South Galway

UP to 150 people are expected in Coole Park and Gort this weekend for the 19th annual Lady Gregory Autumn Gathering. This year, the gathering centres on women writers and includes readings and workshops by a number of well-known writers and academics. “By inviting famous women writers of Irish descent from around the world to follow in the footsteps of this remarkable woman, we are honouring Lady Gregory’s contribution to Irish arts and culture in this unique gathering. We seem to be attracting a wider international audience, both male and female, with this enhanced Gathering. “Spread over five days instead of three, from Thursday to Monday, more overseas visitors will be attracted to South Galway and to Ireland, in support of the Gathering Ireland 2013 initiative,” explained honorary secretary of the event, Marion Cox. Last year’s events as part of the Gathering were booked out and Marion is expecting a large crowd again this year. “The feedback has been absolutely …

THE opening of the Gort to Tuam motorway would be a “game changer” for Galway and would bring with it a “much-needed economic boost”, according to one local representative. Labour Senator Lorraine Higgins has written to the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform to ask that every effort is made to ensure early delivery of the new Gort to Tuam dual-carriageway. “I have written to Minister Brendan Howlin and informed him that this road is a very necessary piece of infrastructure for the people of East Galway and beyond. I have urged him to ensure all financing matters are finalised so it can proceed to construction as soon as possible” she said. “Having proper road facilities in the county will open up all sorts of opportunities in terms of foreign direct investment, given improved accessibility. The motorway will deliver a much-needed economic boost to Galway East and to all the towns and villages along the route and trigger a revitalisation …

DOORUS resident Mark Dwyer, along with 10 experienced swimmers, will take to the sea later this month to raise money for facilities for local boy Conor Keane. Mark will swim 2.4km from Oileán Eide to Lynch’s Pier, Doorus to raise money for the Conor Keane Trust on Saturday, September 28. The swim takes place at 10am and Mark believes it can be done in 40 minutes. “It will be a high tide but the rate of knots in the deepest part will be slack. We have rescue set up with RibWest, a local company that run trips to the Aran Islands and the GOYA gang here will also provide kayak support. I am hoping that we will have 10 to 12 swimmers on the day but I don’t really want any more than that because I want to have sufficient support and safety really is paramount,” he said. Weather conditions will not deter Mark and his fellow participants and he …

A DECADES-long wait for a sewage treatment plant in Kinvara is nearing an end. An Bord Pleanála this week gave the go-ahead for construction of the wastewater treatment plant in the South Galway village. Currently, untreated sewage is pumped into Kinvara Bay about 100m from the pier. “It has been one of the longest running sagas in South Galway but the end seems near for the development of a new sewage treatment plant for the town,” Junior Minister Ciarán Cannon commented. “This is the last major stumbling block out of the way and we are now ready to begin the preparation of contract documents and commence the tendering process. There are no really onerous conditions attaching to the grant of permission and this makes the next stage very straightforward,” he said. “I have been liaising closely with council engineers and they have confirmed to me that they will now finalise the contract documents and are hopeful that we can go …

Gort is going global thanks to a new project in the town, which it is hoped, will bring the South Galway town to a new audience. It is not technically on the airwaves but Gort Local Radio is online. Broadcasting intermittently for the past few weeks, founder and volunteer Donal Hanlon believes South Galway needs its own voice. “This came about through a radio media production course that the VEC run in Gort. It is led by Sinead Morgan and I was on the course since last November. I approached Sinead and I told her I felt Gort needed a local radio station. There is no radio station between Clare FM and Galway Bay FM. They cover Gort but they are commercial radio stations. This is totally community based,” he explained. Community Radio Stations are owned and controlled by the communities they serve. “We like Connemara FM. It is a good community station and that is one of the standards …

Kinvara recently hosted a family fun day to raise money for ‘Che Kinvara’. Sonja Luan Devine tells The Clare Champion about her son Che, community spirit and the importance of school. Che O’Grady is 11 years old. He loves stories. He loves DVDs. He loves school. Che also suffers from Cerebral Palsy. He is non verbal and has difficulties swallowing. Last week he returned to school after the summer holidays. Walking through the gates, Che found the piece of his life that had been missing since the end of June. “Every Summer my child progressively falls apart from the lack of routine and the lack of seeing his friends. Children with intellectual disabilities need routine to feel a sense of security. He is happy in a routine and when he loses that he slowly falls apart. He can have a meltdown. He sometimes flings himself on the ground and screams and shouts. In Lidl he does full circles of the …