Galway 2-23

Kilkenny 0-29

THERE was no shadow boxing in Salthill on Sunday. Say what you like about the lack of jeopardy when Galway and Kilkenny clash in the round-robin stages of the Leinster Senior Hurling Championship, neither team wants to concede a psychological advantage ahead of a probable provincial showdown.

This was a full-blooded encounter in front of a disappointing crowd of just over 9,600 at Pearse Stadium. There was no holding back, no compromise in an intense struggle which went all the way to the wire – and still we had no winner.

That scenario was a relief for Galway, but disappointing for Kilkenny. Nearly all the pressure was on the hosts to achieve a morale-boosting victory, especially with the Cats hit by untimely injuries to All-Star goalkeeper Eoin Murphy, defender Mikey Carey and key attackers Eoin Cody and Adrian Mullen.

It meant Kilkenny almost had a free shot at the Tribesmen and they certainly rose to that challenge, controlling large parts of the match and producing a typically defiant effort against the strong wind in the second-half. Their half-forward sector went to town as Martin Keoghan, John Donnelly and Tom Phelan struck 11 points from play between them.

Kilkenny’s midfield pairing of Cian Kenny (3) and Richie Reid (2) also did a lot of damage on the scoreboard and the way they repeatedly opened the Galway defence was alarming at times. They scored 22 of their 29 points from play, while the team’s ability to create space for their shooters just had to be admired.

Frankly, Kilkenny were unlucky not to win. Galway’s second goal from Brian Concannon was of the fortunate variety; one of Cathal Mannion’s four first-half points was wide, while referee Thomas Walsh somehow penalised TJ Reid for overcarrying when he was blatantly fouled late in the contest.

That decision led to substitute Aaron Niland closing the gap to one in stoppage time before he set up Conor Whelan for a dramatic equaliser in the 75th minute. If the roles were reversed, the Tribesmen wouldn’t have been happy.

In the circumstances, Galway did well to get a result. Sure, the men in maroon created more goal chances, including when championship debutant Aidan Tallis made a quality save from Cathal Mannion in the 12th minute, but apart from the opening quarter, they were often chasing Kilkenny’s tails.

Pictured: Galway’s Conor Whelan is chased by Kilkenny’s Mikey Butler during Sunday’s Leinster Senior Hurling Championship round-robin clash at Pearse Stadium. Photo: Joe O’Shaugnessy.

Groove Tube with Cian O’Connell

This Friday marks ten years to the day since Galway sludge metal outfit Ten Ton Slug played their first gig. At that time, the project revolved around Connemara brothers Sean and Mícheál O’Sullivan, though their performance in the Cellar on the night led to them finding their longtime frontman Rónán Ó hArrachtáin.

A decade and several lineup changes on, the Slugs have released a long-anticipated debut album.

Colossal Oppressor arrived this week, its eight tracks noisy and full of grit. Partly funded by the Galway City Arts Office, it is the end of a long journey for Sean and Rónán, who are marking the occasion with launch gigs in Dolan’s of Limerick and The Grand Social in Dublin this weekend.

“The video from the first gig, when we watched it back afterwards, there was somebody in the crowd going ‘yeah!’ at the end of one of the songs and it was [Rónán],” Sean recalls from that night in the Cellar.

“We listened back, and we said that guy has a good roar, we should ask him if he wants to sing.”

Plenty of highlights have scattered throughout the years the Slugs have shared together. In 2016, they won Metal 2 the Masses, a showcase that gave them the opportunity to perform at UK heavy metal festival Bloodstock. Some major support slots also stand out as formative experiences.

“Playing over in Slovenia at a metal-based festival in 34-degree heat on the main stage,” Rónán suggests. “What was it, like one or two o’clock in the day? That was awesome.”

“Definitely that,” Sean agrees. “Some of the support slots we got. One of my favourite bands of all time is Crowbar and in 2017, we got a support slot with them which I still can’t believe.”

Pictured: Ten Ton Slug… Sean O’Sullivan, Rónán Ó hArrachtáin and newest member Pavol Rossa.

The cost of Galway City’s planned new flood defences has swelled to €50m – over five times the original price tag – after it was agreed to revise the scope of the scheme to include a larger area and more properties.

In March, the Tribune revealed that lodgement of the planning application for the Coirib go Cósta flood relief scheme had been delayed by at least three years.

