Culture Night kicks off in Galway city on the NUI Galway campus with a unique lunchtime event in a hidden part of the University.

The public is invited to wander through the old Geology and Physiology floors upstairs in the Quadrangle building, under the eye of the iconic clock tower.

Taking the theme of ‘Time’ as inspiration, ConTempo Quartet, the Galway Ensemble in Residence, will join with students of Drama, Theatre and Performance, the NUI Galway Staff Choir, the Arts Office and the Discipline of Earth and Ocean Science for a lunchtime feast of music, drama, photography and song.

The free event begins at 1pm in the Geology corner of the Quadrangle, on the left-hand side underneath the Archway.

Other Culture Night events on campus include the Computer and Communications Museum of Ireland at the Insight Centre for Data Analytics, which will open its doors from 5-7pm.

The public are invited to step back in time to the early days of computer gaming and enjoy the sights and sounds of the great classics, like Space Invaders, Pacman and Sonic, on renowned vintage consoles such as Atari, Nintendo, Sega Mega Drive and Playstation 1.

The O’Donoghue Centre for Drama, Theatre and Performance on campus will host ‘The Spaceman’, a one-man show by Galway playwright, actor and Colours Street Theatre founder, James Fleming. The show begins at 6pm and entry is free.

The James Hardiman Library will host special talks by archivist, Fiona Kearney, on the theme of ‘Periodical Literature in the Muintir na Tíre archive’, and Special Collections Librarian, Marie Boran, on the theme of ‘James Hardiman, the Historian of Galway’. These events commence at 6.30pm in the Hardiman Building foyer.

Shocking treatment.

University Hospital Galway has been criticised for its treatment of a rescued tourist showing signs of hypothermia.

Maria Duk waited for eight hours in the accident and emergency area of UHG, while soaking wet and cold, after being rescued.

While hiking, Maria contacted Stephanie, the owner of the hostel she was staying at, when she encountered thick fog. Stephanie then contacted the gardaí.

Speaking on the Keith Finnegan Show, Stephanie said that everyone followed the protocols and that there were no problems until Maria arrived at UHG.

Maria, who has recovered since the ordeal, said: “In the helicopter they treated me very well, they gave me lots of blankets and I started getting warmer and better.

“But then they brought me to hospital, where they checked my temperature and blood pressure and after that they told me to wait for an appointment.”

Maria waited in the accident and emergency area of the hospital, which was crowded at the time.

“I stayed there for eight hours – they didn’t give me anything, no clothes to change into, the blanket I had was very thin basically.

“I was extremely wet – I didn’t have anything dry on me.

“I tried to speak to the nurse a coupe of times and I told them I was very cold – I asked them were they going to do anything and I said can I have a doctor’s appointment, a cup of tea, anything.

“And they said ‘just wait, just wait in the waiting area and someone will take care of you’.

“I was cold and I was shivering and they kept telling me that I would have an appointment.

“I was waiting for ages with no money, my phone was dead until they charged it and I was crying because I didn’t know what to do,” said Maria.

She then fell asleep in her wet clothes and woke up at around 6am on Wednesday morning.

Upon asking once again in the morning about her appointment, Maria was told: ‘if you want to go, just go.’

The hospital has been heavily criticised for its handling of the situation since the story was told on Galway Bay FM yesterday.

After a long campaign, the former Industrial School in Taylor’s Hill (known as Lenaboy) is to be handed over to the people of Galway.

“The patient is being managed appropriately.”

A case of tuberculosis (TB) has been identified in University Hospital Galway, the HSE West Department of Public Health has confirmed.

TB screening is being offered to patients and staff who had close contact with the person.

The HSE has confirmed that all people who were in contact with the person for a prolonged period have been identified.

The hospital is in the process of contacting them.

The risk of transmission of disease is considered to be low and the patient is being managed appropriately.

TB is an infectious disease caused by bacteria which can be spread by breathing in these bacteria sneezed or coughed by someone who has TB in their lungs.

