Galway Bay fm newsroom – UHG was the third most overcrowded hospital in the country last month.

728 patients were waiting for a bed during January.

Meanwhile, 417 patients were waiting on trolleys at Portiuncula Hospital – the worst January on record for the Ballinasloe hospital.

11,289 people were recorded on hospital trolleys since January 1st

That’s up 2 and half thousand on the same time last year.

University Hospital Limerick continues to be the worst affected by over-crowding, accounting for 10 per cent of the overall figure, at 1,180.

Cork, Galway, Letterkenny, and St. Vincent’s in Dublin make up the top five – totalling of over 3,000.

That’s in stark contrast with the bottom five – Tullamore, Portlaoise, the National Children’s Hospital, Connolly Hospital, and Waterford – with a combined total of 213.

The INMO says, “a lack of adequate planning has put unnecessary stress on nurses and the patients”, describing January’s figures as “unacceptably high”.

Galway Bay fm newsroom – Athenry, Loughrea, Headford and Gort are now priorities for upcoming transport studies.

Systra Ltd will carry out some of the studies, which must also align with each Local area plan.

The studies will look at modes of travel, options for new Active Travel measures and a traffic management plan.

Councillor Andrew Reddington explains how this has come about and outlines how it will work in Headford, for example

Galway Bay fm newsroom – Galway has a home vacancy rate just above the national average of 4 percent.

Across the county, 6 percent of homes are vacant, according to Gerdirectory’s Residential Buildings Report.

At the end of 2022, Leitrim had the highest number of vacancies, at 12 percent, followed closely by Mayo on 11 percent.

While Dublin has the lowest, with just one percent of homes there vacant.

Nationally, over 83,500 residential properties were vacant last month, with the report finding the West was worst affected.