And now it has emerged that the works will cost €50m – not €9.5m as per the original plan.

Galway West TD Catherine Connolly (Ind) said delays to the project have left the city vulnerable to potentially destructive flooding events.

Coirib go Cósta was billed as a project to protect Galway against one-in-200-year coastal floods and one-in-100-year river floods.

The original timeframe was that a planning application would be lodged this year, with construction to start in 2026 if planning hurdles were jumped.

But Galway City Council and Office of Public Works (OPW) confirmed in March that it would be 2027 at the earliest before consultants Arup would be ready to lodge an application.

Through Dáil questions this week, Deputy Connolly has discovered that the estimated price tag of the overall project has swelled to €50m.

Caption: Deputy Catherine Connolly.

Get the full story in this week’s Connacht Tribune, on sale in shops now, or you can download the digital edition from www.connachttribune.ie. You can also download our Connacht Tribune App from Apple’s App Store or get the Android Version from Google Play.

Business leaders committed to integrating sustainable energy solutions into their operations gathered in numbers last week as Solgrid Limited hosted a seminar, entitled ‘Simplifying Solar PV for Business’ at Galway’s Menlo Park Hotel.

The event was held in conjunction with the Galway Chamber of Commerce as part of their Connect Series and it featured a panel of distinguished speakers from the renewable energy sector.

These included Conall Bolger from the Irish Solar Energy Association, Ronan Purcell of Fort Energy, and Enda Broderick from Solgrid. Additionally, Eoin Cullen from the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland was in attendance, offering his insights and expertise.

Attendees on the day gained valuable knowledge on the benefits of Solar Photovoltaic (PV) systems, with a focus on Return on Investment (ROI), available grants, and the importance of energy audits.

“This seminar is an excellent opportunity for forward-thinking business leaders to learn how renewable energy can significantly impact their businesses positively,” said Caroline Ryan, Sales & Marketing Manager of Solgrid.

Pictured: Galway Chamber’s Eveanna Ryan, Anne Pears, and Hicham Altit, with Solgrid’s Caroline Ryan, Aidan Mc Curtin and Enda Broderick Solgrid at the renewables seminar, ‘Simplifying Solar PV for Business’.  Photo: Andrew Downes, Xposure

Inside Track with John McIntyre

OH the Lord save us! And Galway fans are worried that their hurlers are not quite burning it up like they anticipated. Well then, spare a thought for supporters of Wexford, Tipperary, and Cork this week whose teams are already in the midst of a battle for championship survival.

Sure, given Kilkenny’s list of missing influential players, it looked set up for a Galway victory at Pearse Stadium on Sunday, but that summary was simplistic, especially with Kilkenny in the opposition corner. Would Adrian Mullen and Eoin Cody, for instance, have done as well in Salthill as Martin Keoghan and John Donnelly, who aren’t always on their first fifteen?

That’s the thing with the Cats. It doesn’t matter who is playing, they nearly always front up. Of course, Galway boss Henry Shefflin doesn’t need any introduction to the Kilkenny mentality, but he was aware of the outside noise that the opposition’s walking wounded had cranked up the pressure on his team to win.

Galway didn’t manage that, but they weren’t beaten either despite playing second fiddle for a long period over the closing 35 minutes when backed by the wind. They had to battle hard for a draw but never shirked the challenge on a day Evan Niland again displayed magnificent accuracy after coming off the bench.

Unfortunately, a worrying pattern has emerged in Galway’s key fixtures so far this season – they have won none of them. They lost to Wexford in the Walsh Cup final; fell to Tipperary in the league; drew with Limerick in the same competition; and have now failed to better Kilkenny in the championship.

Though there were glimpses of Eamon O’Shea’s work with the forwards, the Kilkenny attack was more cohesive on Sunday, often getting their shots away without a Galway player close by.  The way half-back David Blanchfield was allowed to plunder up the field on the terrace side of the field was also a big concern.

Pictured: Galway’s Gavin Lee comes under pressure from Kilkenny’s Richie Reid during Sunday’s Leinster Senior Hurling Championship round-robin tie at Pearse Stadium. Photo: Joe O’Shaughnessy.

Galway Public Library service is 100 years old this year – and the first public centenary celebration was to honour the man who was to the forefront when it all began.

Samuel James Maguire was Galway Public Libraries’ first librarian, the man who established, developed, and managed the county’s public library service for 31 years, from 1924 to 1955.

