You’ll now be able to head to your local for a few scoops on Good Friday, but remember: no kebabs, at least until 12am.
The government today has passed legislation to allow alcohol to be sold on Good Friday.
It was was introduced 91 years ago, in 1927, but has been criticised in recent years, as it is affecting tourism.
The ban has also become increasingly outdated as we continue to move towards a more secular society, and publicans lose millions each year as a result of the ban.
But the new legislation has also been criticised by those who wanted to retain a long-standing tradition and a well-deserved break for workers in pubs.
President Michael D Higgins will sign the law next week, and this year will be the first time in most people’s lifetimes that they can legally buy alcohol on Good Friday in Ireland. But what do you think?
The Government needs to correct ‘historical inequality’ in funding provided to Galway County Council with a bailout this year to ensure the council is able to provide basic essential services.
That’s according to Galway Senator, Trevor Ó Clochartaigh, who made the comments after a meeting between Oireachtas members from Galway and officials from the Department of Housing, Planning & Local Government.
It was acknowledged at the meeting that Galway has not been getting its fair share of funding from successive governments.
Trevor Ó Clochartaigh said Galway County Council has been sold short on funding for decades, due to an unfair base calculation made almost twenty years ago.
“This is to blame for the huge lack of human and financial resources in our local authority, which translates into lack of funding for roads, house repairs, maintenance works and the like,” he said.
“Figures given to us by local authority management show the stark contrast in funding between Galway County Council and other comparable local authorities. They show that even though we have a bigger population we get between eighteen and thirty million euros less funding than Mayo, Kerry, Donegal and Tipperary.
“We have substantially fewer staff as well, more than three hundred less than Kerry County Council, even though we have a larger population base than all these other similar local authorities.
“On a per capita basis we are left in the halfpenny place as well. The budget per capita for Galway County Council is a meagre €588 per head of population. This compares to €834 for Donegal, €851 for Tipperary, €858 for Kerry and €939 for Mayo. This really highlights the huge crisis in resources we have and it has been happening for a long time.
“The Department officials acknowledged that there is an unfair distribution of funding that needs to be rectified, but they are not planning to do that until a review of the Local Property Tax is finished and this would not kick in until 2020.
“Galway County Council is completely starved of resources and the government must step in with extra interim funding now, to ensure that they can maintain the basic essential services. The people of Galway can no longer be treated as second class citizens.
“It is an indictment of successive governments that Galway has been starved of monies that we should have received for years and that situation must stop. Our government TD’s need to secure a commitment from Ministers Eoghan Murphy and Paschal Donohue to provide extra funding for this year and to ensure this happens without delay,” the Independent Senator said.
The Pension Reforms confirmed Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection Regina Doherty will significantly benefit many people in Galway, Mayo and the West who are in receipt of a reduced State Pension.
That’s according to Galway West TD and Minister of State for State for Natural Resources, Community Affairs and Digital Development, Seán Kyne.
“The Government has agreed to allow pensioners under the system introduced in 2012 to choose between their current rate and the new Total Contributions Approach. The Total Contributions Approach reflects a person’s complete social insurance contribution record,” he said.
“This approach takes into account periods of time out of paid employment because of family commitments or caring responsibilities.
“The reforms agreed by Government and confirmed by Minister Regina Doherty will be hugely beneficial to many pensioners in Galway and the West and will result in higher pension payments.
“The area of pensions, including qualifying conditions and funding mechanisms, is highly complex and any decisions need to be very carefully considered, particularly with regard to issues of sustainability, fairness and transparency. Pension Reform and sustainability of the State Pension System were the subject of the most recent meeting of Cabinet Committee A which I attended last Thursday in Government Buildings,” he added.
The new reforms, which include a HomeCarers Credit of up to 20 years, will benefit a large number of pensioners, particularly women, with gaps in social insurance contributions because of time spent outside the workforce due to family commitments or caring responsibilities, according to the Galway West TD.
“The Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection will contact all relevant pensioners in the autumn to invite them to apply for a review. No existing pensioner will see their pension reduced by the changes. Pensioners who switch to the new Total Contributions Approach will receive the new payments early next year with the payments backdated to March 2018 when the increases in weekly social welfare payments come into effect.”
Regina Doherty TD says that pensioners won’t receive the higher rate until next year down to IT issues.
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A Galway West TD says he is disappointed to learn that there has been no increase in capacity at the High Observation Unit in the Department of Psychiatry at University Hospital Galway.
