There will be voter outrage in Galway East as the Government plans to pluck another 3,000 votes from the region and into the Roscommon dominated constituency.

Efforts are being made to restore the county boundary so as Galway East can be restored as a four-seater – as it was case before the boundaries were changed back in 2012.

But it seems that this will not be the case as the Government are determined to maintain the three-seater Roscommon-Galway constituency which takes in the whole of Ballinasloe along with the likes of Ballygar, Williamstown, Glenamaddy and parts of Dunmore.

It has been learned that more parts of Dunmore and Eyrecourt are to be included in the Roscommon-Galway constituency and this is bound to infuriate voters in these areas. It is part of a boundaries commission review that is currently taking place.

But it means that there is no chance of Galway East being restored to a four-seat constituency. Instead it will remain as a three-seater with 3,000 less voters which is now the cause of much controversy.

Fine Gael’s Cllr Michael Finnerty from Ballinasloe said that it was not a move that was welcome. He has constantly campaigned for Ballinasloe to be included in a four-seater Galway East constituency.

“We want to be part of Galway, it is as simple as that. We have no affiliation with Roscommon and the three TDs that were elected in Roscommon-Galway have no affiliation with Ballinasloe. It is a ridiculous situation at the moment.

“I have told the party that this is not satisfactory. We should not have to be in a situation that we have to be part of Roscommon. It does not sit well with party members since the last boundary review,” Cllr Finnerty added.

Fianna Fail party members in the Ballinasloe area are also disgruntled to be part of the Roscommon-dominated constituency and met recently to express their dissatisfaction. They have now written to party headquarters looking for support to have Galway East restored as a four-seater.

In the last general election earlier this year there was no candidate in the Ballinasloe area and the only candidate on the Galway side of the constituency was independent Mick Fitzmaurice in Glinsk who comfortably won a seat.

But now that it is the intention to put 3,000 more votes in the Roscommon-Galway constituency, it seems highly unlikely that there will be any change to the current situation in the immediate future.

Cllr Finnerty believes that eventually voter apathy will set in as he said that there did not seem to be any obvious candidate from the Ballinasloe area standing in the next general election.

An estranged father of seven who caused a scene at his daughter’s confirmation has been ordered to pay over €2,000 in fines and expenses after he was convicted at Tuam District Court of assault, breach of the peace and a number of road traffic offences.

Fifty two year old Martin O’Toole of Stripe, Irishtown, who had pleaded not guilty to all charges and summonses, represented himself during the one and a half day hearing.

In the course of the hearing he quoted from the Treaty of Rome and referenced other District Court cases and the Irish Constitution to show his rights had been infringed.

He claimed he had been ‘robbed’ of his children, some of whom he hadn’t seen in six years, and that Gardaí had no right to confiscate his Jeep when stopped at a checkpoint.

He also questioned the jurisdiction of the District Court and under what powers he was being prosecuted.

In summing up, Judge Conal Gibbons told O’Toole he was deluded about his rights and had misinterpreted the law.

“A little knowledge is a dangerous thing. . . and unfortunately you are operating in a complete misunderstanding and miscomprehension of law. You have a warped view of the law,” he told O’Toole.

Arising out of an incident at the back of St Colman’s Church in Corofin on March 24, 2014 during a confirmation ceremony, O’Toole was charged with assaulting his ex-wife, Mary Teresa O’Toole and her partner, Thomas Fahy of Pollinore, Corofin, and they in turn were charged with assaulting O’Toole.

O’Toole was further charged with being in breach of the peace.

O’Toole told the Court he had not been invited to attend but decided he wanted to share his daughter’s day and give her a card. He admitted he hadn’t seen her in six years and didn’t recognise her until her name was called by the Archbishop.

During the ceremony he left the church to rewrite a card his friend had bought in the shop across the road and on his return his former wife, who he stressed he doesn’t talk to anymore since she left him and took their children in 2009, accosted him.

She told him he wasn’t welcome there and she grabbed him by the neck but he pushed her aside and continued into the church.

At this stage Thomas Fahy grabbed him by the throat and with the help of another man and O’Toole’s son, David, he was successfully ejected.

Mrs. O’Toole denied putting her hands on her ex-husband’s throat but did admit to telling him to go away and not to ruin their daughter’s special day. He then pushed her making her fall to the ground, she told the Court.

