Increased security measures have been taken to ensure public safety during this years Galway Races, from Monday 31st July to Sunday 6th August, following a review of safety procedures with the relevant authorities.

There will be more extensive, bag and physical search procedures for all patrons and staff at all racecourse entrances and there will be a stronger Garda presence throughout the racecourse.

An official statement warned that backpacks and large bags will not be allowed into the racecourse this year and only small bags measuring no bigger than A4 (29.7cm x 21cm) will be permitted to the racecourse and may be subject to search procedures.

There will also be no bag storage facilities in or around the racecourse.

It has also been noted that it is inevitable that access to the racecourse this year will take longer than normal and the Galway Races is asking for understanding, patience and cooperation with its security personnel.

Galway County Council has issued a statement advising people about what to do when faced with suspected bogus callers. The statememnt was released following concerns that people have been receiveing phonecalls from people pretending to be from the Council and Irish water.

The statement read:

“It has been reported from time to time that people are receiving phone calls from people saying they are from the County Council or Irish Water.

“In the event that this happens please ask them for their name and their contact number and tell them that you are going to make contact with the County Council (091 509000) or Irish Water (1850 278278) to verify their identity before you will deal with them.

“If in any further doubt ring your local Garda station and inform them of the call.

“If a person calls unexpectedly and asks to be let into your house please adopt the same approach and do not let anyone in until you are satisfied as to their bona fides.

“A County Council or Irish Water employee will rarely require access to your home so be immediately suspicious and close the door unless you are expecting the person to call.”

Always be vigilant out there folks!

Deputy Catherine Connolly has welcomed confirmation from HSE management that funding will be made available to ensure that the Youth Counselling Service will not close its doors in September and will continue to operate in Galway City and County.

Deputy Connolly said the Youth Counselling Service provides an essential service to young children and teenagers from the age of 12 years to 21 years.

Indeed she said it meets a specific need not being met by Jigsaw and in fact complements that service which provides a listening support service to teenagers from 15 years upwards.

Moreover, she said this organization has provided counselling on a shoe string budget since 2012 in Galway City, Tuam, Ballinasloe and Loughrea, by accredited counsellors and has counselled approximately 800 young children and teenagers in that period of time.

One-hundred-and-ninety young people in Galway, Ballinasloe, Tuam and Loughrea accessed counselling in 2016 with 154 of them in the 12-15 age range.

It is a unique service in that the counselling is free of charge, takes places in accessible locations and in a space that is safe and suitable to the age group. Of particular note she said is that parents can refer without a GP referral and there is a short waiting list.

Given the quality and nature of this essential service it is incredible, said Deputy Connolly, that the organisation has never had a guaranteed source of state funding and struggles from year to year to remain open.

Following a public meeting last week, public representatives agreed to meet with HSE management as a matter of urgency and also to raise the issue in the Dáil.

Subsequent to those commitments Deputy Connolly raised the matter as an urgent topical issue in the Dáil last Tuesday and as a result the Minister of State for Mental Health Jim Daly promised to take a hands on approach and revert back to her within a week.

Separately at a meeting with HSE management on Monday, the 11th July in Merlin Park, it was confirmed that adequate funding would be provided to ensure that the service continued this year.

In relation to an ongoing stable source of funding into the future it was also confirmed that the organisation should submit an application for funding under the Section 39 process.

Deputy Connolly said this is a positive step but pressure has to be maintained to ensure that adequate ongoing funding is provided not only to enable the Youth Counselling Service to remain open but to urgently extend its service to Conamara and Gort.

In this regard, a clear need for the counselling service has been identified in Carna, Clifden and Gort.

The approximate sum required to enable this to happen is 62,250 Euro which is a tiny percentage of the mental health budget and is in fact saving the HSE money.

This autumn, COPE Galway will commence the renovation of the Convent building on Forster Street which was associated with the Magdalene Laundry in Galway, for use as a centre for women and their children who experience domestic violence.

In advance of this, COPE Galway, with the support of John Tierney of Eachtra (community led heritage projects) is carrying out a project to remember, respect and record the lives of the women who lived and worked in the Magdalene Laundry and convent on Forster Street.

COPE Galway CEO, Jacquie Horan says, “This initiative is a way for us at COPE Galway to remember the women who lived and worked in the Magdalene convent and laundry since it was first opened on the Forster Street site in about 1870. As we prepare to renovate the Convent building on Forster Street for its new use as a centre helping women who experience domestic violence, we want to do so in a way that acknowledges its history and in particular remembers the women associated with it”.

The ’Remembering the Forster Street Magdalene Laundry Women’ project will run over 3 months and will focus on researching the biographical details of those women who lived and worked in the laundry from 1870 to 1984.

“The laundry buildings themselves were demolished in 1991 so we aim to gather any historic documents we can find about the laundry – photographs, letter heads, invoices – artefacts that people in the community may have”, said Jacquie Horan.

