Connacht Tribune
Lourdes pilgrimage volunteers forced to call it a day
A group of volunteers who accompanied people to Lourdes for a yearly pilgrimage over the last six decades have to disband as they cannot recruit new members to take over.
The Galway Lourdes Pilgrimage Trust is now made up of just ten committee members, whose average age is 70 and over, explains John Keady.
“We have no shortage of people willing to travel to Lourdes, but younger people don’t want to join the committee or attend the meetings,” he reveals.
“Two years ago, temperatures reached 41 degrees and pushing wheelchairs in that is hard. A lot of us have health issues ourselves and we wouldn’t be able to give the attention to the pilgrims they might need. One of the Stations of the Cross is high up the side of a mountain.”
At their height, the Trust had over 30 volunteers who would travel to the French town with sick and disabled people flocking to the shrine in search of a cure or spiritual healing.
Most years around 45 pilgrims would be part of the trip, along with nurses, a priest and carers, who take part in religious ceremonies over the five days. One of the annual highlights is a torchlight procession at night.
The cost of the pilgrimage is subsidised for pilgrims and volunteers through fundraising from street and church gate collections.
“We always stayed in the same hotel. We were a nice, compact group, we’d know everyone, and everyone would know us. We always started the trip off with a Mass in the Commercial Boat Club so that everyone got to meet before the airport.”
John has been to Lourdes 21 times. He was first invited by the Trust in 1996 after a near death experience. A year earlier he had meningococcal septicaemia and had to be revived three times after he died.
“I was in hospital for a few months. I was lucky to recover. I don’t know how they kept me alive. That first time I went I said I’m coming back to help others the way I was helped and give thanks for being alive. I really enjoyed the peace and the quiet there.”
There will be a celebration Mass in the Commercial Boat Club in Woodquay next Saturday to thank all past and present committee members and the pilgrims who have travelled with the group for many years.
Up to 120 people are expected to attend the event, which will have music and dancing after refreshments.
“We’d hope as many people as possible come on the night to say goodbye to the Trust. A lot of the same group of people would come with us annually. There were people who came with us for years.”
The pilgrimage has taken place for the last 60 years, only taking a break during the Covid pandemic and the Foot and Mouth crisis.
The event takes place this Saturday, June 11, at 8pm.
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.
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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