Cross examined by O’Toole, who asked if he had ever frightened his children, his ex-wife replied that the reason they left was because of his temper and bad behaviour.

Giving evidence, Fahy admitted to grabbing O’Toole to get him out of the church after he heard shouting and a scuffle at the back of the church.

He saw O’Toole swinging his hand towards Mary Teresa making her fall to the ground. The Court heard O’Toole was shouting that he had a ‘God-given right to see his daughter’ and Fahy said he helped to get him out of the church.

David and Louise O’Toole, both in their twenties, gave evidence to Tuam District Court last month when the case started.

Louise said she saw her father strike her mother and that he tried to hit both her and her brother that day.

David O’Toole said he didn’t want any trouble that day so didn’t speak to his father outside the church before the ceremony. He too heard scuffling at the back of the church and saw someone falling to the ground, but hadn’t realised initially that it was his mother.

When he saw Tom Fahy and his father grappling, he helped Tom get his father, who was shouting and cursing at this stage, outside. David returned to see if his mother was alright.

Sergeant Joseph Cosgrove said, when he got to the church, O’Toole had told him he had been assaulted by his ex-wife and her partner. Mrs O’Toole had been taken to hospital by ambulance.

Photographs were taken of O’Toole’s face which showed an injury to the side of his head near his eye – at the resumed hearing in Tuam this week, O’Toole alleged that injury had been caused by his son David.

O’Toole, in cross-examining the Garda, asked why CCTV footage hadn’t been sought but was told there was none. O’Toole said he didn’t believe that and produced his own photographs of surveillance cameras mounted on the church’s exterior walls.

During the first day’s hearing, O’Toole asked for the case to be struck out on the basis that the State had not proved the case against him and he told Judge Gibbons he took exception to his own children being brought as witnesses against him when there were up to 500 other people present in the packed church that day.

The Court was told that a number of people had been asked but one of them wanted to come to Court.

This week, O’Toole said he wasn’t getting a fair trial as no solicitor he had approached locally would represent him and lawyers from further afield quoted sums of €30,000 that he couldn’t afford. He felt he was at a disadvantage having to defend himself.

Later in direct sworn evidence, O’Toole alleged he had been hit and injured by his son. Antoinette McMahon, defending Mrs O’Toole and Fahy, pointed out that this was the first time this had been alleged in two and a half years.

While being cross-examined by the prosecutor, Inspector Declan Rock, O’Toole said he had gone to the confirmation that day to assure his children that he hadn’t abandoned them.

“I thought I was doing good. On the day, I wasn’t angry but insulted that I was being stopped from seeing my own daughter.

“But I won’t give up and I will continue fighting to get them back,” he vowed.

In a statement made to Gardaí on the day of the confirmation, O’Toole said his wife had left because she was having an affair and brought the children, aged 21, 16, twelve, ten, eight and six with her. He had no contact with her since and didn’t want any either.

He said Fahy was the main instigator of the assault and that he had only defended himself.

O’Toole also faced a number of road traffic offences arising out of an incident at Kilmore, Tuam on September 3, 2015.

Sergeant Stan O’Grady said O’Toole had been seen making a U-turn from a line of cars at an official checkpoint.

On the day, the Jeep he was driving had no certificate of road worthiness, no insurance or tax. O’Toole was not co-operative on the day and had to be physically taken out of the vehicle. He was further charged with being in breach of the peace due to his aggressive behaviour.

O’Toole said the Gardaí had no authority under Section 29 of the Treaty of Rome to take a vehicle that wasn’t theirs and that it and its contents worth €70,000 had never been returned to him.

Sgt O’Grady said a fee of €135 plus €35 for each day the car was impounded would secure him the vehicle but that O’Toole had not done that.

O’Toole, a farmer, was convicted and fined a total of €1,550 plus €600 witnesses’ expenses and given six months to pay.

Fahy was convicted of assault and fined €100. The case against Mrs O’Toole was dismissed. Recognisances were fixed.

State authorities should fund individual flood barriers and other mitigation measures for homes in areas that do not meet the current cost benefit analysis criteria, according to a submission by Galway County Council.