In most people the body’s immune system kills the bacteria before they start to cause symptoms and the person does not become ill.

When a person is diagnosed,  people who have been in prolonged close contact are offered screening tests to check if they are infected. People invited for screening are offered specialised tests.  Further tests including X rays or blood tests may also be required.

In 2016 there were 17 cases of the disease in Galway city and county and 319 cases across Ireland,

Have we ever had a better President?

President Michael D. Higgins has today said in a statement that homeless people are “deprived of a sense of belonging.”

The former NUI Galway lectuer has been a champion of the most vulnerable in Irish society throughout his career, and today’s statement is a reminder that homelessness is much more than just not having a fixed address.

“Being homeless is not just about being deprived of having a roof over your head,” President Higgins said, “it it about being depraved of a sense of belonging, a place within a community, full participation with a voice in society.

“There can be no doubt that a life defined by those three bleak words ‘no fixed address’ is a life deprived of the most basic entitlements that most citizens take so much for granted.

“Whether that homelessness takes the form of being forced to sleep on streets and in doorways and in public parks; or being placed in emergency accommodation with all the uncertainty that entails; or having to care for a family in just one room with no access to cooking facilities or outdoor space; homelessness removes so many of the acts of discretion that define freedom.”

Weeks ago, COPE Galway, a homelessness charity, said that there were in the region of 50 homeless families, including up to 100 children, and 45 single person households in emergency accommodation in Galway city.

The woman got stranded on a ridge earlier this evening.

A German woman who became stranded while walking in west Galway has been rescued and brought to University Hospital Galway.

Members of the Galway Mountain Rescue Team located a walker who got lost in fog in the Inagh Valley, RTÉ reported.

The woman was showing signs of hypothermia.

Casualty transported to hospital for treatment of hypothermia by Rescue118. Team standing down #Galway #MountainRescue #SAR pic.twitter.com/JkuyQEhvzW

— Galway MRT (@GalwayMRT) 12 September 2017

Two teams were deployed when the woman, who was walking on her own, got stranded on a ridge.

The volunteers successfully located the woman just after 7.30pm.

The Sligo-based Coast Guard Rescue helicopter carried out the successful rescue.

Mountain Rescue personnel have now been stood down.

An old-fashioned data breach.

AIB today confirmed that they have mislaid a number of customers’ data in Galway and the West.

The bank has said that information relating to banking facilities was lost on Thursday 31st August.

RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta reported that up to 550 customers have been affected by the breach in Salthill and An Spidéal.

In a letter ciculated to potential affcted customers, Tony O’Donnell, relationship manager, explained the details which were mislaid.

“The information included in this documentation was your name, loan & deposit balances, account turnover and annual fees, plus a number of internal Bank related codes,” the letter said.

However, the mislaid information did not include address or other contact details.

“We would like to apologise that this incident occurred and want to assure you that we take our Data protection obligations very seriously,” O’ Donnell added.

Questions are being asked about the circumstances of this breach of data, and the likelyhood of it occurring again, however, the bank’s transparency on this issue has been noted and praised.

Tiny particles of plastic is causing the problems.

An increase in pollution may have “significant risks” for seacreatures, including the Galway Bay prawn, researchers have found.

Researchers from the School of Geography and Archaeology at NUI Galway have conducted the first study that investigates microplastic pollution of marine sediments on the Irish continental shelf.

Its aim was to discover the presenceand distribution of microplastics – plastics smaller than 0.5mm- which are widely dispersed throughout the marine environment.

More specifically, this study investigated the history of microplastic deposition on the seafloor and examined how sedimentation regimes, proximity to densely populated areas, and maritime activities may impact microplastic pollution and deposition in marine sediments.

The results demonstrate that contamination is present along the western Irish coast.

The study found that a shallow layer of microplastics has formed along the Irish seafloor within marine sediments and their overlaying bottom waters.

And this could be detrimental to fish, and especially prawns.