That was why the centenary commemoration began with a graveside commemoration and wreath laying ceremony at his resting place in Rahoon last week.

In attendance was the Mayor of Galway City Cllr. Eddie Hoare, the Cathaoirleach of the County Cllr. Liam Carroll, members of Samuel’s family – including his grandchildren Fergal Pettigrew, Brendan and Cliona Ball, and son-in-law Captain John Ball – as well as former County Librarians and current library and archives staff.

MC for the event, Galway County Council Archivist, Patria McWalter said that the event ‘marked not only the centenary of Galway Public Libraries, but most especially honours its first librarian, Samuel – better known as Sam – James Maguire’.

“Having members of Sam’s extended family with us today makes this an extra special event – we welcome you to our library family and thank you most sincerely for being with us to mark the occasion,” she said.

Tributes were led by the Mayor of the City who spoke of the prominent role Samuel Maguire played in the early experimental library schemes in Ireland.

“Prior to coming to Galway, Maguire was the library organiser for the Carnegie Trust, establishing public library schemes in counties Derry, Donegal, Sligo and Fermanagh and in recognition of his prominent role in the experimental library schemes he was declared, the father of the whole county library service, a huge honour indeed,” said Cllr Hoare.

Samuel Maguire began work in Galway in 1924 on behalf of the Carnegie Trust and was appointed County Librarian in 1926 when Galway County Council assumed control of the service.

During his tenure, Maguire managed over 300 book lending centres and branch libraries in Abbeyknockmoy, Athenry, Ballinalsoe, Ballygar, Carraroe, Clifden, Dunmore, Glenamaddy, Headford, Killimore, Loughrea, Moylough, Oughterard, Portumna, Spiddal, Tuam and Woodford – most of which were open ten hours a week.

Caption: Samuel Maguire’s grandson Fergal Pettigrew speaks of his grandfather, watched attentively by (from left) Galway County Council Archivist Patria McWalter; Interim County & City Librarian Jo Vahey; Cathaoirleach of Galway County Council, Cllr Liam Carroll, and the Mayor of Galway City, Cllr Eddie Hoare.

Get the full story in this week’s Connacht Tribune, on sale in shops now, or you can download the digital edition from www.connachttribune.ie. You can also download our Connacht Tribune App from Apple’s App Store or get the Android Version from Google Play.

Former Teagasc Advisor and Kilrickle resident BERNIE LEAHY outlines in this article the concerns and fears of the local community over the erection of a telecommunications mast right in the heart of their picturesque village. 

KILRICKLE, or Kilreekill, is named after St Patrick’s sister, Reekil, according to folklore and early Christian records. Nowadays, it is a sleepy country village oozing with the charm of bygone days.

However, all that was to change by 10am on Ash Wednesday, February 14 this year, when this mast was erected, destroying the visual amenity value of the village that Tidy Village Committee and local residents have diligently worked at for the last few years.

Planning permission notice for the proposed telecommunication mast was observed at the Kilrickle Eir substation by a resident in the village in April 2021.

Covid restrictions  meant  nobody could get access to the mast plans at Galway County Council Offices until April 7, which meant that the full five weeks to lodge an objection was denied.

Planning permission was granted to Towercom to erect an 18 metre mast by May 2021.  No reference was made by Galway County Council in the Planning Permission conditions to the fact that a petrol tank was still in place in the substation.

The tank was removed to environmental standards by Towercom almost one year after planning permission was granted. An appeal to An Board Pleanála was invalid as it was received after deadline date 8th June 2021.

Parents and staff at Kilrickle National School are astounded that such a development could take place within 120 metres of the school.

Some have threatened to take their children out of the school if the mast is completed in its present location because of health concerns.

Towercom has insisted that independent monitoring of ionising radiation is to be carried out when the mast is complete as is routine. For the three dwellings within five to ten metres of the mast these checks are not reassuring. The preferred option is relocation.

A total of 140 Eir substations have leases of up to 150 years with developers such as Towercom, according to outgoing FG TD Kieran Cannon. In line with the County Development Plan, rural connectivity is a priority for the Government.

The original mono-pole structures are now being replaced in situ. On these new masts the more satellite dishes positioned the more lucrative the investment. Each satellite dish can earn up to €150,000 per dish I have been informed.