In its response to the Western Catchment Flood Risk Assessment and Management (CFRAM) plan drawn up by the Office of Public Works (OPW), the local authority has called on those cost benefit analysis criteria to be changed for rural areas.

The Council has also called for a voluntary home relocation scheme to be set up for homes under constant risk of flooding where works to lessen the risk were not carried out.

Galway County Council said it welcomed the flood protection measures proposed for Clifden and Claregalway – the latter is currently being built.

“However, Galway County Council is concerned that the many other measures that have been identified to offer flood protection to affected properties in the various AFA’s [areas for further assessment] are not being progressed because they do not meet the required cost benefit criteria,” according to the submission.

“Galway County Council requests that the OPW reviews the cost benefit criteria for minor works schemes and develops a scheme that offers assistance for individual property protection so that the measures and recommendations identified in the draft FRMP’s [Flood risk Management Plan] might be implemented in the lifetime of this plan.

“Galway County Council requests that the OPW assists the relevant body or agency on the implementation of a voluntary home relocation scheme for property owners that can avail of these schemes.”

While the maps drawn up as party of the study will prove an invaluable tool in the management of future floods, the majority are centred around towns and villages and exclude rural areas. The Local Authority asks for a revision of the assessment areas when the next management plan is drawn up to ensure flood protection measures can be identified across all of the county.

“Galway County Council want to see measures like voluntary home relocation, flood forecasting, promotion of individual and community resilience and individual property protection advanced at the earliest possible date by the appropriate body and that adequate funding is made available so that these policies can be realised for those people affected by repeated flooding,” it urged.

Larger schemes should not take precedence over smaller schemes.

“Galway County Council has a particular concern that in many of the AFA’s where flood protection measures have been identified, these schemes are not likely to advance because the minimum cost benefit criteria cannot be achieved. This is of little comfort to the property owners at risk of flooding.”

As an example, it points to water flowing onto Crowe Street in December 2015 from the flood plain at the back of Lidl, requiring sandbags and pumps to be deployed.

“If the embankments or flood walls identified as flood protection measures were constructed this flood risk could have been mitigated against.”

In Tuam, the Council wants any structures identified as being at risk of blockage to be replaced while in Roundstone it calls for the quay wall to be upgraded to act as a flood defence system. Recommendations for channel and flood defence walls to be maintained in Clifden should be taken over by a State body and properly funded.

Councillor Donagh Killilea (FF) said 30 homes affecting by last winter’s flooding were deeply disappointed by the lack of a scheme approved for Gardenfield, which failed to meet the cost criteria.

Rather than wait for the next assessment to be done in six years, the OPW should explore individual home protection for areas such as this, according to the Council.

Free parking will be provided in towns across the county for the Christmas period, starting today.
Galway County Council has voted to provide free parking from 11am over the Christmas period to help boost business in county towns.
The initiative was introduced in 2014 to help boost local businesses by encouraging people to shop locally.
From today until Christmas Eve all County Council parking will be free from 11am in Athenry, Tuam, Loughrea, Ballinasloe, Cleggan, Clifden and Gort.
Meanwhile, in the city the Christmas Park and Ride service begins today.
The Bus Eireann service will see buses run between the city and Galway Racecourse every 15 minutes from 9.30am to 9.30pm from Monday to Saturday
On Sundays, the service will run every 15 minutes between 11am and 7pm.
The cost is €3 per car, regardless of the number of passengers and includes all-day parking at Ballybrit.

The cost of hiring a private consultancy to provide PR and communications advice to public hospitals in the West, including three in Galway, has been slammed as “outrageous”.

Saolta University Healthcare Group, has confirmed that between January and November of this year, it paid €100,737 to Setanta Communications, a Dublin-based firm.

The company is contracted to provide 104 company days per annum, of ‘communications support’ to the Saolta Group of hospitals.

Saolta has two in-house employees who provide communications to the group, and its six hospitals including UHG, Merlin Park and Portiuncula. Each HSE regional area also has communications staff.

The latest HSE West Regional Health Forum meeting heard how Setanta Communications, who won a competitive tendering process, provides “support services, including provision of out of hours and weekend cover to the Saolta Group and all of its constituent hospitals”.

This support “is necessary to manage the internal and external communications requirements, for a group of six hospitals across seven sites, employing 9,000 staff and serving a catchment in excess of 700,000 people,” said Ann Cosgrove, Chief Operating Officer at Saolta.

