Connacht Tribune
Music Festival at airport all set to fly
The 1980s reggae band UB40 and urban four-piece Rudimental, whose single ‘These Days’ hit the top of the UK charts last month, are the two headliners for a new music festival at Galway Airport over the June Bank Holiday weekend.
Early bird tickets for the Fever Pitch Festival have sold out with organisers hopeful of selling up to 6,000 tickets priced at €60 per day for the inaugural festival.
The Saturday bill is aimed at a younger demographic with DJs and singers dominating the lineup while the target audience for the Sunday is an older crowd with eleven bands scheduled to take to the stage in front of the old airport terminal.
“We booked Rudimental at the right time as they were number 1 on the charts last week with ‘These Days’ – ahead of the likes of Drake, Eminem and Ed Sheeran. This have also topped the charts with ‘Feel The Love’ and ‘Waiting all Night’ so they are our biggest act,” explained organiser Patrick Drayne.
Joining them on the ticket are Example, who have had two UK number 1’s with ‘Changed the way you kiss me’ and ‘Stay awake’ and are long time collaborators with Calvin Harris.
Chasing Abbey, which just won the RTE Choice Music Song of the year with ‘That Good Thing’, has been described as one of Ireland’s most exciting young bands.
Sean and Conor Price, who just finished an arena tour with stars of the X Factor, will also play – they sold out Vicar Street in 15 minutes last week.
UB40, which in their heydays sold 120 million records – with hits such as Red Red Wine, Signing Off and One in Ten – will play a 90-minute set on Sunday night.
Dublin veteran rockers Aslan – whose biggest hits include ‘This Is’ and ‘Crazy World’ – will be sure to entertain, as will Galway busking legends Keywest. The Riptide Movement, whose single ‘All Works Out’ features on the Discover Ireland ad’ are also on the bill.
Tribute bands to Oasis, David Bowie and Think Lizzy will play throughout the day in the smaller marquee. The event will host a food village, comedy tent and silent disco, as well as a full bar between 2pm to 11pm each day.
“Since we launched, we’ve been hearing back from people that Galway has been crying out for this type of a full-day event. It’s something very different. It has something for everyone – it’s not just electronica, it’s not just for younger people, we’re catering for all tastes and ages.”
Return buses from cities and large towns are currently being finalised for the event, which will have on-site parking.
While PFD Promotions have never organised a festival before, they are involved with nightclubs in Loughrea and Ballinasloe.
The Westport Music and Arts Festival – the last major music festival in the west of Ireland – was cancelled due to a lack of support from locals. Organisers moved it to Killarney only to cancel it there too due to a lack of tickets sales.
Patrick says they are hopeful of breaking even in their first year but have long-term plans to grow the festival into an annual music extravaganza.
“It’s our first year so it’s not about making money. It’s about building it up, showing that we can run a really good event with a focus on safety and traffic management – as well as having top acts,” he remarks.
“We chose the airport because It is only a few minutes from the city, there is a hard surface so it will not be muddy. There is adequate parking, plenty of space for a pick up and drop off area and the wider perimeter is already fenced off.
“We have put in a major amount of work to make this happen, especially on the safety side of things. We are working with a big event management company from Dublin called Cuckoo Events, who are handling all things safety and are working with a transport management company, the guards, the HSE, the fire service and numerous council departments. This event has been in the works for almost a year now.”
Tickets, priced between €54.50 and €89.50 plus booking fee of €5.95, are available from www.eventbrite.ie.
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
