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Safety warning for East Galway motorists following overnight snowfall
Galway Bay fm newsroom –
UPDATE 7.15AM – Met Eireann says Orange warning for snow and ice extended to Cork Waterford and Wexford.
Gardai across Galway are urging motorists to take extra care on the roads this morning following snowfall across East Galway.
Met Eireann has issued a Status Red Snow-Ice Alert for the east of the country.
It came into effect at 5 this morning for Dublin, Kildare, Louth, Wicklow and Meath and will remain in effect until 12 o’clock tomorrow afternoon.
Schools are likely to close in those counties today following heavy snowfall overnight.
However, so far, no school closures have been announced in Galway.
The arrival of Storm Emma tomorrow is set to bring more heavy snowfall and gale force winds.
The Taoiseach Leo Varadkar says the country is prepared for the storm to come.
TRAVEL – The heavy snowfall is causing severe travel disruption this morning.
A number of flights have been cancelled and Dublin Bus is warning of significant disruption.
Bus Eireann says services in the East are being seriously affected.
Crews here at the airport are working to clear the runways but a number of flights have been cancelled with more facing delays.
Passengers are being advised to check with their airlines for the latest updates before heading to the airport.
Meanwhile Dublin Bus says its operating a limited service this morning and has warned passengers they face significant disruption.
Irish Rail says all its services are running as normal at this stage however passengers should expect delays.
While in Dublin both red and green Luas lines are operating a “significantly reduced service”.
Bus Eireann says PSO and Expressway services in the East are being seriously affected by the weather and will be providing updates on their Twitter page.
The death has occurred of the former Bishop of Galway, Kilmacduagh and Kilfenora Martin Drennan, six years after he announced his retirement on health grounds. He was aged 78.
The Galway Diocesan Office confirmed the death this (Saturday) afternoon of the Bishop and Apostolic Administrator Emeritus, who oversaw the Diocese for eleven years.
Born on January 2, 1944 in Piltown, County Kilkenny, he studied for the priesthood at Saint Patrick’s College, Maynooth, from where he was ordained to the priesthood in 1968. His brother Michael is also a priest.
Following his ordination, he continued his studies in Rome where he was awarded a Licentiate in both sacred theology and sacred scripture. He returned to Rome in 1980 to become spiritual director at the Pontifical Irish College for the next five years.
He became a lecturer in sacred scripture at Saint Patrick’s College, Maynooth, where he continued to teach until his appointment as Auxiliary Bishop of Dublin in 1997 with responsibility for East Wicklow and South Dublin.
Following the retirement of Bishop James McLoughlin, Bishop Drennan was appointed Bishop of Galway and Kilmacduagh and Apostolic Administrator of Kilfenora and he was installed on July 3, 2005 in Galway Cathedral.
Outgoing Cllr Terry O’Flaherty (Ind) is on course to retain her City Council seat – and top the poll in City East.
With 33% of the boxes tallied, Cllr O’Flaherty is polling strongly, particularly in Renmore.
Michael John Crowe is ahead of his running mate Alan Cheevers for the Fianna Fáil vote, according to the early figures, although that could change when Doughiska and Roscam boxes are opened.
The Green Party’s Claire Hillery is on about 7%, with Fine Gael on 10% and Sinn Fein on 5%.
The opening of boxes for the local elections began at 9am this morning in Leisureland when the tallymen (and women) kicked into gear.
As regards the Galway County Council elections, the smaller areas are being opened first which means that the four-seater Connemara North boxes will be first in the pecking order.
It will be followed by Gort-Kinvara (5 seats), Connemara South (5 seats), Athenry-Oranmore (7 seats), Ballinasloe (6 seats), Loughrea (5 seats) and finally Tuam (7 seats).
The boxes in these areas will be opened and tallied in that particular order before being transferred to the Galway Lawn Tennis Club on Threadneedle Road where the counting will commence around mid-morning.
That is when the fun will really begin – although the tallies should give a good indication as to where most of the seats are destined.
As regards the city, the Galway City East boxes were opened first, followed by Galway City Central and finally Galway City West. These votes will be transferred to the Westside Centre by around 11am for counting.
There are 39 seats on Galway County Council to be filled with 18 on Galway City Council. The City Council count is expected to conclude on Saturday night but the County Council count – with seven electoral areas to be filled – could well go into Monday.
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