Fianna Fáil TD Éamon Ó Cuív said that since opening in December 2015, the High Observation Unit at UHG has been operating at full capacity.
“The HSE confirmed that bed capacity was not increased as a result of opening this unitbut despite the high demand for the service, ‘there has been no capacity expansion’ of the unit,” Deputy O Cuív said.
“This is an extremely distressing situation for the patients and families who need these services. Demand for places in this unit is high but there appears to be no plan to increase capacity.
“This poses a major challenge to the delivery of mental health services in Galway and across the west of Ireland.
“This latest information once again highlights the failure of this government to secure the necessary resources to provide the necessary mental health services in this region, and right across the country.
“We need to see a concerted effort from the Health Minister and the HSE to provide the beds, staff and resources needed to provide these essential services,” the Fianna Fáil TD added.
After a long day at work, college, sports training, or whatever other day-to-day activities that eat up your time and energy, the last thing you want to do is spend a large amount of time trying to prepare a meal. As the college year kicks up, you find yourself choosing more and more often to go for a boojum or a frozen pizza, and less and less often for a home-cooked, healthy meal. According to the Healthy Ireland Survey 2015-2016, only “42% of those aged under 35 mainly eat homemade meals cooked from scratch, compared with 72% of those aged 65 and older”.
I get it, I really do. I, myself, was recently a full-time student, and now I work full-time while also playing/coaching a sport and working. I know how difficult it can be to motivate yourself to buy fresh ingredients, let alone take the time or energy to cook a meal for yourself. However, I also know that nothing beats the feeling of self-satisfaction that comes with taking many small ingredients to create a healthy, filling, and delicious home-cooked meal. Not even Boojum.
Despite the numerous TV cooking shows and online recipe sites, there haven’t been too many cooking and food-awareness programmes geared for people aged 18-30 years, and which target a specific location. Until now–just recently launched, the online food-preparation project called Just Cook, Galway is described by it’s founder, Siri Rosendahl, as “a grass-roots project to make food planning, shopping, and cooking an easier, more affordable, and less stressful option than take-away.” To Rosendahl, the aim of this project is to, “…see it as part of a community health movement helping to make cooking the norm again, particularly among 18-30 year olds who tend to gravitate more towards pre-prepared foods and take-away. The idea isn’t to make you a master chef, but just a little more likely to put down the take-away menu, and a little more likely to pick up a frying pan.”
Rosendahl, a 24-year-old American living in Galway for the past few years, experienced these habits of choosing pre-prepared food and take-away in her roommates while at college, as well as after. Seeing these choices spurred her to begin to try and make a change, “I worked for an organization called Healthy Monadnock in Keene, New Hampshire (USA) before I moved to Galway, and through this experience I developed a passion for community health work”. Rosendahl just recently finished her M.A. in Public Advocacy and Activism from NUI, Galway in 2017. Here, she continued to expand her interest in healthy food living, “…there was a lot of flexibility in what we could focus on for our dissertation, so my research gravitated towards digging deeper into food skills programmes around the world. From the lessons I learned speaking with the founders of projects like Cook it Up! and The Cooking Project, as well as reading up on the Healthy Food for All in Ireland, I realized the impact community cooking programmes could have”.
And thus, Just Cook, Galway was born. The site includes web resources, weekly recipes with local shopping lists and step-by-step instructions, and relevant information on what is both offered and in-season in Galway. Rosendahl has also emphasised solutions for the possible problem of wastefulness, “With each recipe a few skills are learned that can be carried forward. I also include ideas for what to do with leftover ingredients so people aren’t left with extra veg rotting in their fridge because they don’t know what to do with it.” Just Cook is the perfect resource for college-age students and newly minted working-life people. The benefits to this project are infinite, “Learning these skills can help someone improve their physical and mental health, and gain confidence. I see the impacts being not only health related, but also a way to reduce food waste, food packaging waste, and the carbon footprint of transporting food that’s out of season”. The first recipe post-launch has already been posted: a simple, but tasty, baked chicken and roast vegetables. Yum.
