News
SAC designation creates Connemara no-go area
There is a real danger that nobody will build a new house in Connemara again after another 2,300 acres in the region was designated a Special Area of Conservation.
This means that these lands cannot be touched from a development point of view – underlining claims that Connemara will become “a no go area” for those who want to live there.
The designation has also impacted negatively on the much needed upgrade of the road from Maam Cross to Clifden which locals say is having an adverse impact on tourism in the region.
Oughterard’s Cllr Tom Welby says that more than 70% of Connemara is designated a Special Area of Conservation meaning that there are no developments allowed.
“Earlier this month Galway County Council were informed that 14 sites in Connemara had been designated as Special Areas of Conservation. Once they are identified, they cannot be touched.
“They have the full protection of an SAC. It limits a huge amount of things that the owners can do with it. But the added problem is than any lands within twelve or fifteen kilometres of an SAC are also impacted,” Cllr Welby explained.
Concerns were also expressed at a public meeting in Maam Cross last week about risks that could arise from short term measures to improve the N59 road from Oughterard to Maam Cross.
Deputy Éamon Ó Cuív said an overlay or surface job would lead to increased speeds on a road that is too narrow as it is.
Deputy Noel Grealish was among those who feared that the National Parks and Wildlife Service were totally against the present upgrading plan.
Around 600 people have signed a petition calling on An Bord Pleanala to grant permission for a full upgrade of the road.
The National Parks and Wildlife Service came in for stinging criticism at the public meeting about the N59 organised by Sinn Fein in Maam Cross. Even with planning permission, the Oughterard to Maam Cross upgrade plan is stalled for over two years because the Wildlife Service does not agree with the work methods proposed.
Meanwhile, Cllr Welby said that areas in Cong, Claddaghduff, Renvyle and Carna were impacted by the new designations which means that these lands cannot be built upon. The owners cannot plant a tree or open a drain without permission, he added.
“There are around 20 or 30 restrictions and the land owners have to go before the Minister for the Environment before they can touch their own lands”, Cllr Welby added.
He also referred to the fact that 260 acres of land in Kiltartan in South Galway had also been designated a Special Area of Conservation simply because it flooded last winter.
The National Parks and Wildlife Service designates lands under the European Union’s Habitats Directive in a bid to protect natural habitats, plants and wildlife. Cllr Welby argues that land designations have recently led to the refusal of the important N59 upgrade scheme – and government intervention is needed.
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.
On the eve of completing his 150th marathon, an odyssey that has taken him across 53 countries, Loughrea’s Marathon Man has announced that he is planning to hang up his running shoes.
But not before Jarlath Fitzgerald completes another ten races, making it 160 marathons on the occasion of his 60th birthday.
“I want to draw the line in 2026. I turn 57 in October and when I reach 60 it’s the finishing line. The longer races are taking it out of me. I did 20 miles there two weeks ago and didn’t feel good. It’s getting harder,” he reveals.
“I’ve arthritis in both hips and there’s wear and tear in the knees.”
We speak as he is about to head out for a run before his shift in Supervalu Loughrea. Despite his physical complaints, he still clocks up 30 miles every second week and generally runs four days a week.
Jarlath receives injections to his left hip to keep the pain at bay while running on the road.
To give his joints a break, during the winter he runs cross country and often does a five-mile trek around Kylebrack Wood.
He is planning on running his 150th marathon in Cork on June 4, where a group of 20 made up of work colleagues, friends and running mates from Loughrea Athletics Club will join him.
Some are doing the 10k, others are doing the half marathon, but all will be there on the finishing line to cheer him on in the phenomenal achievement.
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.
From the Galway City Tribune – An impassioned plea for a ‘masterplan’ that would guide Galway City into the future has been made in the Dáil. Galway West TD Catherine Connolly stated this week that there needed to be an all-inclusive approach with “vision and leadership” in order to build a sustainable city.
Deputy Connolly spoke at length at the crisis surrounding traffic and housing in Galway city and said that not all of the blame could be laid at the door of the local authority.
She said that her preference would be the provision of light rail as the main form of public transport, but that this would have to be driven by the government.
“I sat on the local council for 17 years and despaired at all of the solutions going down one road, metaphorically and literally. In 2005 we put Park & Ride into the development plan, but that has not been rolled out. A 2016 transport strategy was outdated at the time and still has not been updated.
“Due to the housing crisis in the city, a task force was set up in 2019. Not a single report or analysis has been published on the cause of the crisis,” added Deputy Connolly.
She then referred to a report from the Land Development Agency (LDA) that identified lands suitable for the provision of housing. But she said that two-thirds of these had significant problems and a large portion was in Merlin Park University Hospital which, she said, would never have housing built on it.
In response, Minister Simon Harris spoke of the continuing job investment in the city and also in higher education, which is his portfolio.
But turning his attention to traffic congestion, he accepted that there were “real issues” when it came to transport, mobility and accessibility around Galway.
“We share the view that we need a Park & Ride facility and I understand there are also Bus Connects plans.
“I also suggest that the City Council reflect on her comments. I am proud to be in a Government that is providing unparalleled levels of investment to local authorities and unparalleled opportunities for local authorities to draw down,” he said.
Then Minister Harris referred to the controversial Galway City Outer Ring Road which he said was “struck down by An Bord Pleanála”, despite a lot of energy having been put into that project.
However, Deputy Connolly picked up on this and pointed out that An Bord Pleanála did not say ‘No’ to the ring road.
“The High Court said ‘No’ to the ring road because An Bord Pleanála acknowledged it failed utterly to consider climate change and our climate change obligations.
“That tells us something about An Bord Pleanála and the management that submitted such a plan.”
In the end, Minister Harris agreed that there needed to be a masterplan for Galway City.
“I suggest it is for the local authority to come up with a vision and then work with the Government to try to fund and implement that.”
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
