Connacht Tribune
Round-up: St Patrick’s Day parade details – Galway city and county
Galway’s first St Patrick’s Day event will get underway at 8.30 tomorrow morning at Dún Uí Mhaoilíosa in Renmore.
The Bishop of Galway Brendan Kelly will attend the event along with the Mayor of Galway and City Councillors.
There’ll be a shamrock parade and mass, followed by the blessing of shamrock and presentation to troops and dignitaries.
2018 marks the 116th anniversary of the Galway city St. Patrick’s Day Parade.
Organisers are promised a spectacle of all things Irish, and this year’s guest of honour is Galway native and extreme adventurer Gavan Hennigan.
The fountain in Eyre Square will even turn green as part of the St Patrick’s Day celebrations.
The city parade starts at 11.30am tomorrow at the West End and ends at 1pm.
In Salthill, there will be a street festival from noon to 6pm, with the road from Salthill Church to Seapoint Roundabout closed.
There will be live music and dancing on stage with local trad groups and dance schools such as the Phoenix Stage School performing throughout the afternoon. Trad on the Prom group will also give a free live performance.
On the streets, there will be face painting, busking, a circus skills workshop, character walkabout and lots of entertainment and activities.
Art work by local school children will be displayed along the streets and there will be a special prize for the Best Dressed Family in Salthill (St Patrick’s Day theme).
There will be stalls with arts and crafts along the street, as well as lots of mouth-watering food.
Athenry’s parade this year is ‘Food Glorious Food, ‘ and starts at 11.45am at the Skylark Centre.
The theme of the event is to recognise Galway’s designation as 2018 European Region of Gastronomy.
Spiddal’s annual event also takes place at 11.45 tomorrow.
Claregalway’s festivities kick off at 12pm at Hughes’ carpark.
This year’s parade will have a special focus on the Irish language and St Patrick himself will join the parade on a pony and trap.
There’ll also be a big screen TV for all the day’s big sporting events including Ireland and England’s highly anticipated Six Nations clash.
Mountbellew’s parade also starts at noon, and locals are encourgages to celebrate the annual holiday with family, friends & neighbours.
Portumna’s parade also starts at 12, and will be led by local hurling hero Joe Canning.
There’ll be prizes for floats in a variety of categories including youth, humorous, business, vintage and voluntary.
Glenamaddy’s festivities also get underway at midday tomorrow at the community centre.
In Gort, the theme this year is ‘Flight of the Dishes’ as the town joins Athenry in celebrating Galway’s designation as European Region of Gastronomy.
The parade starts at St Coleman’s Church at 12.30 tomorrow afternoon.
Dunmore’s event also starts at 12.30 at the national school.
This year’s parade in Dunmore will see a host of prizes for the best entries.
Clifden’s parade also begins at 12.30 at the Galway Road.
There’ll be entertainment on the square before the parade – and a street disco, soccer blitz and live music afterwards.
In Tuam, the festivities also begin at 12.30.
Businesses in the town are being urged to turn Tuam green for the day.
There will be a prize for the best shop or pub window.
Abbeyknockmoy’s 15th annual parade gets underway at 12:30, starting at Treacy’s car park.
Oughterard’s parade starts at 1pm tomorrow and aims to celebrate community spirit.
Kinvara‘s event also begins at 1 at the Moy Road – and organisers say it promises to be a fun day for all the family.
From 1pm in Loughrea, ‘The Wearing of the Green’ will be the focus.
The parade starts at Barrack Street and will be followed by a post-parade community gathering at the Temperance Hall.
Ballinasloe’s parade starts at 1.30 tomorrow at the Fairgreen.
Barnaderg is gearing up for a family fun day from 1.30, with a gathering of locals at the community centre afterwards.
Castleblakeney‘s St Patrick’s day parade will also take place at 1.30 tomorrow.
Oranmore is also hoping to celebrate community spirit at its annual parade.
It starts at 1.30 at the Orantown Centre.
The Moycullen and Roundstone parades start at 2pm tomorrow
Clonberne’s event will take place at 5pm after Ireland and England battle it out in the Six Nations – and organisers say it’ll go ahead rain, hail or snow.
Meanwhile, two St Patrick’s Day parades have been cancelled in the county this year.
The Ahascragh event has been called off due to a recent death in the community.
Headford‘s parade has also been cancelled for 2018.
The Headford District Association has made the decision to cancel due to safety concerns as enhancement works are carried out in the town.
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.
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