Connacht Tribune
Stores in plea to shop local
Galway retailers are hoping that new customs surcharges on online goods bought from the UK, coupled with a concerted push to shop locally, will throw them a Christmas lifeline – after Covid restrictions decimated footfall for so much of the year.
And around the county, scores of retailers have come together to try and create attractive packages to get customers to stay local for all of their festive shopping.
Clifden Chamber of Commerce is one umbrella group – pulling out all the stops to get people to spend their money in the Connemara capital.
And other initiatives, like Shop Ballinasloe – a local rival to major operators like One For All – is also keeping retail traffic in the town.
Clifden Chamber has 300 local businesses signed up to its ‘Shop Local and Support Connemara’ campaign this Christmas. All are listed on its website, with 5,000 flyers being distributed in conjunction with a major advertising press, social and radio campaign to get customers to splurge the cash with local employers.
There’s also a €500 voucher to win for one lucky customer just before Christmas day.
“We want to drive home the message to keep jobs in Connemara. We hope that people will focus on doing their shopping here rather than driving to Galway or Dublin where they will be stuck in traffic,” urged chamber president John Sweeney.
“This is a concerted effort to get people to support businesses here. It’s been a difficult year, especially the first half of they year, so we need people to come out and get behind us.”
The chamber raised €4,000 on an online fundraising platform to help offset the cost of erecting the Christmas lights, which members have in the past funded to the tune of €10,000 annually.
Clifden has seen several new businesses open up this year, including gift shops, cafes and boutiques. They are benefiting from the influx of visitors drawn to the Wild Atlantic Way, which has resulted in a real buzz in the town this summer.
“Clifden always has that pep in her step. There’s this great entrepreneurial spirit here. We’ve long drawn the artisan type businesses here which helps create a special atmosphere.”
With the Ballinasloe Enterprise Centre in Ballinasloe completely full, with 29 small businesses operating and more on a waiting list, the Ballinasloe Area Development Ltd has purchased the old bank chambers on Society Street to house a second branch, with a waiting list already in place for space there.
Renovations on the 6,000 sq ft development are expected to begin early in the New Year and be open for around a dozen businesses by the end of 2022 thanks to grant funding of around half a million euro, revealed company manager Lynn Donnelly.
This is all good news for retailers and hospitality trade in the town, two sectors which have endured a horrendous few years due to the pandemic and the ‘big dig’ which lasted nearly two years before that.
“This should help drive footfall as more people are doing this hybrid working and the kitchen table just won’t cut it anymore. Space is at a real premium in Ballinasloe. We have been full for over a year but demand is only going in one direction,” explained Lynn.
Joe Glennon is co-founder of the Shop Ballinasloe initiative, a scheme launched last year offering full proceeds to local businesses instead of having to pay 15 per cent commission to the likes of One For All.
The 80 businesses which have signed up can sell their wares online or customers can buy vouchers which can be spent in shops, pubs, restaurants, hairdressers, pharmacies and supermarkets.
Set up with the help of a grant from Galway County Council and €9,000 from the National Digital Awards, it ensures that all money stays local.
Sales of the vouchers have picked up in the last fortnight and are likely to exceed €100,000 for this its second Christmas.
“We set it up after the lockdown as a response to Covid when the shops were closed and then started the vouchers last November. We have found that businesses are buying the vouchers in bulk as bonuses for their staff.
“Last year there was no charge for businesses but this year we are charging €199 in total for the year and they are happy to pay as they are reaping the rewards.”
Ballinasloe retailers are hopeful there will be an upswing in spending from this week, reports Lynn.
“My reading of it is that retail is going okay – they’re not jumping up and down about it but given the circumstances they are fairly positive about the way things are going, especially in the last week or two.
“There is a great deal of positivity about the enhancement scheme. The town is looking amazing, and people are surprised to see the results of the facelift. All the shop fronts got done up, the footpaths were done and there is new seating.”
“We’re really trying to hammer home the message that by buying local, not only will you not be hit with customs charges as a result of Brexit, you get better quality service and the after service is excellent if you have to bring something back because trying to send goods back can be a nightmare,” she stresses.
“If it’s one thing Covid has taught us it’s the value of local shops. It’s been bandied about for years but I think the message has finally been understood. If they’re not supported, there will be no shops in the town.”
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