She pointed out that communications support from HSE at a national level ceased as of August 2014.

Setanta Communications has been contracted to provide a service again in 2017.

She said a lot of media queries are dealt with internally during the week but Setanta supplies responses during out-of-hours and weekends.

City Councillor Pádraig Conneely (FG) said to pay €100,000 for the first eleven months of this year was “outrageous and scandalous”, at a time when there are cutbacks in the health service.

He said there are “any amount of well paid” communications staff within the public health system, who could do the job Setanta was doing.

He criticised Setanta for the dealings he has had with the company. “If you ask them anything all you get is a one-liner. €100,000 for one-liners – that’s not bad,” he said.

Ms Cosgrove said the 104 days Setanta is contracted to Saolta are not “date specific”. “Not date specific? They won’t be working Galway Race Week, will they?” asked Cllr Conneely.

HSE area manager Bernard Gloster said the number of in-house communications staff hired by the hospital group was “quite lean”.

Mr Gloster said they fulfil a range of functions, including updating social media and websites.

“They are not just sitting there waiting for a media query to come through to respond to,” said Mr Gloster.

Almost 750 patients spent time on a trolley at UHG and Portiuncula Hospital in November.
At UHG, 594 patients waited on trolleys last month – an increase of almost 20% on the same period last year.
At Portiuncula, 144 patients spent time on a trolley in November – that’s a year-on-year increase of over 60%.
The Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation says nationally, trolley figures have shown a 1% improvement on last year.
The latest trolley watch survey has found that almost 86,000 patients had been admitted for in-patient care but were left on trolleys as no beds were available in the first 11 months of this year.

Galway Bay fm newsroom – The Minister of State with responsibility for Disabilities has officially opened the new Galway Centre for Independent Living at Briarhill Business Park in the city.
The official opening marks International Day of Persons with Disabilities.
The Galway Centre for Independent Living has been described as a ‘forerunner’ in providing professional services to facilitate a person’s choice to live independently.
Its Home Help Service can assist with a wide range needs including personal care, organising household matters, housekeeping, preparing meals and running errands.
Minister McGrath said the centre will further support its work to assist people to make their own decisions about how they live.

Galway Bay Fm newsroom:-Thousands of people will gather in Esker from tomorrow for the annual healing mission.
The mission gets underway at Esker Monastery tomorrow morning, and will see 4 sessions take place every day until Friday.
Daily masses will get underway at 10am, 5pm, 7pm and 9pm.

A recently decommissioned Irish naval ship may be turned into a museum in Galway.

The idea of using the LÉ Aisling as a visitor attraction in the city, has been floated with Government.

Paul Kehoe, Junior Minister at the Department of Defence, this week said the request is “under consideration”.

The ship, which had been twinned with Galway City for almost 20 years, has travelled 628,856 nautical miles, the equivalent of travelling around the world more than 32 times.

It was decommissioned at a ceremony in Galway Harbour in June after 36 years of service to the State.

At the time, City Councillor Pearce Flannery (FG), the deputy mayor, suggested it could be used as a floating museum in Galway Harbour or off Salthill.

Minister Kehoe this week said he would soon make a decision as what to do with the LÉ Aisling.

The former LÉ Emer was disposed of in 2013 at auction, and fetched €320,000 for Exchequer. In 2015, the former LÉ Aoife was transferred to the Maltese Armed Forces on humanitarian grounds and is used to help with the ongoing refugee crisis in the region.

Minister Kehoe said: “The question of using the former LÉ Aisling as a visitor attraction in Galway City has been raised with me and is under consideration. I am advised that given the age, size, structure and layout of Naval Service vessels that they are considered rather unsuitable for conversion to use as museums or visitor attractions.

“Many issues arise in connection with the conversion of vessels into visitor attractions. This is because a vessel requires ongoing protection measures to affect the physical condition of the vessel to defend it, to stabilise the structural integrity of the vessel, and to guard it from deterioration.

“A vessel must be kept structurally sound, weather resistant and watertight and this requires the availability of materials and competent personnel with requisite skills and expertise to carry out work, at a significant cost. There are other significant costs for the recipient associated with a donation of this type, such as health and safety issues and insurance liabilities and risks.”

