Connacht Tribune
Wild about nature: A new initiative is to allow children get up close and personal with wildlife
If you fancy letting your children go wild this August, a new initiative from Birdwatch Ireland, Galway County Council and the Heritage Council is the answer to your prayers. Go Wild Nature Camps are being held in Oughterard and Portumna where children aged between seven and 10 can learn more about the wonders of nature and get up close with some of the wildlife in their own areas.
The free camps are being funded by Galway County Council and by the Heritage Council as part of Heritage Week. They will be held in Oughterard, based at the Courthouse, from August 20 to 22 and in Portumna on August 23 and 24, based at the Workhouse Centre.
Both camps will involve a range of practical sessions, field trips, surveys and games, run by local wildlife experts, from Birdwatch Ireland, the Vincent Wildlife Trust, GMIT and NUIG.
They are a continuation of an initiative that was run around the city during May as part of biodiversity week, explains John Lusby, Raptor Conservation Officer with Birdwatch Ireland.
A raptor is the collective term for birds of prey such as eagles and falcons – these birds are vital barometers of the environment because they are at the top of the food chain. If everything is in order, they will thrive, but if it isn’t they won’t.
Oughterard and Portumna were chosen for the Go Wild camps because both towns have thriving community organisations which are involved in heritage and nature conservation, says John. That was important in ensuring young people got involved. And they have. Oughterard is already full up while there are still places on the Portumna camp.
“We aren’t limited by space but we want to keep it at manageable levels,” he explains. “We are doing it on a trial basis this year to see what works and what’s appropriate for it.”
The Go Wild Nature Camp initiative was the brainchild of the Galway County Council’s Heritage Officer, Marie Mannion, he adds. Birdwatch Ireland already works with her office on educational issues, especially with birds of prey, organising workshops for schools.
“We use birds of prey to teach about eco-systems, healthy habitats and how animals evolve to adapt to their surroundings,” explains Oranmore native John, whose passion for his work is contagious. These are complex topics, but there is a hands-on way of teaching them, he adds. As he outlines how Birdwatch Ireland do this, it’s easy see how schoolchildren would be captivated by their up-close nature lessons.
“The emphasis is on trying to get the kids involved as much as possible,” he says. “It’s about showing them what’s on their doorstep and that they don’t have to stray too far to see wildlife. And then we try to link it up to show that everything is connected.”
A Limerick-based bird welfare organisation, Animal Magic, which looks after injured birds and then re-releases them into the wild, will bring birds such as golden eagles, peregrine falcons and kestrels to the Go Wild camps. These magnificent birds will deliver “a good strong conservation message”, according to John.
Children will have a chance to see barn owls flying silently and learn how silent flight has benefited them from an evolutionary point of view. The youngster will also get up close to golden eagles and learn how these birds’ eyes and talons have evolved to make them such formidable hunters.
One of the more fascinating – and for some, revolting – aspects of this strand will be a demonstration of ‘pellet’ from owls and other raptors. Pellets are clumps of undigested food that these birds regurgitate every couple of days and contain fur and bones from small mammals. That’s because raptors eat their prey whole, eventually casting out the bits that are indigestible. Examining these pellets will demonstrate what the birds have consumed.
Again, according to John, it’s a great way of teaching about the intricacies of nature – if the birds eat rats or mice that have consumed poison, the poison can also kill them. A hands-on lesson on how the food chain works.
“You get a lot of reaction from the kids,” he says. “Some are into it straight away and others take more time.”
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.
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.
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
