Connacht Tribune
Rural dwellers must be included in bus policies
Rural dwellers should not be forgotten about as the Government moves to tackle car dependency. That’s according to Cllr Martina Kinane (FF) who organised a ‘roundtable discussion’ last week to examine ways of improving bus connections for those living in and around Oranmore, Maree, Clarinbridge, Kilcolgan, Kinvara and Gort.
The meeting, which was attended by Minister of State at the Department of Transport, Jack Chambers, heard a number of “short-term, implementable and practical improvements” that could be made to public transport in these areas.
Cllr Kinane said the discussion, involving a number of local representatives and community activists, sought several “tweaks” to existing bus routes.
“I’ve been working on this issue for 18 months and it got to a stage where I felt a roundtable discussion with the relevant Minister would be the most effective way to get our points across.
“The problem we have at the moment is the existing services in these areas are very inadequate. The meeting had representatives from variety of backgrounds and age groups,” said Cllr Kinane.
“They were able to identify the problems to the Minister. For example, in Clarinbridge and Kilcolgan, there is a real need for a better service for students living at home and trying to get to and from college; also, there are people working in the city who want to leave the car at home,” she continued.
The Fianna Fáil councillor said she had recently met with Bus Éireann and the National Transport Authority (NTA) to highlight the lack of transport options around her area and had proposed simple improvements such as increasing the frequency of services and additional bus stops.
“I have made submissions to the NTA seeking increased capacity on the 350 Bus Éireann service [which stops at Galway, Oranmore, Maree, Clarinbridge, Kilcolgan, Ballinderreen and Kinvara].
“I have proposed two additional services at 8.15pm and 10.15pm to suit workers and students coming out of the city,” said Cllr Kinane.
“In Oranmore, on the 404 route from the city, I have proposed that the terminus which is currently across the road from Joyces should be moved up to Oranhill because if a shelter was built there, that bus could serve another three or four estates – it’s very achievable.”
The two-hour discussion with the Minister, which took place at Oranmore Community Centre, also heard issues faced by Gort residents who were badly served by the public transport network.
“The issue we have is that people are being encouraged to leave their car behind but in rural Ireland, for many, it’s not an option.
“Car dependency needs to be addressed not only in urban settings but also rural communities. Owning a car is essential because there is a lack of appropriate public transport,” said Cllr Kinane.
Cllr Kinane said she welcomed the announcement of an overhaul of Galway City’s bus routes last week but suggested that it failed to address the needs of commuters travelling from South Galway into the city.
“I strongly believe it was a missed opportunity not to extend the routes out into the county. I’m led to believe it will be at least two or three years before that plan is delivered anyway, so we need to be looking at what can be done in the short term.
“As I understand it, the money is there to tweak the network in the ways that were suggested to the Minister last Friday in Oranmore, but we need the political will to do it and thanks to the community and local representatives at the meeting last week, Minister Chambers has been fully briefed,” she said.
“Ministers Anne Rabbitte and Hildegarde Naughton were also in attendance, as was Deputy Éamon Ó Cuív, Senator Ollie Crowe, and Cllrs Shelly Herterich Quinn and Albert Dolan. I think that shows how seriously this is being taken,” added Cllr Kinane.
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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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.
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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