So, next time you think about running out for a frozen pizza, or next time you catch yourself looking at a take-away menu on Deliveroo, try to instead run out for some fresh veg and meat, or else look up a recipe online instead of a take-away menu. Guaranteed that the meals you cook for yourself with ingredients you bought will make you happier, prouder, healthier, and save you money in the long-run. “In an ideal world, I’d love to see the impact of the programme being so widespread in Galway that if I was at a first-year’s apartment in Corrib Village, their fridge would be filled with fresh veg and real foods. I’m already delighted with some of the responses I’ve gotten from people . . . I did a soft launch at the start of January 2018 and already have 45 sign-ups to the newsletter. If even just these people cooked one more meal a week I’d be delighted!” says Rosendahl.
So, go out there and get cooking!
** If you are interested in signing up for the weekly shopping list and recipes, you do that Here. If you are interested in joining the team to help Just Cook run, grow, and develop, you can email Siri directly at: siri@justcookgalway.com. **
Galway City Council road crews is on high alert in the event of localised flooding, as the west prepares for Storm Georgina.
A Status Orange national weather warning in place for Ireland today which is valid until 6.00am tomorrow, Wednesday.
Met Éireann say that “a depression named Storm Georgina will track to the northwest of the country tonight, with southwest winds of mean speeds between 60km/h and 80 km/h, gusting up to 120km/h for a time.”
High waves are likely and the City Council’s Road crews say they are prepared to close Seapoint Promenade at Salthill (from Grattan Road to D’Arcy roundabout) in advance of morning high tide on Wednesday at 9.45am.
There are also two Status Yellow warnings in place- a national warning is in place for wind and a which states that winds will be strongest in western and north western counties and one for rainfall which states that rainfall total are expected to reach 25-35mm in Galway.
Met Éireann’s latest forecast reads: “Turning very windy tonight as storm Georgina tracks to the northwest of the country. Southwest winds will be strong to very strong and gusty, with gale force winds for a time overnight with strong gales along coasts. Rain will become widespread and heavy for a time during the night with the risk of thunder and spot flooding but will turn more showery later. Lowest temperatures 4 to 7 degrees.”
Orlaith McGrath captains Sarsfields into a second consecutive All-Ireland senior camogie semi-final this Sunday (2pm Banagher) when they meet Burgess/Duharra.
Both teams fell to eventual winners Slaughtneil by just two points in last year’s campaign with the Galway champions reaching the final. With Thomastown also returning as Leinster winners, it promises to be the most competitive All-Ireland series in recent memory.
County Senior Camogie Final Latest: Sarsfields 1-2 Mullagh 0-0 – Orlaith McGrath with the goal
“It’s incredible that it’s the same four teams,” said McGrath this week. “I know it’s a different shuffle that we’re out against Burgess (Duharra). Burgess, they’ll be sore from losing to Slaughtneil by I think it was a point (3-8 3-6) last year and they (Slaughtneil) went on to win it.
“So, they’ll fancy their chances completely up against us. They won’t fear us. I think the four teams are on a level pegging at this stage. It’ll be interesting. It’s great that it’s the same as later year. It shows the competition of it.
“There’s nothing at all between the teams. The two semi-finals proved that last year. we bet Thomastown by a point. It’s just the nature of the game. Any game takes life on itself any day you go out. There’s nothing between the teams. I think we’re all aware of that. It’s just whatever happens on the day; whatever goes right; whatever rub of the green each team gets will determine the outcome.”
“Massive,” added the Galway senior about the experience of being in this situation in 2017. “Last year was huge for us. Our first county title win. We were in unknown territory coming into the All-Ireland series. More of a novelty factor than anything.
“It was exciting; we were looking forward to it. We think we’re that bit more mature in a year. We’ve gone through semi-finals, gone to Croker. We’re that bit more settled, a bit more relaxed in ourselves.”
NUI Galway face two crucial matches this week as their Sigerson and Fitzgibbon Cup teams continue their third level campaigns with home matches on Wednesday and Thursday.
2017 was a disappointing campaign for the footballers as they went out of the Sigerson Cup in the first round losing to eventual winners St. Mary’s University 1-9 to 1-7.
Under the guidance of Maurice Sheridan, Don Connellan and Paddy Cool, they will be hoping for better fortune on Wednesday when they host IT Sligo (2.30pm Dangan), who also fell at the first hurdle 12 months earlier to eventual finalists UCD.
Galway trio Sean Mulkerrin, Peter Cooke and Damien Comer will be key for NUIG as well as Sligo’s Gearoid O’Kelly-Lynch. Victory will put the Galway outfit into the quarter-finals on February 6th.
NUIG’s hurlers already saw action last Sunday when they brushed aside Trinity College 2-22 to 0-13 in Abbotstown.
