fit for purpose”.
The HSE has allocated €40,000 to revamp the current pre-fab building – but residents insist that it has gone beyond repair.
Mother-of-three Tara McMahon is among those who insists it’s “not fit for purpose”. She and another local woman, Veronica Cunnane, who describes the building as “a disgrace”, have had negative experiences with the building.
Tara moved to Inishbofin in 2012 and when she first saw the health centre, she thought it was used for storage. She “couldn’t believe it” when she learned it was the health centre.
Tara’s three children are aged four, two and 10 months, and the youngest developed a very bad cough at the age of twelve weeks. Tara’s concern, as they sat in the waiting room, was that the baby “could end up leaving here even sicker than she was coming in”.
She feels that the fact that islanders have to cope with such “totally substandard facilities,” shows a lack of support for a thriving, vibrant community.
Veronica describes the building as “unsightly,” and says its wheelchair ramp is a safety hazard. Her father goes there twice a week and “access up that ramp isn’t great for him”.
The main concern for the nurses and residents is that the health centre is covered in mould which has created mould spores. These are so small they can’t be seen, but according to Tara and Veronica, there’s a distinct smell of mould spores and dampness.
Roughly 20% of the population are allergic to mould spores. As well as causing allergic reactions, some species contain toxic compounds which can cause headaches, fatigue, running nose, sneezing, coughing and more seriously, pneumonia and asthma.
Young children, the elderly and people undergoing medical treatment are particularly susceptible to mould spores – and all of these groups regularly use Inishbofin’s health centre.
Veronica believes that the allocated €40,000 “won’t go far” to fix up the building. Because it’s extremely difficult to dispose of mould spores completely, she feels the HSE should knock the centre and starting from scratch.
Seven years ago, the Government allocated money to build a new centre but the HSE didn’t act and planning permission has now expired. More recently, the HSE claimed there’s a risk of flooding on the site that was earmarked for the new centre, making it no longer suitable.
Two nurses alternate working on the Island and for the last 40 years, properties have been rented out for their accommodation.
Last September, when a HSE representative deemed the health centre was no longer suitable, a decision was made to move to the now unoccupied Parochial House and locals say some €24,000 was pumped into that building. However, while it was suitable as a health centre, nurses’ accommodation became a problem.
The living room of the Parochial House was transformed into a patients’ waiting room, and as a result, accommodation for nurses was limited to just one bedroom and a kitchen. That meant that every time the nurses changed rosters, they’d have to pack their belongings and move them elsewhere.
Fianna Fáil Galway West TD and Spokesperson on Island Affairs Éamon Ó Cuív agrees, describing the state of the health centre as “inexcusable”.
He acknowledges that the only solution is to build a new health centre. “I will continue to pursue the issue as I have before,” he promised.
“A functioning health centre should be a basic requirement, not a perceived luxury,” he added.
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.”
The new Salmon Weir pedestrian and cycle bridge will be officially opened to the public next Friday, May 26.
Work on the €10 million bridge got underway in April 2022, before the main structure was hoisted into place in early December.
A lunchtime tape-cutting ceremony will take place on Friday, as the first pedestrians and cyclists traverse the as-yet-unnamed bridge.
The Chief Executive of Galway City Council, Brendan McGrath, previously said the bridge, once opened, would remove existing conflicts between pedestrians, cyclists and traffic “as well as facilitating the Cross-City Link public transport corridor over the existing 200-year-old bridge”.
The naming of the new bridge has been under discussion by the Council’s Civic Commemorations Committee since late last year.
One name that has been in the mix for some time is that of the first woman in Europe to graduate with an engineering degree – Alice Perry.
Ms Perry, who was from Wellpark, graduated from Queen’s College Galway (now University of Galway) in 1906. The university’s engineering building is named in her honour.
The bridge was built by Jons Civil Engineering firm in County Meath and was assembled off-site before being transported to Galway. Funding for the project was provided in full by the National Transport Authority and the European Regional Development Fund.
(Photo: Sheila Gallagher captured the city’s new pedestrian footbridge being raised on the south side of the Salmon Weir Bridge in December. It will officially open next Friday, May 26).
From the Galway City Tribune – Minister of State for Local Government and Planning, Kieran O’Donnell was labelled a “disgrace” for overturning councillors’ decisions to rezone land in the new City Development Plan.
Minister O’Donnell (pictured) confirmed in a letter to Council Chief Executive Brendan McGrath last week that he was reversing 25 material alternations made by councillors to the CDP 2023-29. He made the decision on the advice of Office of Planning Regulator (OPR).
Minister O’Donnell directed that 14 land parcels that were subject to land-use zoning changes by councillors as part of the Material Alterations to the Draft CDP should be reversed.
He directed that a further 11 land parcels in the city should become “unzoned”.
The Minister found that the CDP had not been made in a manner consistent with recommendations of the OPR, which required specific changes to the plan to ensure consistency with the national planning laws and guidelines.
At last week’s Council meeting Cllr Eddie Hoare (FG) asked for clarity on the process by which councillors could rezone the lands that had been changed by the Minister’s direction.
Cllr Declan McDonnell said, “What he [Minister O’Donnell] has done is an absolute disgrace”.
And he asked: “Do we have to have another development plan meeting to deal with it?”
Both Cllrs Hoare and McDonnell wondered what would become of the lands that were rezoned or unzoned by the ministerial direction.
Mr McGrath said the Council had put forward an argument in favour of retaining the material alterations in the plan, but ultimately the Minister sided with OPR.
He said if councillors want to make alterations to the new plan, they could go through the process of making a material alteration but this was lengthy.
The Save Roscam Peninsula campaign welcomed the Minister’s decision.
In a statement to the Galway City Tribune, it said the direction would mean the Roscam village area on the Roscam Peninsula will be unzoned and a number of land parcels would revert back to agriculture/high amenity.
A spokesperson for the campaign said: “the material alterations made by city councillors following lobbying by developers continued the long-standing practice of councillors facilitating a developer-led plan rather than an evidence- and policy-based plan that meets the needs of the city.
“The Minister’s direction is an important step in restoring confidence in the planning system. It is clear from the City Council’s own evidence on future housing projections that there was no requirement to zone these lands for residential purposes in order to meet the needs of the targeted population increase up to 2029,” the spokesperson added.
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