CITY TRIBUNE
Galway GC stay on course to retain Irish Senior Cup

GALWAY took a giant leap towards retaining the biggest prize in club golf when they won the Connacht Senior Cup title following their defeat of County Sligo in the final.
While the reigning All-Ireland champions had it relatively their own way in the Connacht final, it was a much tighter affair in the semi-final against neighbours and close rivals Galway Bay.
Indeed, what added to the intrigue of this semi-final contest was the fact that a number of the Galway Bay team had previously represented the Salthill club in the past.
Galway had notched up wins through Liam Nolan who defeated former Salthill player Damien Glynn having built up a commanding early lead, while veteran and former West of Ireland champion Joe Lyons is currently playing solid golf as he recorded a 4&3 victory over Michael Shiel.
However, there were losses for Luke O’Neill to Ross Kelly on the 17th while Mikey Burke suffered a heavy defeat to former Galway player and Irish international, and recently crowned Connacht strokeplay champion Eddie McCormack.
So it was down to North of Ireland Amateur Open champion Ronan Mullarney to pull the result out of the fire for Galway against Niall Carroll and had to win three holes in a row to get his match back to all-square in the back nine before securing a birdie on the 17th which proved crucial as he won 1 up.
It was then on to the final against County Sligo – themselves Senior Cup specialists – but it was one-way traffic as Galway secured the first three matches with Luke O’Neill defeating former Irish international Sean Flanagan on the 18th.
Liam Nolan won on the 17th (3&1) but it was certainly a case of hats off to Ronan Mullarney who seven under par after his first seven holes (five birdies and an eagle).
Get the Connacht Tribune Live app
The Connacht Tribune Live app is the home of everything that is happening in Galway City and county. It’s completely FREE and features all the latest news, sport and information on what’s on in your area. Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
CITY TRIBUNE
Homes threatened by 12-hour gorse fire in Galway

From this week’s Galway City Tribune – An extensive gorse fire in the Tonabrocky area this week – which raged for over 12 hours – at one stage threatened a number of houses in the area.
Fire Brigade resources were stretched as they battled on Wednesday evening to contain the fire which burned across several acres before being brought under control in the early hours of Thursday morning.
Fire brigade units from the city, Athenry and Carraroe fought the blaze, which at one point led to fears that residents in nearby houses would have to be evacuated.
Up to six fire tenders were involved in fighting the blaze which is thought to have started around 4 or 5pm on Wednesday – it was one of a series of gorse fires which occurred around the county over the course of the past week.
Fire Brigade personnel fought the blaze through the evening and into the early hours of the morning before eventually having it fully contained by 6am on Thursday morning.
The fire – which sent plumes of smoke several feet into the air and also across local roads – occurred at an area of commonage between Boleybeg and Tonabrocky.
Local councillor, John Connolly, has urged Galway City and County Councils to come together and launch an awareness’ campaign about the dangers of fires during extended periods of dry weather.
This is a shortened preview version of this story. To read the rest of the article, see the June 9 edition of the Galway City Tribune. You can support our journalism and buy a digital edition HERE.
CITY TRIBUNE
HSE paid €1.35m over market value for Knocknacarra building

From this week’s Galway City Tribune – The HSE has paid €11.85 million for the building to house its new ‘Integrated Care Hub’ in Knockncacarra – which is €1.35m over the open market value of the office block.
Confidential HSE documentation seen by the Galway City Tribune shows that Block A in Galway West Business Park – the former Aviva Insurance building – was independently valued at €10.5m.
The HSE subsequently paid €11.85m for the property.
According to the documentation, the building will cost €14.85m to fit out – however, that figure was based on construction costs in February 2022 and is expected to rise again due to inflation. Just seven months prior to that estimate, the fit-out works were costed at €10.8m.
A planning application is currently being put together for a new ‘Enhanced Primary Care Centre’ in the building, which will house Primary Care Teams as well as a unit for chronic disease management. A total of 105 staff will be based there.
When the matter was brought to the Board of the HSE nationally, they were told the purchase price was €1.3m above market value.
The other option shortlisted by the HSE was a ‘new build’ on lands at Merlin Park – this was costed at €33.1m because it would involve “considerable site upgrade works” and would much longer to deliver.
This is a shortened preview version of this story. To read the rest of the article, see the June 9 edition of the Galway City Tribune. You can support our journalism and buy a digital edition HERE.
CITY TRIBUNE
Flasher and ‘lewd act’ on beach investigated by Gardaí

From this week’s Galway City Tribune – Gardaí in the city are investigating two reported incidents over the weekend of indecent exposure and offensive sexual conduct – one of them at a beach in Salthill and the other in the Eyre Square area.
In the first of the incidents in Eyre Square on Friday last, a man approached a woman at around 5.30pm and exposed himself.
The woman reported the incident to the Gardaí who are carrying out an investigation into what happened.
The second incident – which is understood to be unrelated to the first one – occurred at a busy beach in Salthill on Bank Holiday Monday.
One mother who contacted the Galway City Tribune said that she saw a man ‘writhing up and down in the sand’ before putting his hand down in the front of his Bermuda shorts.
She said that about 10-minutes later, the man moved along to the next beach – which was also crowded with people – while another woman nearby, who saw the same actions, contacted the Gardai.
This is a shortened preview version of this story. To read the rest of the article, see the June 9 edition of the Galway City Tribune. You can support our journalism and buy a digital edition HERE.