Early goals for John Fox and Darragh Burke (who finished with 1-10) gave the Westerners the advantage leading 2-10 to 0-11 at half-time. But spearheaded by Galway seniors Sean Loftus, Padraic and Cathal Mannion, 10 unanswered points after the break gave them a comfortable winning margin.
However, in a round-robin event with four groups of four, the challenge increases with their remaining matches against last year’s finalists.
2017 runners-up IT Carlow are Thursday’s (2pm Dangan) and they started nicely avenging that final defeat with a 1-22 to 0-22 win over Mary Immaculate College, Limerick. DJ Carey’s charges are determined to go one better after causing a shock in last year’s campaign.
Mary I will be NUIG’s final opponents seven days later and a loss to the Carlow school will make this effectively a play-off. They reached the quarter-finals last year before Mary I won 4-18 to 1-16 and they’ll need to win one of their remaining Group D games to reach that stage again.
NUI GALWAY team vs Trinity College: S Hennessy; C Connor, C Cosgrove, B Fitzpatrick; S Loftus (0-2), C Ryan, P Mannion (0-1); B Concannon (0-2), S Fletcher; C Mannion (0-3), D Burke (1-10, eight frees, one 65), G Loughnane; J Fox (1-2), M Lynch (0-1), A Helebert (0-1). Subs used: C Salmon for Helebert (53).
Presentation College, Tuam were crowned Connacht Junior Ladies Football ‘A’ Champions this morning (Tuesday) after beating Sacred Heart, Westport 6-9 to 3-3 in Swinford.
The team, captained by Aoife Coen, lost last year’s All-Ireland semi-final to eventual winners John the Baptist but successfully retained their provincial crown holding a comfortable 4-6 to 2-1 advantage at half-time.
Featuring players from Corofin, Tuam/Cortoon, Kilconly and Caherlistrane, Presentation now qualify for the national series where they’ll take on Ulster oppositioin in the All-Ireland semi-final on March 11th.
It’s not unusual for Galway to sit at the top of a list of places. Galway fairs well in lists like ‘best places to visit in Ireland’, ‘top European cities’, and unfortunately, the ‘most overcrowded hospitals’.
Well duh, indeed. But Dublin remains more well-known around the world, despite Ed Sheeran’s best efforts. It is our capital after all.
The feature begins on a dodgy footing too. The opening paragraph contains the line “this west coast city is fast becoming a rival to the capital Dublin as one of Ireland’s top places to live”.
Hmm. Like it hasn’t been for decades?
Still, good publicity is always welcome, and although Galway is (arguably) better than Dublin in almost every way, we can’t argue with (most of) the five reasons that the FT believes the city of the tribes is ‘rivaling’ the capital.
Scenery and seaweed are the first reasons given. Who could argue with that? But the FT quickly moves onto the housing market, which is slightly less clear-cut.
“The west Ireland property market has finally woken up. Though the city’s post-crisis economic recovery initially lagged behind the rest of the country, Galway house prices rose 4.9 per cent in the first half of 2017, according to estate agents Sherry Fitzgerald, faster than any other Irish city outside Dublin,” it says.
No mention of the hosuing crisis? Fair enough, best not to put off the tourists, eh? And as bad as it is in Galway, it is undoubtedly worse in Dublin.
The list goes on. ‘City of festivals’: speaks for itself. ‘Days at the races’ – we can’t argue with that either. And ‘foraged fine dining?’
Well, they’ve done their research.
Kai Cafe + Restaurant and Ard Bia at Nimmos get a well-deserved shout out, as does Glenlo Abbey Hotel’s Pullman Restaurant.
No mention of McMahon’s Aniar, though.
Their list could go on and on and on, but they leave it at five.
And at the end of the day, maybe Galway isn’t really better than Dublin after all. Maybe.
Read the full Financial Times article here, and follow Galway Daily on Facebook and Twitter for daily Galway news and sport!
The opening round draws of the Roscommon and District League Division One and Two Cups have been made with seven Galway teams knowing their opponents.
In the quarter-finals of the First Division Cup, last year’s semi-finalists Kilkerrin United were paired at home against Ahascragh United in an all-Galway tie.
Ballinasloe Town B were also in the final four in 2017 and could be the semi-final opponents for Kilkerrin or Ahascragh on the same side of the draw. First, they’ll travel to CP Ajax in Ballinphuill in their attempts to reach the final four again.
