Connacht Tribune
Plans drawn up for swimming pool in Loughrea
An application for planning permission to build a swimming pool on the site of the Lough Rea Hotel and Spa will be lodged within weeks, the Connacht Tribune has learned.
Bringing to an end a 70-year saga to construct a public swimming pool for the town, Supermac’s Chief and owner of the hotel, Pat McDonagh, has engaged designers to draw up a plan for the a pool and leisure centre on the site.
Once this stage is complete, an application for planning will be lodged with Galway County Council – and once approval is granted, it is anticipated works will begin immediately, with a construction timeline of ten to twelve months.
Mr McDonagh first announced his plans for the site adjacent to the hotel in April of last year – adding to the four-star property’s facilities and available to the public as well as guests.
And according to Mr McDonagh, they have been working until now to ensure that the “runway is cleared” to proceed with a planning application and and to push ahead with work on a facility that Loughrea has been waiting on for many years.
“We are hoping to lodge planning permission inside the next two months and we’ve just cleared the way to do that,” said Mr McDonagh.
“We are looking forward to getting that in and, subject to planning permission, getting it started in the Autumn of this year – and built within a year,” he continued.
Since he made the announcement last year, Mr McDonagh said there has been huge interest from locals and this has only strengthened his view that it will be a much-used facility in the town.
“The amount of enquiries and the amount of local interest in it has been noteworthy and it gives you great confidence that it will work – and that there is a great need for it.
“Loughrea is a substantial town that needs facilities like this for local people, for local sports teams, or even from a tourism point of view, for visitors,” said Mr McDonagh.
The Supermacs founder, who brought the Lough Rea Hotel back from the brink when he purchased it in 2014, said he is “delighted” to be able to proceed with these plans which will add to the town’s attraction.
A public swimming pool has for a long time been an elusive goal for Loughrea, with the facility first proposed back in 1948.
Despite several fundraising drives and huge public support – and following a number of broken political promises – the plans never came to fruition.
Many feared their aspirations had reached the end of the road when it was announced last year that the Loughrea Swimming Club Committee had purchased a 26-acre field on the town bypass for use by local sports and community organisations – using much of the money raised for a pool.
But according to Mr McDonagh, they can now look forward to a new pool as once planning permission is granted, they’re “ready to motor fairly soon on it”.
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
