Connacht Tribune
Rural-based learning key to community-driven project
The plan to lure American college students to a tiny rural hamlet in Connemara could be replicated across the west of Ireland.
Connemara West was named as the body responsible for examining the potential to promote rural Ireland as the destination of choice for US colleges wishing to avail of a rural based learning or study abroad experience in the Government’s new action plan for rural development, Realising Our Rural Potential.
Dr Kevin Heanue, chairman of Connemara West, said after reaching agreement with seven American colleges, it was clear there existed an untapped market to attract foreign students from rural institutions who had no interest in developing links with urban centres.
They preferred students to experience life in a safer, rural environment.
“I think there’s huge potential for this model in rural communities. If we can continue with our pilot of this, it can work in other locations. There is a real market for this. We won’t take any more expressions of interest from US colleges because we can’t meet demand.”
Key to the project is that it is community driven.
Connemara West is a community development company based in Letterfrack which has 500 shareholders and is run by a board of ten directors. It employs 28 people.
Set up in 1971, its first project was to build nine self-catering thatched cottages at Tullycross, known as the Renvyle Thatched Cottages. Its second major project was the creation of Teach Ceoil in Tully, a heritage and cultural centre which holds masterclasses by world renowned Irish dancers and singers.
The company has also built a community crèche. Through a partnership with the GMIT it set up the Furniture College. Another project, Conservation Letterfrack, preserves and restores wooden artefacts, doing work for the likes of the National Museum.
Other pioneering projects it has worked on are Connemara Community Radio and Forum Connemara.
It provides services to the local community through the Connemara West Centre, which is located in the former St Joseph’s Industrial School in Letterfrack.
“We are building on this legacy of innovative, creative projects with this new strategy based around education-led tourism,” said Dr Heanue.
“Six years ago, underpinned by extensive market research, we began to develop this strategy based on education, heritage, the diaspora in the United States and niche tourism.”
For every US student and faculty member that comes to Tullycross, on average at least one other visitor comes to Ireland, which in effect doubles the initial number of visitors to the area.
“This influx of visitors is a significant economic benefit to the Connemara region. The residential education centre will also benefit the broader region and Galway City. This is a significant addition to the destination infrastructure on the Wild Atlantic Way and for the European Capital of Culture in 2020.
The company has already been approached by individuals and organisations wishing to hold events and conferences in the new centre to support the European Capital of Culture.
Oireachtas members and councillors who attended this week’s briefing on the plan spoke about the potential for this to be rolled out across the region.
Oughterard Councillor Tom Welby said money was never the biggest stumbling block for these kinds of developments.
“The funding will come – it’s to have the product right. In Oughterard we raised €70,000 to do up the old courthouse and were able to leverage €700,000 to carry it out. If you raise a small amount you can leverage the big amount.”
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