Dunmore Town will also have a quarter-final home when they entertain last year’s Division Two winners Strokestown United while the winners will meet Hodson Bay Athletic or Lough Harps who’ll meet in Athlone.
Ten teams will compete in the Second Division Cup with Shiven Rovers getting a bye in the quarter-finals.
Their opening assignment will be away to Roscommon United but should they prevail, they could meet Galway opposition in the semi-finals.
Moylough 79 are in the same half of the draw and start with a home encounter against Skyvalley Rovers B in the preliminary round. A trip to Boyle Celtic B is the prize on offer in the next round.
Glen Celtic are also in action as they head to Cloonfad United B as they attempt to book a place in the final eight. A home tie verses Rahara Rovers will the reward if the Glenamaddy based outfit are successful.
No dates have been announced yet for the six ties but they are expected to be played in April.
€115,053 has been allocated to over 130 Galway community and voluntary groups under the Community Facilities Scheme.
Funded by the Department of Rural and Community Development, the scheme was launched in March 2017 and is administered by the Local Community Development Committee in each local authority area.
It is a small-scale capital funding scheme which helps groups and organisations purchase equipment and resources for initiatives across Galway.
Under the Scheme €64,500 has been allocated to groups in the county on a municipal district basis while over €50,000 has been allocated to groups and organisations in the city.
A wide range of organisations including residents’ associations, active retirement groups, arts groups, men’s sheds, educational groups, community centres, resource centres, Tidy Towns groups and scout groups have received funding under the Scheme.
Sean Kyne said: “In the coming weeks my Department will be launching the Scheme for 2018 and my colleague, Minister Michael Ring and I are focused on ensuring that as many community and voluntary organisations as possible are supported in carrying out their work which benefits so many in our communities.”
Catherine Connolly TD today blamed the health crisis on successive governments which ‘went turned towards private medicine’ and said that ‘bad decision after bad decision’ has led to a congested site in Galway.
The Galway West TD made the comments to Minister Harris in the Dáil today during speeches on a motion on the trolley crisis.
She welcomed the admission from the government that we need more beds, adding that successive governments had argued that we needed fewer beds.
“The accident and emergency crisis and the trolley crisis is simply a symptom of a health system that is absolutely under enormous pressure. And it is under enormous pressure due to a sustained policy of reducing resources.
“I was a proud member of the Health Foum for ten years, back in 2006 before the crises in the financial and banking areas, we had closed wards and closed beds in the regional hospital in Galway. A different language was used: cost containment measures, bed refurbishment -which was a new one on me at the time – and so on.
“So the crisis has been deiberately created by successive governemtns who went towards private medicine,” she said.
Galway
She continued: “And in doing that, they did it in a very blunt way really, through various initiatives, they systematically ran down the public system leaving the wards closed and beds closed and as you know, Minsiter, right up to before Christmas, we found out that Finbar’s ward, an absolutely brand new ward, was closed in a centre of excellence in Galway.
“I hope it came as a surprise to you – it came as a surprise to me that one of the initiatives in response to two theatres closing in Merlin Park because the water was pouring in – initially the response was to open up the closed Finbar’s ward.
“If we come back to Galway city, we have a congested site, and very bad decisions made to add to a congested to site. And you know minister, that the answer is to start the planning for a new hospital in Merlin Park where we have 150 acres of land. 150 acres. In New York, Central Park has 800 acres for something like 12 million, and we have a population of 80,000 and we have one park with 150 acres and we cannot see fit to build a hospital there.
“We have allowed bad decision after bad decision to add to a congested site in Galway. As a result of that, we had a helicopter service that moved and took over a public park for three to six months, and three years later, it’s still there taking over the public park.
“In addition, we have a complete absence of primary care facilities, we have absolutely no primary care facility on the west side of the city in Galway, and we have no mental health primary care facility whatsoever.
“We have an ambulance service working from containers in Merlin Park, and we have the recent scandal of a child in Connemara on a visit, almost dying waiting on an ambulance that didn’t arrive for almost an hour.
“We know that people are doing their best on the ground, nurses and doctors. What we want are solutions in relation to this and a recognition that the health service is sick.
“Sick not because of the staff on the ground, but because of what I’ve said – a sustained plan to undo it. And as a result of that we have had mistake after mistake.
“If we go back to the number on trolleys, Galway has the highest number on trolleys today – 38 out of a figure of 541,” Deputy Connolly said.
She concluded by saying that the health service is not fit for purpose.