The ship was named after the poem, “Aisling” to commemorate the centenary of the birth of the poet and nationalist Patrick Pearse who wrote much of his poetry in Galway.

The Aisling was the ship that was first on scene when the Air India Jumbo Jet was downed by a bomb explosion off the Cork Coast in 1985.

It is currently being stored on water at berthage facilities at the Naval Base in Haulbowline in County Cork.

Minister Kehoe said he would take into account “the pressures on berthage infrastructure and the cost of maintenance on the vessel, the most cost effective and responsible approach” when he decides on what to do with the vessel.

Tuam’s traffic woes are being dictated by a private firm in Dublin which has control of the three sets of traffic lights along the N17 through the town.

But officials of Galway County Council insist that the traffic is flowing more freely through the town since the synchronising changes took place earlier this year.

Members of Tuam Municipal Council said they were receiving complaints from motorists about the movement of traffic through the town and that motorists coming from side roads were not being adequately accommodated.

But Senior Engineer with Galway County Council, Sean Langan told councillors that the three sets of light through Tuam on the N17 were synchronised to the effect that they were all on green at the same time and that this allowed for a better flow of traffic. The lights are being dictated by a private firm in Dublin.

The matter was raised by Cllr Karey McHugh who said that despite the works on the motorway and Tuam bypass, there was still a problem with traffic through the town and requested to know if the synchronisation of the lights had been changed to facilitated a greater flow.

“I have been informed that there are still major delays through the town and this should not be the case and this is why I am calling for the Tuam bypass to be open ahead of schedule.

“I am being told that the Tuam bypass could be finished well before the motorway scheme so there is no reason why it cannot be opened as soon as possible,” Cllr McHugh added.

The independent councillor said that the existing lights on the N17 through Tuam needed to be consistently monitored because there was always going to be delays in view of the works being carried out.

Senior Engineer Sean Langan told councillors that the lights in Tuam were being controlled by a company in Dublin who had an emphasis on facilitating the free flow of traffic through the town.

While the lights in the morning accommodates traffic coming from the side roads, the situation is completely different in the evenings when priority is given to traffic along the N17.

“All of the lights are green at the one time which facilitates a better flow of traffic through the town,” Mr Langan said. He added that the situation would be monitored on a continuous basis.

Cllr Shaun Cunniffe said that there should be a better mechanism for motorists coming off the Ballygaddy Road and Old Road in Tuam during peak times.

He believes that motorists are caught for up to 15 minutes in the evenings and he described this as being unacceptable.

People in Galway, who need home-help, are forced to wait for someone to die before they are allocated hours under the scheme, it has been claimed.

Galway County Councillor Mary Hoade (FF) said she is very concerned that people in the county who need home-help hours are not getting them because home-help hours are not being distributed.

Referencing the case of a 90-year-old woman who is on a waiting list for home help, Cllr Hoade said: “People have to wait for somebody to die before you can get home help. I have a concern that people can’t get home help; there are no home help hours available.”

She highlighted her concerns about home help not being administered in Galway at the latest HSE West Regional Health Forum.

The meeting heard how an overspend in home-help earlier in the year has resulted in a shortage of home help hours now.

“We are continuing to allocate home help hours on a prioritisation basis as the financial challenge still exists,” said Tony Canavan, Chief Officer with Saolta.

“All new applications are assessed and prioritised by a multi-disciplinary decision making forum. Those with the highest need and categorised as priority one (highest need) are awarded a service in line with their assessed need. Those with a priority two rating, while determined to require a service, are placed on a waiting list and are processed as hours become available from existing clients,” he added.

Cllr Hoade said she had concerns about the prioritisation – some people that have been categorised as priority two are in fact priority one and badly need home help hours.

Meanwhile, Saolta has confirmed that Galway University Hospitals is receiving six additional home care packages every week from October 1 to the end of February 2017.

The packages, worth €300, were okayed by the Minister for Health Simon Harris, to support the Winter Plan. Anyone who is granted a home care package between those five months will continue to be supported after February 2017.

The additional packages are targeted at reducing the numbers of delayed discharges in University Hospital Galway.

Cllr Hoade said it was her understanding that between 30 and 40 patients at UHG this week are well enough to be discharged back into the community but they haven’t ben because a lack of home care packages.

