Connacht Tribune
Kinvara flood news ‘doesn’t hold water’
Yet another announcement has been made on the provision of essential flood relief measures for houses along the quay in Kinvara – but a local councillor remains unconvinced.
Cllr Joe Byrne claimed that this was at least the third announcement made over the past 18 months that barriers are to be provided to protect houses from rising tides and prolonged rainfall.
More than a dozen houses were flooded during the downpours at the end of 2017 – there was also extensive flooding in 2014 – and in early 2018 a commitment was given that measures would be put in place to protect the 19 houses along the quay.
And even last weekend, following Friday’s prolonged downpours, the houses were under threat with rising tides but fortunately they escaped being flooded on this occasion.
But Cllr Byrne said that he was ‘sick and tired’ of such announcements being made over the past year and a half with nothing to show for it.
The Fine Gael councillor said that he has been informed on a number of occasions that progress was being made but yet no application for funding had been submitted.
This week, Minister Sean Canney stated that he had received confirmation from Galway County Council that it is to begin a survey and costing of a Minor Works Scheme to tackle the problem.
He said that an application for funding would be made to the Office of Public Works and that this process will commence in the next four to six weeks
“After the properties along the quay flooded two years ago, I brought the Minister for the Office of Public Works Kevin Moran to Kinvara to see at first hand the devastation caused.
“The Office of Public works has indicated that it will look at an application for funding under the Minor Works Scheme,” Minister Canney added.
But Cllr Byrne pointed out that both Minister Canney and Minister Moran visited Kinvara along with Council engineers back in early 2018 and the process hadn’t even gotten off the starting blocks.
“Back in 2017, salt water entered 13 houses and commercial premises while sandbags saved six others. At the time we called for individual property protection to be provided.
“We were visited by the Ministers and assured that individual property protection wold be provided but it has been a long and very frustrating wait”, he said.
During mid-2018, all houses were visited by the Council engineers and the door openings were measured to facilitate the fitting of barriers to individual dwellings that would rise in the event of the threat of flooding.
A couple of months later there was another announcement about an application being submitted for the flood relief scheme to be funded but again nothing came of this.
“This is a totally unacceptable situation for the residents and commercial property owners in the quay area of Kinvara to have waited 18 months since the first confirmation from Minister Canney,” Cllr Byrne added.
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.
Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App
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.
Or purchase the Digital Edition for PC, Mac or Laptop from Pagesuite HERE.
Get the Connacht Tribune Live app
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