“If any Galway families have such items and are willing to share them we’d ask them to attend the public information session and we will make arrangements to copy, scan or photograph the objects, documents or photographs.

Also if people have relatives who lived and worked in the laundry we welcome any help we can get in trying to trace their individual life histories”.

Following the information session, John Tierney and the Eachtra Team (the Historic Graves project is one of their best known projects) will record the headstones of the Magdalene women in Forster Street, pursue any available historical and genealogical sources available and try to gather the facts of these women’s lives.

“We are aware some of the women are buried and commemorated in Bohermore cemetery and we would encourage anyone with stories about burials of the women in Bohermore to contact us”, continued Jacquie.

Any families, people or groups who have information should email John Tierney john@eachtra.ie and we will make arrangements to meet and record & share the stories.

The Whitaker Institute and School of Geography and Archaeology at NUI Galway hosted an event this week as part of a creative exchange seminar titled ‘Screen Industries on the Periphery: Policy and Practice’, at the Huston School of Film & Digital Media as part of Galway Film Fleadh.

International practitioners from the North of Ireland, Finland, Iceland and Sweden talked about their experiences of working in film, TV and digital media. These practitioners are in Galway to attend this year’s Galway Film Fleadh and have been funded by NUI Galway’s a creative momentum project.

Speakers at the event included, Dr Conn Holohan from the Huston School of Film & Digital Media at NUI Galway who spoke about the influence of film funding in Irish cinema. Declan Gibbons from Galway Film Centre shared insights into running the UNESCO City of Film designation for Galway and their involvement in the Screen Talent Europe Network. Paddy Hayes, from the IFTA winning Galway-based production company Magamedia, gave a talk titled ‘Who lifts the mirror?’

Dr Patrick Collins, lead researcher on the project from the School of Geography and Archaeology at NUI Galway, said: “Creative pursuits are often lonely ones, in more peripheral regions this isolation can be heightened. On this occasion, a creative momentum focuses on film makers, bringing them together to hear about each other’s experiences and provide valuable insights into making sustainable creative careers in Europe’s more remote areas.”

A creative momentum project supports the development of the creative sector in five regions across Europe’s northern edge. One aim of the project is to support creative entrepreneurs through opportunities to network and collaborate across the five partner regions.

It is a well-known fact that participating in creative industry events in the regions helps creatives to connect with potential markets and audiences, as well as provide networking opportunities.

The cost of participating in such events can however be high and this project has selected five established events as ‘creative hotspots’ across the partner regions and funds relevant creative enterprises from the other partner regions to participate.

Galway Film Fleadh was selected as the West of Ireland creative hotspot. This six-day international film event welcomes a diversity of filmmaking from around the world. The Galway Film Fair, the industry arm of the annual Galway Film Fleadh, provides these international practitioners with an opportunity to meet with financiers and build new partnerships.

A creative momentum project is co-funded by the EU Interreg Northern Periphery and Arctic (NPA) Programme 2014-2020. The project operates the My Creative Edge website, which is a three-year, €2 million transnational project being implemented by six organisations across five regions.

The website showcases the work of businesses and freelancers working in the creative industries sector in Mid-Sweden, North East Iceland, Northern Finland, South East of Northern Ireland and the West of Ireland.

Gardaí are investigating a spate of burglaries in the city and county.

On Thursday night, the reception area of Kilronan Hostel on Inis Mór was burgled. A sum of cash was taken from the reception area of the hostel during the incident.

Gardaí in the city and county are also investigating three separate incidents which took place in Menlo, Tuam and Kinvara over the weekend.

Between 2am and 10am on Sunday, a house in Crestwood on the Coolagh Road in Menlo was broken into. Two childens’ bicycles were taken, and later recovered.

On the same night, a house in The Birches in Tuam was entered. An iPhone 7 plus was taken, along with some medication.

Between Saturday evening and Sunday morning, a shed at a house in Lisheeneenaun in Kinvara was broken into. A number of tools were taken including a strimmer and a chainsaw.

Garda are also investigating a fifth incident at Briarhill Shopping Centre.

Between Saturday and yesterday, a substantial amount of cash was taken from Fitness 35.

Gardaí are appealing to anyone who witnessed any suspicious activity in any of these areas at the time of the incidents to contact them at 091-538000, or any Garda station.

On warm, sunny days, which we don’t see all that often, a few drinks in the Spanish Arch is the natural plan of action for many of us in the city.

A new on-the-spot €100 which was introduced last year threatened this, accompanied by increased checks by the Gardaí on people drinking in public.

Well this could all die down with gardaí saying that they might have to decrease the amount of checks carried out.

Galway’s Garda Chief said this week that the sustaining increased checks for public drinking in the Spanish Arch is under threat due to a lack of resources.

A lack of resources is a serious concern for the public, and should be addressed.

But the Garda Cheif did not mention the fact that disturbing peaceful drinkers on sunny days is in fact a waste of dwindling resources.