Local County Councillors and TDs have been contacted and the party line is that  all these telecommunication improvements are, ‘State backed’.

Pictured: Local residents pictured in front of the new telecommunications mast which was erected earlier this year in Kilrickle.    

Arts Week with Judy Murphy

Nuala O’Connor is never happier than when she’s living in the past, at least when it comes to writing fiction.

“History is so seductive,” she says.

In her latest novel, Seaborne, the Ballinasloe-based author has embraced the 18th century Irish pirate, Anne Bonny, creating a fearless heroine who’s determined to follow her own star, even if that determination brings Anne into conflict with societal norms of the day.

There are very few biographical details available about Anne Bonny, who may have been born in Cork, although Nuala says that has never been verified.

The only factual information comes from a court case in Jamaica in 1720, where Anne Bonny and Mary Read were tried for piracy, as were the ship’s captain, John Rackman, and other crew members – all men

The trial transcript doesn’t mention her birthplace, but says Nuala with a laugh, “Kinsale has claimed her”.

That’s due to a colourful book about piracy, written in the 1720s, that stated she was “born at a town near Cork”. Allegedly the work of a Captain Charles Johnson, this publication became a bible on piracy but, as Nuala points out, nobody knows the author’s real identity and he took great poetic licence. So too did other writers on the topic.

“It’s very hard to get serious books about piracy,” she says.

That makes it difficult to separate fact from fiction, but it’s gift for a novelist like Nuala who began to tease out Anne’s extraordinary life.

“How does a young woman end up on board a pirate ship?” she asks of Anne, who is believed to have been 23 when she was arrested for piracy.

Nuala answers that question in this book, set in a time “when women didn’t own their own futures in the world. But Anne was determined to own hers”.

Dublin-born Nuala has shown similar determination, albeit in a far more low-key way, through her writings in Irish and in English.

Her short stories and her novels have been widely praised and her fifth novel, Nora (2021), based on the life of Nora Barnacle, was shortlisted for various prizes and selected for the Dublin One City One Book in 2022.

Pictured: Writer Nuala O’Connor, captured by her photographer sister, Úna.

‘Emotional’. ‘Moving’. ‘Special’. The words echoed and re-echoed by those who attended Saturday’s tenth anniversary celebration of the Circle of Life National Organ Donor Commemorative Garden in Salthill, as they described the occasion.

Some 400 people from Ireland and further afield attended the event held in glorious sunshine, with most of those present having a direct link with organ donation.

One woman, who had travelled by train from Limerick with her granddaughter, was there in memory of her 18-year-old son who died 18 years ago following an assault.

“We donated his organs and saved five people’s lives,” she said simply.

There were stories too from people who had received such life-saving organs, donated by families in the depths of tragic bereavement.

Juliana Antonio Byrne spoke from the stage on behalf of her brother, Ernesto who received a donor heart 24 years ago, and captured the gratitude of recipients. Ernesto was in Spain on Saturday, where he’s walking 1,000km in memory of his donor. So Juliana read his words.

He explained how, in 1999, as a fit and healthy 36-year-old, he suffered heart failure which resulted in multiple organ failure. His only hope of survival was a heart transplant, which happened after several months.

Twenty-four years on, Ernesto has undertaken marathons, Ironman triathlons and taken part in transplant games in the UK and Europe.

The Circle of Life Garden was founded by Martina and Denis Goggin, whose only child, Éamonn, died in July 2006 as a result of injuries sustained in a car crash.

Their decision to donate his organs helped them through dark days and led to the creation of this special space ten years ago through the charity they established, the Strange Boat Donor Foundation.

The Circle of Life Garden’s anniversary celebration was held on the final day of Organ Donation Awareness Week, organised by the Irish Kidney Association (IKA).

Caption: Denis and Martina Goggin with singer Eleanor Shanley and Anthony Thistlethwaite, formerly of the Waterboys, who co-wrote the song “Strange Boat” with Mike Scott, which Eleanor sang at the tenth anniversary celebration of the National Organ Donor Commemorative Garden in Quincentennial Park, Salthill, last Saturday. Photo: Joe O’Shaughnessy.

Get the full story in this week’s Connacht Tribune, on sale in shops now, or you can download the digital edition from www.connachttribune.ie. You can also download our Connacht Tribune App from Apple’s App Store or get the Android Version from Google Play.