News
Loughrea faces two months of boiling water
Loughrea residents face the hardship of boiling their tap water for up to two months after Irish Water admitted the treatment plant is not equipped to remove the potentially lethal bug cryptosporidium.
A week after the health warning was given, the utility has announced that the best option is to install UV treatment equipment at the old plant – which will take three to four weeks to install.
After that, extensive testing over a number of weeks will be required to ensure it is meeting water safety standards for the 8,500 people living in the catchment area.
Until then the boil water notice remains in place, placing a financial burden on families who buy bottled water instead of the boiling it due to taste, safety and convenience reasons. People have been urged not to drink the water, make ice, brush their teeth or prepare food from the tap and instead boil all water.
One resident, who asked not to be named, said she and her two boys have switched to bottled water after the three of them had constant stomach cramps after drinking boiled water.
“There’s a metallic taste to the boiled water. I’d have two half cups of coffee in the morning and my stomach was constantly upset. I stopped it and then I was fine. I went back and the pains started again. The children were saying they had pains in their tummies so I’m only using bottle water now,” she explained.
“Everyone else is buying water so when you go to the shop you might have to buy the most expensive one as the cheaper ones are sold out. It all adds up.”
Irish Water refused to put somebody forward for interview. In a statement, a spokesperson said the treatment plants producing drinking water for this area are not sufficiently equipped to produce drinking water that meets the current water quality standards.
“In particular, the plants are vulnerable to pollution incidents in the catchment and the consequences of recent very wet weather has increased this risk considerably. This has led to cryptosporidium contamination in the drinking water produced at the plant,” stated Asset Programmes Manager Sean Laffey.
The current option being investigated is the installation of UV treatment equipment at the old plant.
“Normally UV treatment systems could take up to a year to procure, install and fully test. In the case of the Loughrea, a solution may be possible within a number of weeks due to the availability of UV treatment equipment that was decommissioned by Irish Water from another plant elsewhere in the country.
“We are hopeful that we will now be able to get this installed within three to four weeks after which further water quality tests will be required on the Loughrea supply to satisfy the Health Service Executive (HSE) and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that water can be produced to the high standard required.
“Lifting the boil water notice could therefore take a number of additional weeks after the equipment is installed.”
A long term solution to address the water quality in Loughrea is currently at the planning stage and will take between two and three years to complete.
This will involve the construction of a new pipeline to bring water from a modern treatment plant at Tuam to the Loughrea area.
The boil notice applies to all properties serviced by the Loughrea Public Water Supply including the Craughwell area and the following group water schemes: Earlspark, Masonbrook, Newtowndaly, Loughrea Rural, Killeenadeema,Carrowmore/Clostoken & Caherlaven, Caherdine, Ballymanna, Carrigean.
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