After a miserable period of weather, this week is shaping up to be more of the same.
And Met Éireann have issued a status yellow wind warning for the country for tomorrow, Tuesday.
The warning lasts from Tuesday at 8pm to 6am on Wednesday morning, with winds of up to 110kmh expected.
People in Galway are being advised to stay away from coastal and cliff areas.
Met Eireann have issued a yellow weather warning for strong southwest winds nationwide with mean speeds of 55 to 65km/hr and gusts of 110km/hr from 8pm on Tuesday until 6am on Wednesday. Watch out for fallen debris and cross winds. pic.twitter.com/h19u40BtjB
“Southwest winds are expected to reach mean speeds of between 55 and 65 km/hr, gusting to 110 km/hr at times on Tuesday night,” explain Met Éireann on their official website.
Meanwhile, rain will reach the west by this evening, and it looks like it will remain wet throughout the week.
“Outbreaks of rain will reach the west this evening and will spread across the country overnight. The rain will be heaviest and most persistent in the west and northwest but rather patchy elsewhere. A misty night with minimum temperatures of 4 to 7 degrees in northern counties but temperatures will rise to between 9 and 11 degrees in all areas later in the night,” the weather chiefs forecast.
Galway’s senior ladies football team completed their league preparations in impressive fashion on Sunday after a comprehensive 6-13 to 1-4 win over rivals Mayo successfully retained the provincial winter league title.
“It was an honour,” said captain Lisa Gannon after receiving the trophy. “(I’m) delighted to be captain. Stephen (Glennon) asked me a few weeks ago. I couldn’t believe it.
“I’m delighted be have my two games in. It’s always something you always dream of when you’re younger (to be Galway captain).”
The game was played on the Astro Turf facilities after rain nearly wiped out the country’s GAA fixture list but that didn’t bother Gannon.
“Pitches are so bad,” added the Kilkerrin/Clonberne midfielder. “To be able play on 3G today. I know some people are worries about it regards to injuries and that. I really enjoyed it being able to run and move the ball quickly. It’s unreal. Delighted with it.”
“It’s a great facility here in Ballyhaunis,” said player of the match Conneally before talking about her 4-4 contribution. “The hard work was done by the time the ball got to me. And I just had the simple job of tapping it in.
“The team worked hard as a unit. I’m just up there in front of the goal. It’s my one job to score. So, as a unit, we worked hard. We got some good turnovers.
“And there’s a few debutants in there. You’ve the likes of Leanne Coen (and) Leanne Walsh. It’s great competition. You just take wherever you’re playing. You just give it your best shot and hopefully a win.”
Galway face Monaghan in their first National League Division One fixture next Sunday (28th January) and the Tribeswomen seem to be in full form ahead of the spring campaign.
“You only play it if you enjoy it,” added Conneally. “That was reflected out there today. Girls were spreading the ball around and worked hard for each other. And that’s what you want. And hopefully, it’ll set us up nicely for next weekend against Monaghan.”
.@GalwayLgfa claim early-season bragging rights… counties will meet again on February 11 in a @lidl_ireland National League Division 1 fixture at Pearse Stadium in Salthill, a game which will be televised LIVE by @SportTG4@GAA_BEO (coverage from 11:50am, throw-in 12pm) https://t.co/fcEyoOVYml
Connacht completed their Pool Five campaign in the European Challenge Cup on Saturday as eight tries in the Sportsground set up an Easter meeting with Gloucester in the quarter-finals.
Niyi Adeolokun struck three tries in a dominant first half as Connacht made light work of bottom side Oyonnax with Bundee Aki, Tiernan O’Halloran, Matt Healy and Tom Farrell also getting over the whitewash.
ICYMI: HIGHLIGHTS | Relive the action from yesterday's 8 try victory over Oyonnax. It sealed a home @ERChallengeCup quarter final in the Sportsground.
Adeolokun opened after just 22 seconds after good work from Kieran Marmion and, in the complete opposite to their trip against Worcester, Connacht had two tries scored in as many minutes.
Conor Carey and O’Halloran provided the impetus for Adeolokun to get over the line and after Aki and O’Halloran registered their five-pointers to secure the bonus point, Adeolokun concluded his hat-trick in the 31st minute.
Axel Muller and Daniel Ikpefan got tries for the French outfit before half-time but Matt Healy crowned his 100th appearance for the Irish province with the sixth try on 33 minutes.
