The “penny hasn’t dropped” with the Government when it comes to the importance of meaningful climate action

That’s according to Galway West Deputy Catherine Connolly, who spoke in the Dáil on the Citizen Assembly’s Report on Biodiversity Loss.

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She welcomed the report and it’s 86 recommendations to the Government – but noted a total “misalignment” between Government policy and action.

Deputy Connolly gave a local example as she turned to Galway City – and said the city council isn’t getting the funding needed to enact biodiversity and climate plans.



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A leading Irish firm has acquired a Galway company, creating one of the largest renewable energy services groups in Ireland.

Melior Equity Partners has supported its portfolio company NRG Panel to acquire JFW Renewables.

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Loughrea-based JFW employs 50 people and provides residential and business customers with solar PV, battery and EV charging services.

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A teenage artist from Gort was the big winner as Galway took home five prizes from this year’s 70th Texaco Children’s Art Competition.

Fifteen-year-old Darragh Granahan, a pupil at Gort Community School, won first prize in the 14-to-15-year age category for his work entitled ‘Unconditional Love’.

His artwork is described by Final Adjudicator, Gary Granville, Professor Emeritus of Education at the National College of Art and Design as “a wonderful illustration of exactly that, achieved through technical accuracy, effective colour and well-conceived composition and cropping”.

In addition, four Galway winners each won Special Merit Awards for artworks that Professor Granville said ‘demonstrated high levels of skill and imagination’.

They were Shruti Hemant Dhamne (15) from St. Brigid’s College, Loughrea; Aibhlinn Faulkiner (13) from Coláiste Éinde, Salthill; Fiadh Larderet (6) from Gaelscoil Dara, Renmore and eight-year-old Sadhbh Mitchell from Scoil Mhuire, Moycullen.

No stranger to the Competition, Sadhbh won a Special Merit Award in the same age category last year.

The Texaco Children’s Art Competition is popularly regarded as the longest-running sponsorship in the history of arts sponsoring in Ireland, with an unbroken history that dates back to the very first Competition held in 1955.

This year, as has been the case throughout its life, it has been a platform on which young artists from Galway and counties throughout Ireland have had their talents recognised and their creativity commended.

Pictured: Texaco winner Darragh Granahan (age 15), from Gort Community School, with his prize-winning work entitled ‘Unconditional Love’.

It looks like the periscope in a submarine – but this is a concept to take to the highways and byways rather than the depths of the deep blue sea, taking the arts into the community in a whole new way…in a massive portable jukebox.

The poetry jukebox does exactly what it says on the tin; you select your choice of poem by a local artist, wind up the handle and take time out to let the words flow over you in the voice of the poet themselves.

The initiative is originally the idea of Prague based Piano-on-the-Streets. The cultural activist Ondrej Kobza is the brains behind the project which, he says, seeks to bring culture such as poetry to ‘non-traditional areas’.

Belfast recently acquired its own Poetry Jukebox; there is one in Dublin and in the Patrick Kavanagh Centre in Monaghan.

Late last year two Galway poets and arts enthusiasts launched a plan to bring the Poetry Jukebox to the city and county – this one as a mobile version that could travel to festivals, hospitals, nursing homes or community events to add to the cultural landscape.

James O’Toole and Jim Ward are both published poets but also cultural innovators, and they see this as a unique way of bringing poetry – and indeed recorded music – to the masses in a different way.

The cost of getting this particular show on the road is around €17,500 – and that includes the jukebox itself, getting it insured and encased so that it can be transported from venue to venue.

The HSE is happy to facilitate its location at premises under its authority, including hospitals and nursing homes. And the organisers are happy to take the jukebox on the road so that it can be deployed at local festivals or community events.

Fundraising efforts to date have raised around €12,000 – and now the two promoters have launched a final push to get this over the line, so the jukebox can be knocking out the poems in time for the summer.

“I want to get the summer out of this across the city and county. I’ve a good few places looking for it, but we need to get this final funding push to work before we can start,” said James, well known as well in the world of sport through his involved with so many clubs and from his Sports Physiotherapy Clinic on Henry Street.

While it’s called the poetry jukebox, its scope isn’t just limited to poems; it can also store music – anything that can be recorded and put onto an MP3 – and James sees this as a platform for up-and-coming talent on that musical front as well.

“There are loads of great, young bands out there – and I want to give them this platform as well. We can change the selection – add new ones, take out older ones – all of the time, so that this stays fresh.

Many Galwegians will be familiar with the concept too after a temporary Poetry Jukebox was installed outside Galway Museum as part of an exhibition on the Centenary Decade. That also featured local poets.

“The original is a steel object encased into the ground in concrete; you crank it up and you’ll have 20 local poets on an MP3 reading their work – or musicians playing their music from the local area,” explained Jim, who is also an acclaimed tour guide and political activist.

