News
Guide dog gives Cara new lease of life
A Galway woman who lost her sight as a teenager has spoken of how she has got a new lease of life thanks to her guide dog.
Speaking ahead of World Sight Day on Thursday, Cara Gibbons said it was only since she trained with her guide dog Uri last year that she has been able to move about with confidence.
An allergic reaction to cough medicine at the age of 9 left Cara fighting for her life and dealing with blindness.
She had a sudden onset of a rare condition called Stevens-Johnsons Syndrome, causing her mucus membranes to burn from the inside out. Her entire skin was burned from head to toe and left her with scar tissue in her left eye.
She spent months recovering in hospital and at home in order to heal her skin and rebuild her immune system.
Her sight continued to deteriorate but, at the age of 17, she discovered she had developed glaucoma as well. After an unsuccessful operation, she learned she would be blind within a year.
Her vision gradually became foggier until one morning she looked up to the bright colours on her wall she used as a guide and realised her sight had finally gone.
Cara struggled with her vision loss and never became accustomed to using her long cane. She trained with her Guide Dog Uri – a Golden Doodle – in 2013 and, for the first time in years, has been able to go out by herself.
Living in Galway, Cara has just completed a masters in Health Psychology and has taken on new challenges such as tandem cycling. “I always knew I would get a Guide Dog. Now I finally have, life is so much better.”
Irish Guide Dogs is inviting people living with vision impairments to apply for its free training services including the Guide Dog Programme.
There are currently 497 people who are registered blind in Galway and 11,027 registered blind in Ireland. All are eligible for a Guide Dog which is provided by Irish Guide Dogs free of charge. However only 6 people have Guide Dogs in County Galway and less than 2% of the national figure have a Guide Dog.
Read more in this week’s Connacht Sentinel
From this week’s Galway City Tribune – More than 20 taxi drivers in the city were issued on-the-spot fines last week during an operation to nab those not accepting card payments.
The ‘sting’ was conducted by the National Transport Authority (NTA), the Taxi Regulation Office and the Gardaí over the course of several days last week.
It stemmed from complaints that several taxis in Galway City were not accepting card payments – legislation was introduced last September obliging taxi drivers to accept credit and debit cards.
Many drivers sought cash payments while telling customers that their card machines were either not working or that the terminal could not get a signal.
A senior source close to the Taxi Regulation Office told the Galway City Tribune that they had received “quite a number of complaints” from customers stating that drivers were not accepting payments by card.
The source said that members of the public were engaged to use the taxi services as part of the operation and some of them reported that the drivers had indicated from the outset that they would only accept cash payment.
“Since the beginning of the year, the taxi fares in Galway City have received an increase and the drivers are required to provide an in-car system of payment for customers.”
This is a shortened preview version of this story. To read the rest of the article, see the June 2 edition of the Galway City Tribune. You can support our journalism and buy a digital edition HERE.
From this week’s Galway City Tribune – A well-known community activist in the east of the city has appealed for reasoned discussions about plans to accommodate over 300 male asylum seekers in Ballybrit.
Former local election candidate Michael Tully, who is based in Ballybane, said the debate around the proposal to house 302 people in empty office blocks in Ballybrit Business Park was happening at two extremes, while many people living locally were “somewhere in the middle”.
“There were protests organised up there this week by radicals,” said Mr Tully of demonstrations which have been orchestrated by known members of the far right.
“But there are people that think it is unsuitable because they’re putting 300 men in basically a warehouse that’s surrounded by high fences with CCTV cameras all around it. It’s like a prison or an army barracks – where’s the humanity in that? These are people we are talking about.
“There are genuine concerns about it being 300 men, because that’s unhealthy, in the same way it would be unhealthy if it was 300 women. There will be people in there that have families and would be better off mixed with them,” he said.
Media debates about the centres rarely featured nuanced opinions that were based in genuine concern, he said, and tended to favour more radical voices.
“Listen to any of the radio debates or TV discussions and it’s always the two sides shouting each other down. On one side, they’re calling people terrorists and on the other, everyone who has any concern is labelled right wing.”
Mr Tully, who is involved with several community projects locally including the Merlin Allotments and setting up an orienteering group, said there should be a more concerted effort to integrate asylum seekers in the community ahead of moving them into an area.
This is a shortened preview version of this story. To read the rest of the article, see the June 2 edition of the Galway City Tribune. You can support our journalism and buy a digital edition HERE.
From this week’s Galway City Tribune – City-wide water outages are expected next week as local authority staff down tools in a dispute over allowances.
Water Services staff in Galway City Council and Galway County Council are due to strike on Wednesday.
Trade union SIPTU predicted the industrial action will cause widespread outages and disruption to the water supply to businesses and homes across Galway. A boil water notice may also be issued.
It’s understood emergency cover and supply to hospitals may be maintained but secondary schools could be impacted on the day the Leaving Cert starts.
Union representatives met with management yesterday (Thursday) but no deal was reached. Pickets are planned for Terryland Waterworks, City Hall on College Road and the Council depot at Sandy Road.
“The City Council has no contingency plan,” said David Samuels, Assistant Industrial Organiser with SIPTU.
(Photo: Terryland waterworks)
This is a shortened preview version of this story. To read the rest of the article, see the June 2 edition of the Galway City Tribune. You can support our journalism and buy a digital edition HERE.
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Demand for housing up 9 percent in Galway
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Sting on Galway City taxi drivers refusing card payment
Activist wants ‘reasoned discussion’ on asylum seeker plans
‘Peeping Tom’ Garda spied on female colleagues
East Galway farm sells for €1.3 million
Burkes return home to revel in their local roots
Man prosecuted for building house instead of agricultural storage unit
Boasting uninterrupted bay views