Bernard Gloster of Saolta said the number of delayed discharges was actually about 20, and not all of those were related to a lack of home care packages.

“There are complex delayed discharges that are not related to home care packages – it is not necessarily down to home care or home help,” said Mr Gloster.

Cllr Hoade welcomed that the number of delayed discharges had fallen.

Galway Bay Fm newsroom:-A special meeting of Galway County Council will take place tomorrow (mon dec 5) to discuss a controversial report which recommends the merging of the city and county councils.
A report published by The Galway Local Government Committee in October recommends the creation of a single ‘Greater Galway Authority’.
The committee was established by then Minister for Local Government Alan Kelly in January 2015 to carry out a review of existing arrangements.
However, the subsequent recommendation of unification into a single body has prompted a severe backlash from many city and county councillors.
A special meeting to discuss the situation will take place at County Hall at 2 tomorrow afternoon

Fine Gael County Councillors have been urged to rein in one of their city members, who was branded the Donald Trump of Galway over comments made about the County Cathaoirleach.

Sinn Féin’s Tom Healy condemned Galway City Council Padraig Conneely’s “disgusting” remarks at a budget meeting a fortnight about Galway County Council’s failure to pay towards the 2020 European City of Culture bid.

He said the Fine Gael representative had denigrated the County Council by saying it was broke and had paid scant regard for protocol by demanding County Cathaoirleach Michael Connolly stay out of the city for events until they coughed up their half share of the €1.8 million cost for the joint bid.

He asked that the Fine Gael members of the local authority relay the message to Cllr Conneely that those comments should be “redressed”.

Cllr Conneely likened Cllr Connolly to a “pop-up stand”, appearing at every Capital of Culture event in the city. Independent Cllr Tom Welby said Fine Gael should make him apologise for being “downright disrespectful” towards the county’s first citizen.

“He’s really the Donald Trump of Galway…he’s not a team player, he’s never been. He doesn’t like running mates.”

Fine Gael Councillor Eileen Mannion retorted that by raising the issue, the Council was “giving him oxygen” while fellow party Cllr Tom McHugh responded that they were not his “keeper”.

Independent Cllr James Charity while the remarks by the representative for Galway City West were “outrageous”, they had perhaps made the best argument for an amalgamation of both Councils.

“The City Council owes a considerable amount of money to the County Council. I’d like to thank Cllr Conneely for highlighting that.”

Another Fine Gaeler, Joe Byrne, said if Cllr Conneely was the Donald Trump of councillors, “we’d want to be careful”.

The fact that the City Council official had admitted that they owed money going back to 2012 for shared services such as the fire brigade meant that “his rant became a good news story for the County Council.”

Cathaoirleach Connolly said he had only attended events he was invited while he and County Chief Executive Kevin Kelly had attended a meeting with the bid judges.

Mr Kelly said he would wait until the budget meeting to discuss all finances.

In response to a query from Cllr Tim Broderick (Ind) if the County Council would have to pay €3m towards preparing for the designation next year, he assured councillors it would not amount to this.

One of the four Vice Presidents of NUIG has welcomed the development of student accommodation in Bohermore which has successfully come through a planning appeal.

Dr Pat Morgan of NUI Galway said that there is an extreme shortage of purpose-built student accommodation in Galway. She added that the rental sector is no longer providing suitable capacity.

She pointed out that the university is developing additional student accommodation on campus with the intention of providing an additional 900 beds by 2020.

Dr Morgan said that the university is keen to encourage the provision of similar accommodation in existing buildings and brownfield sites in appropriate locations – either close to the campus or in areas that are well served by public transport.

She was reacting to an appeal to a decision by Galway City Council to grant planning permission for the provision of 77 units of student accommodation in Bohermore. The accommodation will be utilised for holiday use during the summer months.

City planners granted planning permission to IVS Student Development Bohermore Limited for the student accommodation at the Sandyfort Business Centre subject to 14 conditions being complied with. A proposed roof terrace was omitted from the plan in the interest of protecting the residential amenity of adjoining properties.

Despite opposition to the development, planners said that the development would not injure the residential amenities of properties in the vicinity and would be acceptable in terms of pedestrian and traffic safety.

