Connacht Tribune
Petition helps greenway lobby back on track
Greenway campaigners are claiming a renewed groundswell of support for their campaign to upgrade the old Sligo to Athenry rail line into a walk and cycleway through the west.
The Western Rail Trail Campaign has called on County Councils in Galway, Mayo and Sligo to ‘seize the change’ to develop the 130m route – on the back of newly available funding from the Department of Transport.
And they point out that, unlike other routes, this one is already in public ownership – so there is no issue with farmers fearing a split of their land.
The greenway also wouldn’t prevent a future reopening of the rail line; in fact the Western Rail Trail Campaign says that the walk would effectively protect the route for a future return to rail if the Government so decided in future.
Campaign spokesman Brendan Quinn has welcomed the fact that an online petition in favour of the greenway has now achieved over 15,000 signatures as the new Government Greenway Strategy is about to be launched.
“There is overwhelming support for the greenway in Sligo Mayo and Galway with community support groups in each county along the route, the response to the petition is amazing we passed 15,000 signatures last week and it just keeps going up” said Mr Quinn.
The group is an alliance of community groups in Galway, Mayo and Sligo campaigning to preserve the alignment of the closed rail line from Athenry to Collooney by utilising the route for tourism and leisure as a greenway until such time as a railway may be possible.
“It would be crazy if all three county councils don’t seize this opportunity for funding for what will be Ireland’s longest greenway and will be a huge tourist attraction for the West.
“At the same time the greenway will protect the route in public ownership should a railway ever become viable,” he added.
Mr Quinn said that the new greenway strategy due to be launched by the government will make available over €50 million for greenway development.
“One of the biggest single issues in creating a greenway is land ownership and rights of way,” he said.
“The entire 130km route from Sligo to Athenry is already in state ownership through Irish Rail so there are no issues of land ownership, the route already belongs to the state and there are no plans for the railway to re-open anytime soon.
“So why not create a public amenity with a 130 km greenway from Sligo to Athenry which will be a massive tourist attraction and bring great amenity benefits to the communities it passes through?” he added.
The umbrella group points to the plethora of local groups advocating a greenway for the rail line – including community groups in Athenry, Tuam and Milltown, supported by two Galway East TDs, Minister Ciaran Cannon and Anne Rabbitte.
In Mayo, the Kilitimagh Greenway group is leading the campaign for the Mayo section of the closed railway to be converted to Greenway from Charlestown to the county border at Milltown, with a parallel greenway to be put in place alongside the short section of track in Kiltimagh which is proposed as a velo-rail route, subject to planning permission.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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
