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President Higgins to present the Galway Plate
President Michael D Higgins will present the Galway Plate at Ballybrit this afternoon.
Galway Plate Day, one of the best known days in the Irish racing calendar, gets underway at 3pm.
The Galway Plate has been running at Ballybrit since 1869.
The longstanding race is run over a distance of 2 miles 6 furlongs with fourteen fences to jump.
The last two fences, three furlongs from the finish, are the closest fences together of any racecourse in the world.
President Michael D Higgins will present the winner of the tote.com Galway Plate in the winner’s enclosure this afternoon, and says he’s delighted to have a day at the festival.
So far this week, betting and attendance havebeen up – with almost four million euro wagered during the first days.
Almost 40,000 people have already paid a visit to Ballybrit.
President Higgins says the races are an opportunity for people who’ve emigrated to visit home.
The first race this afternoon gets underway at 3pm, and Gardaí are advising motorists to follow their traffic instructions.
Gardaí will be out in force over the week to ensure a steady and safe flow of traffic.
Garda Marcus Flynn says motorists travelling to and from the city should avoid the racecourse before and after race meetings:
This morning, trainer Dermot Weld and his sparring partner Jim Bolger were conferred with Honorary Doctorates by NUI Galway.
66 year old Dermot Weld was introduced Dr John Newell, senior lecturer in Biostatistics.
71 year old Jim Bolger was introduced by Professor Michael Kerin – professor of medicine at NUI Galway and Research Director of the National Breast Cancer Research Institute.
Both were conferred with honorary doctor of arts degrees.
And a reminder live coverage and analysis of the Ballybrit Races on Galway Bay fm.
The death has occurred of the former Bishop of Galway, Kilmacduagh and Kilfenora Martin Drennan, six years after he announced his retirement on health grounds. He was aged 78.
The Galway Diocesan Office confirmed the death this (Saturday) afternoon of the Bishop and Apostolic Administrator Emeritus, who oversaw the Diocese for eleven years.
Born on January 2, 1944 in Piltown, County Kilkenny, he studied for the priesthood at Saint Patrick’s College, Maynooth, from where he was ordained to the priesthood in 1968. His brother Michael is also a priest.
Following his ordination, he continued his studies in Rome where he was awarded a Licentiate in both sacred theology and sacred scripture. He returned to Rome in 1980 to become spiritual director at the Pontifical Irish College for the next five years.
He became a lecturer in sacred scripture at Saint Patrick’s College, Maynooth, where he continued to teach until his appointment as Auxiliary Bishop of Dublin in 1997 with responsibility for East Wicklow and South Dublin.
Following the retirement of Bishop James McLoughlin, Bishop Drennan was appointed Bishop of Galway and Kilmacduagh and Apostolic Administrator of Kilfenora and he was installed on July 3, 2005 in Galway Cathedral.
Outgoing Cllr Terry O’Flaherty (Ind) is on course to retain her City Council seat – and top the poll in City East.
With 33% of the boxes tallied, Cllr O’Flaherty is polling strongly, particularly in Renmore.
Michael John Crowe is ahead of his running mate Alan Cheevers for the Fianna Fáil vote, according to the early figures, although that could change when Doughiska and Roscam boxes are opened.
The Green Party’s Claire Hillery is on about 7%, with Fine Gael on 10% and Sinn Fein on 5%.
The opening of boxes for the local elections began at 9am this morning in Leisureland when the tallymen (and women) kicked into gear.
As regards the Galway County Council elections, the smaller areas are being opened first which means that the four-seater Connemara North boxes will be first in the pecking order.
It will be followed by Gort-Kinvara (5 seats), Connemara South (5 seats), Athenry-Oranmore (7 seats), Ballinasloe (6 seats), Loughrea (5 seats) and finally Tuam (7 seats).
The boxes in these areas will be opened and tallied in that particular order before being transferred to the Galway Lawn Tennis Club on Threadneedle Road where the counting will commence around mid-morning.
That is when the fun will really begin – although the tallies should give a good indication as to where most of the seats are destined.
As regards the city, the Galway City East boxes were opened first, followed by Galway City Central and finally Galway City West. These votes will be transferred to the Westside Centre by around 11am for counting.
There are 39 seats on Galway County Council to be filled with 18 on Galway City Council. The City Council count is expected to conclude on Saturday night but the County Council count – with seven electoral areas to be filled – could well go into Monday.
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