However, Dr Derek Allsop, who occupies a two-storey house in the vicinity of the development, appealed this decision to An Bord Pleanála on the grounds that it would add to traffic congestion in the area.

He said that the Sandyford Business Centre in Bohermore was never fully occupied and this was down to the potential traffic congestion, road safety and residential amenity.

Dr Allsop said that the Bohermore roundabout has five junctions and is one of the most congested in the city. The roads, he said, serve a range of uses including business centres, schools, a petrol station and the local cemetery.

“There are bus stops on both sides of Bohermore Road. The proposal would give rise to traffic congestion and a traffic hazard for pedestrians crossing in front of the entrance.

“The traffic management plan does not correctly estimate the required number of car parking spaces for term-time students and summer-time tourists or how this would affect traffic congestion or pedestrian safety,” Dr Allsop said in his submission to An Bord Pleanala.

The appeal was unsuccessful and the development of the student accommodation in Bohermore can proceed.

Orthodontic appointments for 130 children were cancelled in Galway because the dental x-ray machine was so old it stopped working.

The patients, aged nine to sixteen, who had been waiting for months to get appointments, were told in October that their procedures would have to be rescheduled.

Saolta University Healthcare Group, which covers UHG and Merlin Park, said it has now bought a replacement machine, and the appointments would be rescheduled from December.

The group has conceded that the machine breaking down will add to the West’s already lengthy orthodontic waiting lists.

The specialist equipment based at Merlin Park had been listed by Saolta as being on the ‘End of Life Equipment Replacement Programme’, which is a priority list of equipment that needs to be replaced.

But the HSE nationally did not allocate any money to replace it in 2016.

The equipment, which allows clinicians to take radiographs, ceased working before it was replaced.

Ann Cosgrove, Chief Operating Officer of Saolta, said the group took almost €70,000 from its current revenue stream in order to replace the machine, which broke down.

The dental x-ray machine was delivered to Merlin Park last Tuesday, and, following installation and commissioning, it was due to be up and running on Friday “once our clinical licence and application training have been completed”.

In response to queries from City Councillor Terry O’Flaherty (Ind), Ms Cosgrove said the National Treatment Purchase Fund had not been used to send public patients to be treated by a private orthodontist to help clear the backlog of children and teenagers waiting for treatment.

She confirmed there were 1,634 children waiting for an orthodontic assessment; and that waiting list currently stands at nine months.

Once the assessment finds that you need orthodontics, children go onto another list, which is the treatment waiting list, which stands at 2,748, and the wait times are three years and four months.

The number of patients who are in the system in ‘active treatment’ was 3,065, she said.

Small city businesses are being offered a commercial rates’ reprieve next year.

In an early Christmas present, Galway City Council announced plans to reduce the commercial rates of city businesses who pay their liabilities early in 2017.

The measure, which could shave as much as €250 off small rate-payers annual bill, will be introduced as a pilot measure next year.

The Pilot Rates Payment Incentive Scheme was passed at the City Council’s Budget 2017 meeting.

Edel McCormack, Head of Finance, outlined the details of the scheme which involve offering discounts of 5% on commercial rates for rate-payers who have a yearly liability of less than €5,000.

They can avail of the discount if they pay their commercial rates for the full year before June 2017.

Some 65% of the rate-payers would be eligible for the pilot scheme, which she said may be extended in 2018 depending on how successful it is.

The measure was being trialled in order to help that cohort of commercial rate payers, who were vulnerable, and who were identified as more likely to be struggling to pay their rates. She said it was also an incentive to them to pay their rates.

Fianna Fáil City Councillor Mike Crowe said it was “unfair” that 35% of rate-payers were being excluded from the scheme.

Councillor Crowe said that all rate-payers were under pressure to pay their rates, and they all deserved equal treatment.

He said that big businesses with big rates’ bills could use the 5% discount to possibly take on another staff member, or invest it in other areas of the business.

The scheme is expected to be worth €270,000.

Ms McCormack said the pilot would be reviewed next July and she would report back to Councillors.

Overall, she said rates collections have improved in recent years.

Councillor Collette Connolly (Ind) wondered why 25% of businesses were not paying any rates at all. Ms McCormack explained that the rates collection used to be 62%, and then it was 66%, and now it was expected to be 75% by the end of this year.

