Galway Bay fm newsroom – A campaign group has submitted its proposal to Galway County Council for a trial of a one-way system in Oranmore.

The proposal aims to repurpose a key street in Oranmore village to create more space for walking, cycling, sitting, and shopping.

MÓR Action, a group of residents from the Oranmore-Maree area, have also launched an online petition which has gathered almost 1400 signatures (as of Mar 2).

Main Street from the roundabout at the bridge to the Castle Road entrance has been outlined by the group as its preferred choice as it’s argued it supports all the businesses in the village, not just those
at the centre.

The proposed trial would be for six months with references to other such initiatives in Cork where a trial is underway for the installation of parklets across the city and Dublin where a trial is examining the Strand Road cycle route.

The submission to the local authority concludes that the trial of a one-way system within Oranmore village would provide social, health and economic benefits to Oranmore village.

It adds it would enable the gathering of evidence-based data on travel and shopping practices in the village which can be used to inform future design and development.

The submission also argues it would help address the long-term problems of congestion and illegal parking and would position Oranmore to attract, and benefit from, cycle tourism to the area.

Galway Bay fm newsroom – The number of COVID-19 patients in Galway’s ICUs is down 66% week-on-week.

There are just two patients being treated for the virus in the intensive care unit at UHG today for the second day in row – while the ICU at Portiuncula hospital in Ballinasloe currently has no Coronavirus patients.

These represent the lowest COVID-19 figures in Galway’s ICUs since the start of January.

It comes as Coronavirus hospitalisation in the city and county continue to decline.

10 patients are being treated for the virus in Galway’s acute hospitals today – with 8 at UHG and two at Portiuncula hospital.

Nationwide there are 420 COVID-19 patients in hospital today, including 103 in ICU.

Chief Operations Officer of the HSE, Dr Colm Henry says the benefits of the vaccine roll-out has already been seen.

Galway Bay fm newsroom – A study, which examined indicators of children’s health and wellbeing over a 20 year period, has today been launched at NUI Galway.

The Health Behaviours in School-aged Children Trends Report conducted surveys with 10 to 17 year old students nationwide between 1998 and 2018.

The HBSC report is divided into three sections: health behaviours, health outcomes and the social context of children’s lives.

From the start of the study in 1998, to its end in 2018, there was a huge drop in the number of children who smoked – as well as those who had their first drink at age 13 or younger.

The rate of vigorous exercise was unchanged, but there was a considerable increase in children who reported being on a diet or trying to lose weight.

There was also a significant increase in children who feel low every week or frequently in the past six months, while there was also a slight increase in children who don”t have high life satisfaction.

However over the 20 year period there was a very sharp rise in young people feeling they could talk to their friends or their parents about problems – particularly in relation to their fathers.

Meanwhile, there was a slight drop in the number of young people aged 15-17 who reported they’ve had sex – but condom use is also down considerably.

While the number of children who liked school increased slightly, there was a bigger rise in the amount of young people who felt pressured by school work.

Elsewhere, and rates of fruit consumption and the brushing of teeth more than once a day were up considerably – while consistent seatbelt use almost doubled between 1998 and 2018.