A weekend of journeys

Thu, May 10, 2018

The weekend used to be a great time for ‘the spin.’ In the days when having a car was a novelty, “sit in, sit in,” would be the mantra, as families would pile into the car on a Sunday afternoon for a drive made with no end in mind, the act of travelling seemingly more important than any pre-determined destination. Weekends became associated with journeys, spins to nowhere in particular, visits from unannounced visitors, a series of movements that kept us all connected, grounded, and with a strong sense of where we were from, and what lay out of sight, just over the hill.

But as time went by and we became more sophisticated, the Sunday trip became ‘so 1970s,’ and as shops began to open, Sunday became less different from the rest of the week, and now for many of us, it barely differs from the other six.

City to launch heart failure awareness campaign

Thu, May 10, 2018

Galway is the first city and county in Europe to launch a heart failure awareness campaign.

€3.5 million for home improvement grants for Galway's elderly and people with disabilities

Tue, May 08, 2018

Older people and those with disabilities in Galway city could be set to benefit from funding of €1,100,374 which will be made available via grants for housing adaptations.

Rent hikes at Cúirt na Coiribe condemned as 'callous and unfair'

Tue, May 08, 2018

An 18 per cent hike in rents for student accommodation could see Galway students paying an additional €1,000 for a nine month/39 week lease, leading to warnings that such hikes "threaten the advances our third-level institutions have achieved in recent years".

Don’t copy the British – vote no to abortion on demand

Tue, May 08, 2018

At the heart of the current debate about removing the right to life of the unborn child from the Constitution is a question about what kind of society we want to be. We do not have to look far in order to see the country where they have long ago removed the right to life for the unborn child. Our nearest neighbours in Britain have made that mistake, and we are being asked to copy them.

Disability should not become a death sentence in Ireland

Tue, May 08, 2018

I am the parent of a child with a disability. Persons with disabilities have the same rights as everyone else, regardless of their age. Yet in England and Wales, 90 per cent of pregnancies where the unborn baby has Down syndrome are aborted. This is a tragic reality in our nearest neighbouring country.

Every human life is valuable, and our Constitution currently protects all members of the human family regardless of their age or abilities. The Government and Minister Simon Harris plan to change the law to allow implicit discrimination against people with disabilities by allowing medical professionals to end the life of a child for no reason up to three months or when that child may die “shortly” after birth.

Cuirt na Coiribe issue statement in response to concerns over rent increase

Tue, May 08, 2018

Cuirt na Coiribe has issued a statement in relation to concern among students at the proposed rent increase. It reads as folows:

"Cuirt na Coiribe, Galway, has recently advised residents of rent updates planned to take effect in the September 2018 / 2019 academic year and a new €2m investment programme over the next two years. The new rent rates will bring Cuirt na Coiribe in line with the wider student accommodation market in Galway. From September 2018 a single room in Cuirt na Coiribe will cost €140 per week compared to current rents of €141 per week in Gort na Coiribe, €148 in Donegan Court and €135 at Corrib Village on the NUIG campus. Existing rental agreements with tenants for the remainder of this year are unaffected.

Seventeen families join Galway homeless list in last eight weeks

Thu, May 03, 2018

 The housing crisis in Galway city is worsening with 17 new families joining the homeless list in the city over the past eight weeks.

Grealish says figures prove case for minor injuries unit at Merlin Park Hospital

Thu, May 03, 2018

People with a minor injury now face an average wait of five and a half hours from the time they are first registered to when they are discharged from the Emergency Department at University Hospital Galway.

McNelis raises concerns over numbers of AIR B&Bs in the city

Thu, May 03, 2018

Many apartments in the city centre being run as Air B&Bs are not paying commercial rates or water charges, but are instead “reaping the benefits” of the hard work of rate payers in the accommodation industry in Galway.

Gort and Spiddal Water Treatment Plants to receive €1.5m upgrade

Thu, May 03, 2018

Irish Water, working in partnership with Galway County Council, is investing €1.54 million to upgrade the Gort and Spiddal Regional Water Supply Schemes.

Craughwell NS extension plan moves ahead

Thu, May 03, 2018

Galway East TD Seán Canney has welcomed news that an application for planning permission has been lodged with Galway County Council for an eight-classroom extension to Craughwell National School.

Hyperbaric oxygen therapy clinic now open in Galway

Thu, May 03, 2018

A state of the art Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT) Clinic has opened on Merchant Road in the city offering therapeutic and healing treatment to the people of Galway and beyond.

Ó Tuathail accuses city council of having ‘worst record for social housing’

Thu, May 03, 2018

Galway City Council has been accused of having “the worst record for social housing nationwide” having built “no social housing at all” and having acquired “the lowest number of units” in the State.

Cannon welcomes funding for radon testing in east Galway

Thu, May 03, 2018

Approximately 1,400 homes in the West and Mid-West of the country will be tested for radon levels with the Department of Communications, Climate Action and the Environment providing €70,000 to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for high risk areas in East Galway and Roscommon.

Connolly welcomes return of bus service for St Francis Primary Care Unit after one-month cessation

Thu, May 03, 2018

After an absence of almost one month, a bus service to cater for the day centre at St Francis Primary Care Unit in Newcastle, has been reinstated, a move which has been welcomed by Independent TD Catherine Connolly.

Planning and procurement process is too slow

Thu, May 03, 2018

At the third special meeting held in April we discussed two of the Quarterly reports for the period ending March 30 2018. I have said before that one of the more frustrating things for me is the problem of getting bogged down on unproductive matters such as minutes or enduring spells of pointless bickering which, in the long run only serves to prohibit us from dealing with unproductive matters.

People with disabilities in Galway to benefit from investment in respite services

Thu, May 03, 2018

People with disabilities in Galway are to benefit from new Government investment in respite services, a Fine Gael TD has said.

Deputy Hildegarde Naughton announced that the Government-funded Respite Development Programme for 2018 will mean additional services for Galway.

Aisteoirí óga ag ceiliúradh

Thu, May 03, 2018

Tá daltaí Ghaelscoil Mhic Amhlaigh i gcathair na Gaillimhe agus daltaí Scoil Náisiúnta Cholmcille ar an Tulach i gConamara ag ceiliúradh i ndiaidh dóibh gradaim náisiúnta a bhaint amach ag an bhFéile Náisiúnta Scoildrámaíochta. Bronnadh an gradam scothléiriú na Féile ar Ghaelscoil Mhic Amhlaigh agus an gradam don Bhunscoil Ghaeltachta is fearr ar scoil Náisiúnta Cholmcille.

Léacht Uí Ghadhra

Thu, May 03, 2018

Is ar an gCéadaoin seo chugainn, 9 Bealtaine, a reáchtálfar Léacht Uí Ghadhra 2018, léacht a bheidh ar siúl i Halla na Cathrach, Baile Átha Cliath. Seo léacht bhliantúil Chonradh na Gaeilge, ócáid atá ainmnithe i gcuimhne ar Nollaig Ó Gadhra, iarUachtarán de chuid an Chonartha.

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