South Galway

AN exhibition relating to Kinvara during the War of Independence opened in the village at the weekend. Kinvara Company, Irish Volunteers 1916-23 will remain open daily from 11am to 3pm until Saturday. The exhibition coincides with National Heritage Week but organisers from the Kinvara Folklore Digital Archive are hoping it will kick-start plans to mark the contribution of men and women in the area to the War of Independence. “Hosted by the Kinvara Community Council and assembled by members of the community, this exhibition has unique oral and written histories of a small town’s effort within a bigger conflict,” explained Eilish Kavanagh of the Kinvara Folklore Digital Archive. “A lot of areas, not just Dublin, were active in 1916 and Kinvara was one of those places. Lately, I have attended a couple of heritage meetings about the county’s plans to mark the centenary of the 1916 Rising and it struck me that there was no mention of Kinvara. It highlighted …

Evidence of a bronze age settlement has been discovered in South Galway. Recent preliminary investigations have revealed that at least one crannóg, and possibly up to four, may exist on Ballinakill Lake, close to Lough Cutra. The 90-acre lake may also include a causeway linking one of the prehistoric man-made islands to the shoreline. Just one of the crannógs is above the water level in the lake and according to Christy Cunniffe, community archaeologist with Galway County Council, “the submerged features warrant further examination”. The archaeologist also suggested that a seemingly linear rock formation under the water may have been a causeway joining one or more of the crannógs to the shore but added that log-boats may also have been used. “Crannógs would not be that common in South Galway. These are significant. A 90-acre lake with the potential to have at least three crannógs in it and other prehistoric monuments around it, suggests that there was a strong pre-historic …

A South Galway resident has been appointed as the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the Republic of Seychelles. Mathilda Twomey, of Kinvara, was unanimously recommended by the country’s Constitutional Appointments Authority and appointed by President James A Michel recently. She will be sworn in as the country’s first female Chief Justice at a ceremony on the Indian Ocean island on Tuesday. Commenting on the appointment, President Michel noted that the empowerment of Seychellois, especially women, has always been and will continue to be at the core of his philosophy and policies for the advancement and progress of the country. “Justice Twomey is a highly-qualified legal practitioner, with a wealth of experience and knowledge, which, no doubt, will be of vast benefit to the legal and judicial system in our country and the reforms that are needed. She is the third Seychellois Chief Justice and I’m particularly proud of the fact that I have appointed a woman to the …

Gardaí are seeking the public’s assistance in tracing the whereabouts of 40-year-old Raymond Walsh, missing from Galway City since Tuesday, August 4. Raymond was last seen just off Newcastle Road, between 12 noon and 12.30pm on that day. Raymond was last seen wearing blue pyjamas and may be wearing a black hoodie and grey beanie hat. He was wearing green ‘Gola’ runners with black stripes. Raymond is described as 5’8’’ tall, medium build with red/brown hair and some facial hair. He has a cross with Indian ink on one of his forearms . Gardaí are concerned for Raymond’s welfare and anyone with information is asked to contact Galway Garda Station on 091 538000 , The Garda Confidential Line 1800 666111 or any Garda Station.

A HOSPITAL that serves patients in East Clare and Galway plans to install a hawk ultrasound, among other measures, to deter birds from excreting on window panes and sills on one of its wards, it emerged this week. Details of the pest-control efforts were revealed in a Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) report, following unannounced inspections at Portiuncula Hospital in Ballinasloe. HIQA carried out an unannounced inspection in the hospital in March and a re-inspection in April this year, examining the progress made in resolving issues outlined in the hospital’s Quality Improvement Plan (QIP) prepared after a previous unannounced inspection carried out by the authority in May 2014. It also examined improvements in environmental hygiene and the facilities in the oncology day unit. According to the HIQA report, on visiting St Joseph’s Ward during the March inspection, “an open window on the main corridor alerted inspectors to a large amount of bird excreta present on the exterior of several …

THE Health Service Executive (HSE) has agreed to recruit an extra 14 psychiatric nurses, following 36 alleged assaults on staff working in the Galway Mental Health Service for the first four months of the year. Psychiatric Nurses Association (PNA) secretary, Des Kavanagh has confirmed that the number of psychiatric nurses working in the Galway Mental Health Service is to increase from 50 to 64. In an interview with The Clare Champion, Mr Kavanagh said he recently met senior HSE managers to discuss ways to address the huge number of alleged assaults that were taking place in the service. He said the union was very concerned about the chronic staff shortage and the reluctance of management to call in additional staff on overtime or to hire agency personnel. Stating that staffing levels were at “critical levels”, he said the High Observation Unit in the Department of Psychiatry at University Hospital Galway had to remain closed due to a lack of staff. …

FOUR extra housing estates will be included in the new €4.5 million Kinvara Sewerage Scheme after Irish Water approved a major extension following political pressure. The estates, not originally included in the initial plan, include Cuan na Oir, Bothar na Mias, Dunguaire Haven and Ard an Mhuillinn. The cost of these extensions is €485,895 in total, over and above the estimated €4.5 million, which will be needed to complete the public sewerage scheme. Work on the new sewerage scheme is scheduled to start in October. At an average €6,650 per existing property, it compares well with figures previously used by Department of the Environment as a basis for similar extensions. On this basis, it is expected that Irish Water will be able to proceed with inclusion of these estates, in tandem with the commissioning of the new treatment works in 2016. Labour Senator Lorraine Higgins has claimed the water utility decided to include the four estates in the new scheme …

EAST Galway Labour Senator, Lorraine Higgins has been selected as the party’s candidate in the constituency for the 2016 General Election. Senator Higgins is the Seanad Labour Spokesperson on Foreign Affairs and Trade and was nominated to the Seanad by the Taoiseach, Enda Kenny, in 2011. She had run in the general election earlier that year but was narrowly beaten. Last year, she ran as the Labour candidate in the Midlands-North-West constituency in the European Parliament election. Speaking at the Labour Party convention in her home town of Athenry on Friday, Senator Higgins said she planned to win a seat in Dáil Éireann. “In regard to the question of whether or not I can win, the simple answer is yes. The perception that Galway East is not Labour heartland no longer applies. At the last election, we turned that thinking on its head, when the party received almost 8,000 first-preference votes, enough for me to take a seat next time …