Connacht Tribune
Safe – but still living in fear
Lifestyle – Thousands of miles from home, people in Direct Provision are appreciative of what Ireland has done for them but deeply frustrated by restrictions that prevent them from cooking and working. Ciaran Tierney hears their story.
The fear in their voices and the look of anxiety in their faces was palpable. Fear of consequences, of being punished for speaking out, not only from the authorities here in Ireland but from criminal or political elements back home.
It took weeks for the Tribune to set up interviews with women living under the Direct Provision system in Galway.
They were worried that they might be identified or appear ungrateful, given that Ireland has taken them in and allowed them to escape poverty, oppression, or abuse in their own countries.
They are terrified that their families might be targeted back in Africa or that they would be punished if they are deported back home. Only two women were willing to talk, after six weeks of testing the waters.
In some cases they are seen as “traitors” just for leaving, in others they genuinely fear they will be killed or harmed if they set foot back in their home villages.
So the interviews took place in the relative anonymity of a Salthill pub on two weekday afternoons. Both women glanced over their shoulders from time to time, worried that anyone might see them speaking to a reporter.
One of them had an incredible, and harrowing, story to tell. Shola allowed a childhood friend to bring her daughter to Ireland 11 years ago, supposedly for a better education.
She never thought that her friend would try to cut her off from her own daughter or that she’d also end up in Ireland, after having her life threatened by the radical Islamic terrorists of Boko Haram.
She was shattered by the effort of putting on a brave face every day for her daughter, now living with her in a cramped former hotel room in Galway City. Tired of getting by on €19.10 per week, Shola can get very down as she waits for her asylum case to be processed.
When she needed to cancel our first interview, she didn’t even have the credit on her phone to send a text message. Two years after becoming an asylum-seeker, she felt she had lost some of the pride and dignity she had working as a pharmacist back in Nigeria.
The friend who helped Shola and her daughter escape Nigeria has threatened to kill her if she goes home, she said with tears in her eyes. And she has demanded €50,000 from her, knowing full well that Shola has no access to that kind of money.
A Christian, Shola took ill at home in Nigeria, after her friend would never let her talk to her daughter on the phone. Her elderly mother urged her to travel to the city of Maiduguri to pray, because she knew of a great pastor.
Shola was at a service in a Christian church when the terrorists from Boko Haram stormed in through the doors and murdered at least 25 people. Only three people survived.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
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