“The content would be constantly rotated to keep it fresh and offer more opportunities to all,” he added.

But to get to that point, they need one more push to ensure the finance is in place. Anyone who would like to help can find further details on their iDonate Crowdfunder campaign at https://idonate.ie/crowdfunder/PoetryJukeboxGalwayGaillimh.

Pictured: James O’Toole and Jim Ward….driving forces behind the poetry jukebox, an example of which is inset. PHOTO: JOE O’SHAUGHNESSY.

A young Galway man with a passion for sport and the Irish language has told a Dáil committee that the Gaelic Games should be used to foster more use of Irish – and not just the token gestures that are made today.

Oisín Ó Conaill from Athenry, who works as the Social Media Co-ordinator for Spórt TG4, was one of a number of interns from the station who took centre stage in Leinster House to address members of the Committee on the Irish Language, the Gaeltacht and the Irish-Speaking Community on their views and aspirations about the future of the Irish language.

The Committee is dedicated to promoting the use of Irish as a vernacular language in every aspect of Irish life.

Oisín outlined his passion for sport having played underage hurling and soccer for Athenry, as well as golf from a young age – growing up as he did beside Athenry Golf Club.

The past pupil of Coláiste an Eachréidh in Athenry and Gaelscoil Dara in Renmore is a graduate of University of Galway where he studied Irish and Psychology – and through this experience he started to lean towards a career through the medium of Irish.

“In my own area, the GAA is very strong like many areas across the country,” Óisín told members of the committee.

“Having said that, the Irish language does not receive the same amount of interest even though they are both intertwined in Irish culture.

“The history of the GAA is embedded in Irish. Sports played by Irish heroes, such as Cú Chulainn and Na Fianna.

“Now the Irish language is only seen on the back of jerseys, or you might hear a sentence or two from a captain when they are accepting a cup,” he said.

The Athenry man believes that it is our language that helps to define us.

“At the end of the day we are all Irish and to this day, it is the Irish language that gives us meaning in terms of our surnames, our heritage, our place names and our sports.

“I would say that everyone has heard someone say before that they were not interested in Irish because of the way it was taught at school.

“Well in that case why don’t we teach Irish in our sports sessions. A fresh, fun way to learn the language. Clubs such as Gaeil na Gaillimhe and Na Gaeil Óga use Irish as their main means of communication.

“People have a lot of interest in the sporting side of the culture, but our duty is to foster that interest so that the most important aspect of the culture, our language, will flourish,” he added.

Oisín told the committee – which included Galway Deputies Catherine Connolly, Éamon Ó Cuív and Mairéad Farrell and Senators Ronan Mullen and Seán Kyne – that, when the opportunity to work with Spórt TG4 arose, he grabbed it with both hands.

And this was because he believed it was his ideal job, combining two of his biggest interests – sport and the Irish language.

His responsibilities with the station include scheduling posts, conducting interviews and covering live sporting events through the various social media channels of Spórt TG4.

Pictured: Oisín Ó Conaill….integrate Irish language more firmly into sport.

The work of pupils from Carrabane School has featured in an online magazine.

It features the work of primary school pupils across Ireland taking part in this year’s Our World Irish Aid Awards.

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Global Goal Getters features Fifth Class pupils who wrote and performed a rap on Sustainable Development Goals.

Here is a snippet of the rap.

Conor Noone, a fifth class pupil and a member of the rap group spoke to our reporter Caoimhe Killeen about how it all came together:

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Over four hundred organ donor recipients and their families will be celebrated at a special ceremony in Salthill tomorrow(April 27th.)

The event will take place at noon in the Circle of Life Commemorative Garden to mark the final day of Organ Donor Awareness Week.

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Organ donor families and transplant recipients across the country are expected to attend tomorrow’s event.

It will also mark the anniversary of the garden which was set up ten years ago by the Strange Boat Donor Foundation.

Co-Founder Martina Goggin has spoken to our reporter Caoimhe Killeen about the gardens formation and tomorrow’s ceremony:

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Galway’s Boston Scientific and Merit Medical have been awarded best in class for Workplace Wellness.

At an event held today to mark National Workplace Wellbeing Day today, Merit Medical received recognition for Best in Class Mental Health and while Boston Scientific was awarded the title of overall large company of the year.

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The event, hosted by Brendan Courtney was hosted by Ibec, the group representing Irish businesses.

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An Interim CEO has been appointed at Galway Chamber.

Deirdre Mac Loughlin is currently a member of the Galway Chamber’s Policy & Strategy Committee.

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She’s currently a member of the National Research Ethics Committee for clinical trials.

Deirdre served as Head of Data Analytics for HP International for 20 years, where she was a recipient of a CEO award for cost savings.

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