Connacht were in control as both coaches emptied their benches. Substitute Tom Farrell got the seventh Connacht try with 13 minutes remaining before constant pressure secured a penalty try in the closing stages.
“The continuity of our game in European competition has allowed us to develop and has given us a bit of confidence and belief. And the ambition we’ve been seeking, it’s been a good platform for us to achieve that.
“It’s a challenge (Gloucester) for us. It’s nice to be a part of it. We’ve had some disappointing results and we’ve thrown a few fixtures in the Pro14 away, dare I say it. We’re disappointed about that aspect but we have to look at the positives. This (competition) offers us an opportunity to perhaps get some silverware.”
Connacht will face Gloucester in the Sportsground between Thursday, 29th March and Sunday, 1st April. Details to be confirmed.
Scorers:
Connacht – Niyi Adeolokun (15 – three tries), Tiernan O’Halloran (9 – one try, two conversions), Bundee Aki (5 – try), Matt Healy (5 – try), Tom Farrell (5 – try), Craig Ronaldson (4 – two conversions).
Oyonnax – Axel Muller (5 – try), Daniel Ikpefan (5 – try), Anthony Fuertes (2 – conversion), James Hall (2 – try)
Connacht Team: Tiernan O’Halloran; Niyi Adeolokun, Eoin Griffin, Bundee Aki, Matt Healy; Craig Ronaldson, Kieran Marmion; Peter McCabe, Dave Heffernan, Conor Carey; Ultan Dillane, Quinn Roux; Eoghan Masterson, Naulia Dawai, John Muldoon. Subs used: Cian Kelleher for Ronaldson (33 mins), Caolin Blade for Marmion (47 mins), Tom Farrell for Aki (47 mins), Dominic Robertson-McCoy for Carey (48 mins), Shane Delahunt for Heffernan (54 mins), James Connolly for Dawai (54 mins), Denis Coulson for McCabe (69 mins), Cillian Gallagher for Adeolokun (72 mins).
Lane’s Galway hurling career spanned 13 years after making his debut in the 1977 National Hurling League against Clare.
He became a regular member of Galway starting teams winning three All-Ireland titles and two National Leagues before retiring after the Tribesmen’s 1990 All-Ireland Hurling final loss to Cork.
Hi most memorable moments came in the successive McCarthy Cup acquisitions in 1987 and 1988 when he came off the bench in both finals to get the match winning goals against Kilkenny and Tipperary respectively.
Galway are Magic but can they do it again on Sunday? Here's Noel Lane's Famous 88 Goal. Enjoy Tribesmenhttps://t.co/YyPd5Szm4L via @YouTube
Named at left corner forward in the Galway Hurling Team of the Millennium, the Ballinderreen man also enjoyed success with his club and played in the 1978 County Hurling Final. In their first appearance in the decider in 40 years, Ballinderreen finished level with Ardrahan before losing out in the replay.
Lane’s commitment to Galway didn’t finish with his playing days as he became manager of the senior hurlers in 2000 before leading them to an All-Ireland final the following year before they lost out to Tipperary. After a one-point loss to Clare in the 2002 quarter-final, Lane’s two-year term was up.
He won All-Stars in 1983 and 1984 and was involved in five winning Connacht Railway Cup teams. And a remarkable career will be remembered which also saw Lane compete in eight All-Ireland Finals.
Coverage on TG4 starts Monday night (22nd January) at 7.30pm.
NUIG Mystics finally picked up their first win of the Women’s Super League in Basketball on Saturday evening as they scored an impressive 68-65 victory over Singleton Supervalu Brunell in Colaiste Iognaid.
Full time Women’s Super League and @MysticsNuig have secured their first League win of the season with a 68-65 point win over @SvSingleton#ThisIsSuper
Irish under 18 international Dayna Finn was their top scorer with 17 points while Deirdre O’Shea and Jade Johnson also shared 31 points as the Galway outfit finally ended a nine-game losing streak.
Minus key player Aine McDonagh, tied up with the Galway ladies footballers, Mike Murray’s team dug deep after trailing 38-33 at half-time and put themselves back in the fight to avoid relegation moving within range of Portlaoise Panthers and IT Carlow Basketball.
“Dayna Finn was brilliant, she had a double-double with 17 points and more than 10 rebounds, and Deirdre O’Shea was just fantastic too. Everyone just played so well, they all did their job and we finally got the win.