Dr Audrey Morley, senior author of the study and lecturer in Physical Geography at NUI Galway, said: “The pervasive presence of microplastics on the Irish Sea floor bares significant risks for economically important Irish fisheries, for example the Galway Bay Prawn (Nephrops Norvegicus).

“A previous study from Scottish fisheries has shown that prawns tend to ingest high concentrations of microplastic fibres when exposed to this type of pollution.

“Our results show that the Galway Bay Prawn fishery may be experiencing high exposure to this form of pollution with potential detrimental repercussions for this species, including reduced fitness and potential reproductive failure.

“However, more research is needed to understand the mechanisms influencing interactions of microplastics with individual species and ecosystems.”

This research was an NUI Galway student-led investigation by Mr Jake Martin, a graduate of the Masters Programme in Marine and Coastal Environments: Policy and Practice within the Discipline of Geography. For his achievements he has received the Professor Micheál Ó Cinnéide Award for Academic Excellence and is the lead-author of this publication.

This research was funded by a GSI Short Call from the Geological Survey of Ireland and a grant-in-aid for Ship-time on the RV Celtic Voyager from the Marine Institute of Ireland.

To read the full paper in Scientific Reports, visit: http://rdcu.be/vECw

It’s not an easy job.

Dónall Ó Cualáin will become Acting Garda Commissioner from midnight tonight, following the resignation of Nóirín O’Sullivan.

The Galway native will replace Ms O’Sullivan until a new Garda Commissioner is chosen.

Nóirín O’ Sullivan informed the government this afternoon of her intention to retire as of today.

“The support for me to continue in the role is evident.

“However, I devoted much of my summer break to considering if continuing would be the right thing to do.

“It has become clear, over the last year, that the core of my job is now about responding to an unending cycle of requests, questions, instructions and public hearings involving various agencies including the Public Accounts Committee, the Justice and Equality Committee, the Policing Authority, and various other inquiries, and dealing with inaccurate commentary surrounding all of these matters.

“They are all part of a new – and necessary – system of public accountability.

“But when a Commissioner is trying – as I’ve been trying – to implement the deep cultural and structural reform that is necessary to modernise and reform an organisation of 16,000 people and rectify the failures and mistakes of the past, the difficulty is that the vast majority of her time goes, not to implementing the necessary reforms and meeting the obvious policing and security challenges, but to dealing with this unending cycle,” Ms O’Sullivan said.

Would you live in a corridor?

Senator Trevor Ó Clochartaigh today hit out at ‘greedy landlords’ advertising a hallway for €640 per month and called for further resources to inspect private rented accommodation in Galway City and County.

The Galway West – South Mayo Senator made the comments after Estate Management Agencies advertised a flat which he said was actually a ‘glorified corridor’.

The corridor is located in Ballybane, Co. Galway.

Ó Clochartaigh described the €640 hallway as ‘disgraceful’.

“It is absolutely disgraceful that Estate Management Companies are advertising properties for greedy landlords who are in breach of standards for rented accommodation and Galway City and County Council must fulfil their duties to stop it.

“I have been shown a property advertised recently by a prominent local property management company for letting in Rahylin Glebe in the east of Galway City, which is nothing more than a dressed up corridor and is almost certainly in breach of the standards laid down in regulations by the Department of the Housing, Planning and Local Government.

“These outline the minimum standards that must be complied with in relation to health and safety for tenants,” he said.

He also labelled Galway City and Council’s record as ‘abysmal’, when it comes to inspecting private rented accommodation.

“According to a report published by the National Oversight and Audit Commission (NOAC) in October 2016, Galway City Council had the lowest inspection rate in the country at 1.3% and Galway County Council was third worst in the country.

“Of the 1.3% of private rented premises inspected in Galway City in 2014, 74% failed inspection. Only 1% of private rented premises in in Galway County were inspected, with a 100% failure rate.

“The only properties inspected in Galway City and County were ones being assessed for HAP or RAS payments.

“None of the others on the open market were inspected. Galway City Council also had the lowest staff complement in the country allocated for inspections of properties in the private rented sector,” the Sinn Féin senator said.