Connacht Tribune
The eye of the storm
Lifestyle – The bravery of people who save lives at sea is captured by journalist LORNA SIGGINS in her latest book, Search and Rescue. It includes an account of a terrifying storm in Galway Bay during Christmas 1993 when a Spanish trawler got into trouble. A crew was dispatched from Shannon Airport to rescue the fishermen but the Sikorsky helicopter being deployed was damaged so badly, it nearly had to ditch in the ocean. Fortunately, on that occasion, all involved survived.
Close to Christmas 1993, weather conditions were so bad at Shannon Airport that cargo palettes were airborne, and a Fiat Uno was lifting up and down in the wind.
That was how John McDermott, formerly a sergeant with the Air Corps, remembered it. He was working for Irish Helicopters, which held the State search and rescue contract at Shannon Airport.
McDermott and his partner, co-pilot Carmel Kirby, finished duty about 9pm and headed home to Quin, County Clare. Kirby, from Renmore in Galway City, was the first female pilot on the Shannon search and rescue unit. The storm was so severe that they had to make several detours. When they eventually arrived, a front wall had collapsed, a tree was down and there was no electricity.
As they lit candles in the house, they remarked that nothing would happen that night. Conditions were too bad for anyone to be out.
However, several Spanish fishing vessels had put to sea in the teeth of the gale warning. Among them were two Irish-registered Spaniards, the 35-metre Dursey and the 42-metre Dunboy, owned by Eiranova Fisheries of Castletownbere, County Cork, a subsidiary of a Spanish company.
In the early hours of 9 December, the Dunboy reported an engine failure and gave its position on VHF radio as 40 nautical miles west of Slyne Head, County Galway. McDermott was woken by his bleeper at 1.55am.
“We were told there were thirteen crew on a Spanish boat in trouble. I remember thinking that was a great number ‒ thirteen,” McDermott recalled.
Captain Liam Kirwan, who was on duty that night at the Marine Rescue Co-ordination Centre (MRCC), had decided to put in a request for Air Corps and RAF helicopters. There didn’t seem to be any great need, he recalled afterwards, but his instincts told him he should.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
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Connacht Tribune
West has lower cancer survival rates than rest
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.
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Connacht Tribune
Galway minors continue to lay waste to all opponents
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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Connacht Tribune
Gardaí and IFA issue a joint appeal on summer road safety
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.
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