If an Garda Síochána are feeling the strain after years of cuts, then it seems bizarre that they would want to continue to throw away tax-payer’s money on tackling such ‘crimes’.

Speaking to a meeting of the Galway City Joint Policing Committee (JPC), Chief Superintendent Tom Curley of the Galway Garda Division said that he was unsure if the current increase in patrols was sustainable.

Since a clampdown on ‘bushing’ in the Spanish Arch began this season, gardaí have issued 60 fines – with those caught enjoying a can in the sun slapped on the wrist and given an unfair €100 fine.

However, Chief Supt Curley also said that an astonishing €15,000 has been forked out in overtime since March of this year.

“I have limited resources and I have to police the whole city and county,” he said.

He added that this was not a one-person job and it required a Sergeant and four to five gardaí to carry out the checks.

Chief Supt Curley said that public drinking increased the risk of accidental drowning. Surely there is a more cost-effective way of ensuring that doesn’t happen.

If the Gardaí are serious about public safety, some degree of lateral thinking is needed. Punishing people with fines and erecting sineage is quite clearly not going to work.

Galwegians have fallen below the national average for recycling, according to WEEE Ireland.

Although the average person in the county recycled 8.2 kilos of waste electrical and electronic equipment in 2016, which is above the European target of 8 kilos, it is still below the national average of 10 kilos.

But there was some positive news for 2016; Galway recycled 12 per cent more waste electrical goods than the previous year.

Compliance Manager at WEEE Ireland, Elizabeth O’Reilly says that while it may be tempting to put small electrical goods in the bin, they should be recycled.

The Discipline of Geography at NUI Galway will host a half-day symposium on ‘Extreme Weather Events: Physical and Social Impacts’ on Wednesday, 28 June.

Leading international and national scholars will participate in the event, which aims to improve the international scope of Irish climate change research to discuss research ideas and future projects.

The symposium is keen to encourage cross disciplinary dialogues to ignite new ideas for future research collaborations across NUI Galway and beyond, looking at research opportunities into the science and impacts of climate change to understand merging Atmospheric Sciences, Oceanography, Climate modelling, Engineering, and Coastal Geomorphology with Social Scientific research.

The event will provide postgraduate student research and networking opportunities for the next generation of climate scientists to exchange ideas and be exposed to state-of-the-art research.

Commenting on the event, Dr Eugene Farrell, Lecturer in Physical Geography at NUI Galway, said: “Ireland’s identity is intertwined with the coastal and marine environment and we need to engage in an interdisciplinary discourse to address the physical and social impacts of a changing climate.

“Truly innovative interdisciplinary research requires formal and informal discussions to assess the potential for future collaborative work. It is invaluable for post-graduate students to be included in these discussions providing them with the opportunity to participate in a scientific meeting.”

Dr Audrey Morley, Lecturer in the School of Geography and Archaeology at NUI Galway, said: “Ireland needs skilled personnel, who can advise on, organise and regulate an informed development of coastal, marine and climate resources and activities in Ireland, the European Union and worldwide. This conference will be part of the process of preparing and upskilling postgraduate students for that role.”

“The workshop will provide a forum within which students can interact directly with a range of national and international professional and expert practitioners and gain exposure to key experts, networks and important contacts in academia and beyond. This will enhance the reputation and profile of our students, their employability and future scholarly success, as well as their ability to contribute to creating change in a challenging contemporary society,” she added.

Éamon Ó Cuív TD has called for greater balance in dealing with EU habitat directives when planning much-needed infrastructure projects such as the N59 in Connemara.

The Galway West TD says that despite the cautious approach towards such works, this state has never been fined for breaching the habitat directive.

He argues too much weight is being given to environmental concerns at the expense of vital infrastructure projects essential to social and economic development.

The N59 in west Galway has stalled four years after upgrade works were first announced, and the deputy says the government are being far too cautious.

“The very fact that we’ve never been fined despite the fact that day after day we hear of the threat of fines as if they were imminent shows that we probably are erring too far on the side of caution,” Deputy Ó Cuív said.

“What I’m particularly talking about is when you’re balancing human need, human safety, and the need for basic infrastructure against protecting the environment.

“We need to ensure that there is a proper balance there and that the human requirements are also taken into account in a fair and balanced way,” he added.

Planning permission has been granted to a housing development in Knocknacarra.

The new development, to be built at Barna Road by Highgate Properties Limited, was given the go-ahead by the city council this week.

This will see the construction of 8 two-storey detached homes, including landscaping, a greenway and a new entrance at the site, known as Ashwood.

The development has been approved with 23 conditions.

Some of the conditions relate to boundary walls, where planners have placed restrictions on the height, type and finish of the walls.

The exact finish for the greenway is yet to be agreed, however this will be done before construction begins.

119 thousand euro will be given by the developer to public services in the area, as part of another condition attached to the granting of permission.