News
Study pinpoints 240 flood risk homes in Co Galway
Some 240 homes in towns around the county are at risk of significant flooding in the next big flood according to the most extensive flood risk maps ever drawn up.
The Catchment Flood Risk Assessment & Management study conducted the Office of Public Works (OPW) is the largest study of its kind undertaken in Ireland which aims to plan for measures that are needed to manage flood risk from rivers and the coast.
The study centres only on areas of population and is based on surveys, hydrological analysis, hydraulic computer modelling and public consultation.
Galway is divided between two studies, one for the western waterways and the other the catchment areas of the Shannon River.
In the western study, the OPW found seven towns outside of Galway City were at risk of flooding for which no viable solution could be found for all but one town in the next big flood event – described as a 100-year flood.
The map shows Clifden is the most prone to flooding with 25 homes at risk of flooding. The study puts the damage caused by such a flood at over €625,000. An embankment would best address flooding in the town, according to the consultants.
Gort is the next town most likely to flood with 12 homes at risk, which the study assesses would cost €116,000. Kinvara is third with eight houses and a damage bill estimated at €565,000; there are four in Oughterard costing €12,263, three in Oranmore with damages put at €21,000 and three in Corofin, with the damages here estimated at €360,000. There are two homes on the flood risk map in Roundstone which if flooded are estimated to cost €21,000.
Claregalway is excluded as a major scheme is currently underway to address flooding on the Clare River. Galway City has 318 homes at risk which would cost €8.1m in the event of a flood.
Ballinasloe and Portumna are examined in the study centring on the Shannon. In Portumna 117 homes are risk of flooding with a flood gate regarded as the best solution to alleviate water damage, which would cost €3.6m.
In Ballinasloe, where extensive flood defences previously created saved over 200 homes last winter, there are a further 60 homes at risk when next the waters rise in the River Suck. The study proposes a scheme where the wall at Derrymullen is extended and more eyes on the East Bridge are opened and a dam built upstream to restrict the flow of water.
Fine Gael Councillor Jimmy McClearn said people in Portumna were most anxious that work on the flood gate would be completed soon as it would alleviate 95% of the flooding in the town.
Ballinasloe Councillor Aidan Donohue asked if work in the town was contingent on other work on the Shannon.
OPW engineer Clare Butler said while the body would prioritise certain projects the work in Ballinasloe was not dependent on work elsewhere on the River.
Cllr Joe Byrne (FG) asked if the OPW were looking at the whole catchment rather than particular blackspots.
He said flood relief measure in Gort some years back had saved the town but had cause mitigating problems in the surrounding hinterland.
He welcomed an application to the OPW for funding to progress a flood relief scheme to benefit townlands from Skehanagh in Peterswell to the sea in Kinvara.
In the past six months over 40 roads have been permanently raised which should alleviate some of the hardship for motorists who had to endure lengthy detours last winter.
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
