Connacht Tribune
Making our own headlines!
The power of advertising in the Tribune was underlined when the paper took one of the top prizes at last week’s Local Ireland Media Awards – for a campaign the paper ran with Athenry Credit Union.
That took the prize for Best Local Advertisement – coincidentally in the same week that Athenry Credit Union renewed its advertising contract with the paper for a further twelve months.
Connacht Tribune Group Business Development Manager Kieran Rabbitte expressed his delight at the award.
“This is testimony to the hard work of the advertising team, but also to the long-standing links between the Tribune and a host of blue chip organisations and companies across the county – of which Athenry Credit Union most definitely is one,” he said.
“We are grateful to all of our advertisers – but we also know this award shows how powerful and effective advertising with the Tribune can be,” he added.
The Tribune topped the list of nominations for this year’s Local Ireland Media Awards with a dozen entries making the shortlists – by far the most nominations for any regional newspaper in the country.
Stephen Corrigan’s reporting and Joe O’Shaughnessy’s photographic coverage of the miracle rescue of two paddle boarders in Galway Bay resonated with the judges on a number of fronts, with Stephen’s work in the Galway City Tribune nominated for News Story of the Year and Best News Series, and the coverage itself shortlisted for Best Front Page.
The Connacht Tribune was nominated for Best Use of Photography for ‘Hen-Pecked’ and ‘Back In Our Bubble’ and Joe O’Shaughnessy was nominated for Best Photograph for ‘Off Target’, taken at the Prairie in Salthill during Prince William and Kate’s visit.
Our Covid coverage was also recognised, with nominations for Best Front Page for ‘Bringing Out Our Very Best’, Best Use of Photography for ‘Back in Our Bubble’.
The Tribune was shortlisted for Best Use of Social Media for Enda Cunningham’s regular Covid updates from the start of the pandemic in March 2020.
We were also nominated for Best Advertising Campaign for the Connacht Hospitality group – and received three out of four nominations for Best Local Advertisement, with the Athenry CU campaign winning the award.
All of the winners were announced in a virtual ceremony last week, after the in-person event was cancelled because of Covid.
Host Marty Morrissey revealed the winners in 14 categories – and industry stalwart Pat Ryan of the Nenagh Guardian was honoured in-person with a Lifetime Achievement award.
“Pat has made an immense contribution to local journalism both at a local and national level through his stewardship of the Nenagh Guardian and his active involvement in the work of Local Ireland,” said Local Ireland Executive Director Bob Hughes.
President of Local Ireland and Connacht Tribune Operations Manager Declan McGuire said that it was heart-warming to still be able to celebrate journalism excellence in regional publishers – despite the pandemic restrictions.
“It is important that our achievements are recognised. I want to congratulate all the winners and nominees and pay tribute to all the journalists and staff who deliver our regional news titles week in, week out to such a high professional standard,” he said.
Andrew Algeo, CEO of the National Lottery, underlined the company’s commitment to the competition, by confirming that they had renewed their sponsorship for a further three years.
“In these challenging times, we need great journalism to uncover, to explain, to challenge and to give perspective to what we are all experiencing,” he said.
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.
Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App
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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.
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