Concerns that Terryland Forest Park could be traversed by a link road to address major traffic issues at the Kirwan Roundabout have been somewhat allayed.

Members were discussing submissions that had arisen during public consultation on the draft City Development Plan 2017-2023.

The roundabout at the Menlo Park Hotel has been a significant thorn in the side of the local authority, which has been attempting to find a solution for years.

With Bóthar na dTreabh bringing the majority of traffic from the Dublin and Tuam Roads, combined with large volumes from the Headford Road, Liosban Industrial Estate/Sandy Road, Menlo, and from the City Centre, it has become a major pinch point on the city’s road network.

The City Development Plan included a specific objective to provide a new link road between Liosban to Bothar na dTreabh, which Cllr Mark Lohan feared would run through Terryland Forest Park.

Director of Services, Joe O’Neill, told members that this would be one solution in revising the problems at the Kirwan roundabout.

“It might not come to that at all, there were discussions as late as this week to address that junction,” he said.

“It is something that may or may not happen, I can’t say any more. It was one possible way of trying to get five (lanes) into four at Kirwan Roundabout.

“That whole thing has been revisited at this point, and it may not be necessary to go with the Liosban option, any decision will be under Part 8, and will have to come back before you.”

Senior Engineer, Uinsinn Finn, told members that this process will likely take place in the second quarter of 2017.

Connacht Rugby has confirmed that Head Coach Pat Lam will be leaving the club at the end of the current season to take up a new coaching role.

Speaking at the announcement, Lam said: “This has been one of the most difficult decisions I’ve had to make in my life as Connacht and Galway is such a special place for myself and my family. The friendships, support and memories we all  have experienced throughout our time in the West of Ireland is truly heartfelt and will never be forgotten.

“I feel extremely blessed to have been given an opportunity four years ago to build on the excellent work of Eric Elwood. I’m very proud that I can now pass on the baton with the knowledge that Connacht Rugby is truly seen as one of four strong provinces of Irish rugby.

“Rugby should never be about the individual as players and coaches will always come and go. We have worked hard to have the structures and systems in place to ensure the future success of the province for our community.  I truly believe that through our strategic plan and the vision of Grassroots to Green Shirts, Connacht Rugby is in an extremely strong place going forward.

“There is a lot of rugby to be played between now and the end of the season and myself, our management team and the players are fully committed to our goals on and off the pitch. We are heading in to Champions Cup rugby this week on the back of so much hard work over the last number of years. We want to continue to inspire our community and we have many more opportunities on and off the field to do that this season.”

Connacht CEO Willie Ruane added: “Firstly I’d like to thank Pat for everything he has done for Connacht Rugby. He led the province to a first ever trophy and that will be something that will live long in the memory. While there is a lot of rugby yet to be played this season, we wish Pat, Steph and their family the very best in the next chapter of their lives.

“Connacht Rugby has made a huge amount of progress over the last number of years, with Pat building on the great work of those who went before him and we remain extremely confident and excited about the future.

“As a club, we will immediately engage with our Professional Games Board and the IRFU with respect to starting the process of recruiting our next head coach.”

Island Ferries Teo is preparing a number of proposals to bring to the County Council in a bid to resolve an ongoing impasse over the Inis Mór ferry service.
The local authority is to meet with the ferry operators on Friday in the latest in a series of meetings over the beleaguered service.
The Island Ferries service ceased on Wednesday last week, and was due to remain out of action until March over issues including passenger levies.
However, it was temporarily reinstated on Friday following crunch talks between the company, the county council and the Department of the Gaeltacht.
As it stands, the ferry will run until January 4, when the service will be suspended again until mid-March.
County Council Chief Executive Kevin Kelly said efforts are continuing to find a permanent solution.

Galway Bay fm newsroom – 392 thousand euro has been ringfenced for safety improvement works at Schools and Community facilities across Galway.
The money will be shared between 57 facilities across the county as part of the government’s CLAR scheme.
The works will include new or improved safety signs, road markings and digital speed detection signage.
In addition to safety measures, funding of 24 thousand euro has been allocated for the upgrade of Portumna playground.
Gaeltacht Minister and Galway West Fine Gael TD Sean Kyne says such community facilities are essential for young people and encourage community spirit.