“The second half of the season is hugely important, and after losing by so much in the Cup against DCU we knew we needed to regroup and we worked all week on it and we got the win, that’s the main thing – it means a lot.”
LEAGUE TABLE FOR WOMENS SUPER LEAGUE
TEAM
PL
W
L
PF
PA
PD
PTS
DCU Mercy
10
8
2
748
582
166
24
Courtyard Liffey Celtics
10
8
2
698
610
88
24
Ambassador UCC Glanmire
10
7
3
770
628
142
21
Pyrobel Killester
11
7
4
774
768
6
21
Singleton SuperValu Brunell
9
6
3
649
607
42
18
Maxol WIT Wildcats
11
4
7
715
726
-11
12
Portlaoise Panthers
11
3
8
629
824
-195
9
IT Carlow Basketball
10
2
8
640
779
-139
6
NUIG Mystics
10
1
9
603
702
-99
3
In the Men’s Super League, Maree put in a trojan effort on Saturday falling just short to league leaders UCD Marian. Despite strong displays from Corey Hammell (19), Cathal Finn (15) and Kenneth Hansberry (15), scores from Conor Meany, Joan Jordi Vall Llobera and Neil Baynes gave the Metropolitians an 83-79 victory in Oranmore.
Moycullen secured their eighth win against Eanna with a 74-62 result to stay in seventh place. Brandon McGuire was their top scorer with 27 points with Dylan Loughnane, Patrick Lyons and James Loughnane sharing a total tally of 28.
LEAGUE TABLE FOR MENS SUPER LEAGUE
TEAM
PL
W
L
PF
PA
PD
PTS
UCD Marian
14
12
2
1166
998
168
36
Garveys Tralee Warriors
16
12
4
1279
1159
120
36
Pyrobel Killester
15
11
4
1296
1125
171
33
Griffith College Swords Thunder
15
10
5
1254
1095
159
30
Black Amber Templeogue
15
10
5
1345
1247
98
30
UCC Demons
15
8
7
1381
1311
70
24
Moycullen
16
8
8
1299
1278
21
24
Belfast Star
16
7
9
1198
1161
37
21
DCU Saints
16
6
10
1265
1407
-142
18
Eanna BC
14
4
10
1108
1174
-66
12
Maree
16
4
12
1163
1412
-249
12
KUBS BC
16
0
16
1031
1418
-387
0
But in Division One, it was disappointment for GameFootage.net Titans who fell to a heavy 113-69 loss to Scotts Lakers St. Paul’s Killarney. Toms Fabriciuss (30), Eoin Coughlan (19) and Rando Kozlov (19) top scorerd but they still sit bottom of Division 1B behind Dublin Lions and EJ Sligo All-Stars.
Last week, we had weather warnings galore, for snow, ice and flooding across the country.
So how does this week appear to be shaping up?
In a word: warmer.
But not necessarily less miserable.
It will be mostly dry tonight with a fresh breeze, with just a chance of a light passing shower.
Lowest temperatures will be between 4 and 7 degrees, in mostly moderate westerly breezes.
Tomorrow, Monday, will be msotly dry with a mix of bright or sunny spells with scattered cloud. Highest temperatures will be between 7 and 10 degrees. Moderate westerly breezes will back southerly later.
Some showers are expected on Monday night and into Tuesday, which will be a wet but mild day, with persistent rain and temperatures of between 7 and 10 degrees.
Wednesdaywill remain wet. Light showers could clear up in the late afternoon. Temperatures could reach 11 degrees Celsius and there is a risk of scattered thunderstorms.
Thursdayand Fridaywill bring more of the same – much warmer than last week but remaining wet.
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Thousands of homes in Connemara are without power this morning after Storm Bert brought heavy wind and rain overnight.
Power outages are continuing to affect...
Uisce Eireann has issued a Boil Water Notice for more than 2,000 properties in Connemara resulting from issues cause Storm Bert.
The notice has been...
Despite the numerous TV cooking shows and online recipe sites, there haven’t been too many cooking and food-awareness programmes geared for people aged 18-30 years, and which target a specific location. Until now–just recently launched, the online food-preparation project called 
So, next time you think about running out for a frozen pizza, or next time you catch yourself looking at a take-away menu on Deliveroo, try to instead run out for some fresh veg and meat, or else look up a recipe online instead of a take-away menu. Guaranteed that the meals you cook for yourself with ingredients you bought will make you happier, prouder, healthier, and save you money in the long-run. “
