Galway Bay fm newsroom – There has been an 84% increase in the sale or supply of drugs across Galway city so far this year.

Figures compiled by An Garda Síochána reveal 59 such offences were recorded from January to the end of May.

Simple possession offences in the Galway city area recorded a 66% increase in the period with 121 recorded in the year to date.

Gardaí seized cocaine valued at over 350 thousand euro in the period.

This next highest seizure type concerned cannabis with a total value of over 140 thousand euro.

Heroin valued at over two thousand euro was seized by Gardaí in the year to date.

Outside of drugs, domestic incidents also recorded a significant increase at 32%, with 40 such offences recorded in the period.

The garda report revealed a drop in all forms of property crime, with burglary dropping by over 50%.

There was also a drop in the volume of public order offences with 180 recorded so far this year compared to 207 in the same period last year.

Galway Bay FM Newsroom – A public webinar on the new County Development Plan will be hosted online tomorrow evening.

The Galway Public Participation Network and Gort-Kinvara Councillor Geraldine Donohue are organising the event to give residents in the county the chance to familiarise themselves with the draft development plan.

It comes as the public consultation process is ongoing for the new plan which runs until 2028.

Written submissions and observations on the draft plan can be submitted to the County Council until 30 July.

The event will take place on Zoom and the meeting link available on Councillor Donohue’s Facebook page.

She says the webinar presents a great chance for people to ask county officials questions about the project.

Galway Bay fm newsroom – Taoiseach Micheal Martin has pledged in the Dáil that he will pursue funding for a long-proposed new community centre in Newcastle.

The issue was raised by Galway West Deputy Noel Grealish, who said the project has an estimated build cost of 3.8 million euro.

He noted that local residents raised 200 thousand euro to get the proposed centre through the planning process to a stage where it’s now “shovel ready”.

Galway City Council has committed 900 thousand euro towards the project, which leaves a shortfall of 2.8 million euro.

However, Deputy Grealish pointed out that there’s no Government funding stream available to bring the project to fruition.

He urged Micheal Martin to look into the matter to see what can be done.

Speaking in response, Taoiseach Micheal Martin said the issue of funding for community facilities is one that is very close to his own heart.

He pledged to seek funding and also paid tribute to the excellent work carried out by the community in Newcastle.