PARENTS, local people and schoolchildren in four villages along the R336 Conamara Coast Road took part in walking protests yesterday (Wednesday) morning to highlight ‘the daily perils’ faced by pedestrians, cyclists and schoolgoers.

More than 1,000 people, including schoolchildren, took to the streets of Bearna, Na Forbacha, An Spidéal and Indreabhán between 8am and 9am, with the aim of getting traffic calming measures introduced in the four villages.

Traffic data provided to local parents by Galway County Council on traffic volumes and speeds through the four locations has been described by local people as ‘frightening’ and a reminder of the need for urgent action to be taken.

On the west side of Na Forbacha, over a period of 317 days, 1.6 million vehicles passing through the village were recorded with an average speed of 60.5km/h in a 50km/h zone – one driver clocked up what was described as ‘a shocking speed’ of 184km/h (over 114mph).

The traffic volumes were even higher than that on the east (Galway City) side of Na Forbacha with over 786,000 vehicles using the road over a 122-day period – half of them were over the speed limit and one driver was clocked at 160km/h (almost 100mph).

Local Bearna councillor, Tomás Ó Curraoin told the Connacht Tribune that councillors were ‘blue in the face’ trying to highlight and get action to calm down traffic along the R336 villages.

“We need traffic calming measures as a matter of absolute urgency.  Speed ramps, proper pedestrian crossings and decent footpaths are all basic needs. There is a real danger here for schoolchildren, given the speed of the traffic,” said Cllr Ó Curraoin.

One of Wednesday’s protest organisers, Cathal Ó Flatharta from An Spideál, told the Connacht Tribune that the crucial issue to be tackled was the speed at which the traffic was driving through the villages.

“We need speed ramps and proper zebra pedestrian crossings, to make it safe for children, their parents and grandparents to walk to and from the local schools. As things stand, there is a real danger in doing this,” said Cathal Ó Flatharta.

Another parent from Indreabhán, Seosaimh Ó Fátharta, told the Connacht Tribune that with new schools having come on stream, there was now a particular urgency about dealing with the traffic issues.

Pictured: Yesterday’s walking protest to demand urgent road safety improvements for Bearna. Photo: Brian Harding.

Inside Track with John McIntyre

THE Connacht senior football championship kicks off this weekend but, remarkably, none of the five home participants will be heading into the chase for the JJ Nestor Cup on the front foot.

Galway are still smarting from failing to win any of their last three Division 1 matches – a series of results which cost them a place in the league final – while their big rivals Mayo’s challenge was comfortably swatted aside by Kerry at Croke Park last Sunday.

At the same venue the previous evening, Roscommon were put in their place by an admirable and rejuvenated Monaghan in the Division Two final, while the province’s two minnows, Sligo and Leitrim, have lots of problems of their own.

Leitrim were relegated to Division Four after a series of humbling results and didn’t field at all against Fermanagh, while Sligo’s only wins in the same section in a difficult campaign came against Clare, Antrim and Leitrim.

It means all these team west of the Shannon have something to prove and while we will learn nothing from Galway’s jaunt to the Big Apple this weekend for a meaningless, money-wasting box ticking exercise against the exiles from New York, at least Padraic Joyce can use their trip state side as a bonding mission.

Roscommon are on their travels too, but their carbon footprint will be much smaller as they are only bound for Ruislip for their quarter-final clash with London, who suffered five defeats in their Division Four league campaign this spring.

It leaves the clash of Mayo and Sligo at MacHale Park on Sunday as the only game of consequence in the Connacht championship quarter-finals. It mightn’t be a formality for the hosts either as they must regroup quickly from that Division I final defeat to Kerry.

On their day, Sligo are a decent team. Last year they had Galway all but out of the Connacht championship at Markievicz Park only for Damien Comer’s rampaging run setting up Rob Finnerty for the match-winning goal. And look where the Tribesmen ended up.

The local grassroots weren’t impressed with Galway’s flat conclusion to their league season. Sure, they were missing some key players in that disappointing home group loss to Kerry, but the team had lost some of the vigour which marked several of their earlier displays.

Still, Galway remain understandable favourites to win the Connacht title for the fourth consecutive year – a feat the county previously managed just once before in the fifties – and with a clean bill of health, they remain the team to beat in the province.

On a broader level, Kerry look in rude health.  The Clifford brothers, Paudie and David, did a lot of damage against Mayo and ominously, on the four previous occasions Jack O’Connor steered the Kingdom to National League glory, they also added the All-Ireland title. Galway and the other main contenders – Dublin, Donegal and title holders Armagh – have some catching up to do.

Pictured: Galway’s Cillian McPhillips is chased by Roscommon’s Colm Fitzgerald during Friday’s Connacht Minor Football Championship clash at Tuam Stadium. Photo: Joe O’Shaughnessy.

Galway 1-28

Laois 0-8

A Galway U-20 hurling team with the potential to end the county’s 14-year All-Ireland title famine in the grade swamped a limited Laois outfit in the opening round of the Leinster championship at O’Moore Park last Saturday.

There were also big expectations behind this group of players at minor level only to lose an epic All-Ireland semi-final to Tipperary, but three years later Fergal Healy’s charges have the opportunity to atone for that major disappointment.

Understandably, Galway may have taken time to reach full throttle in Portlaoise, but there was never any threat of an upset as the early resistance of the Laois team gradually faded before the hosts were blown away in the second half.

Galway led by 0-13 to 0-4 at the break and cantered home subsequently in a match arguably most notably for the three-point contribution from dynamic corner back Conor Lawless.

In 2022, the bones of this Laois outfit had reached the Leinster minor final against Offaly in front of a huge crowd at O’Moore Park, and a lot of hope was invested in them, but progress has stalled in the intervening seasons as underlined by Saturday’s mis-match.

Laois were competitive early on and would have stayed in the contest for longer only for failing to convert a couple of goal chances. In the eighth minute, Mark Downey had a fresh air in front of the posts before excellent Galway ‘keeper Donagh Fahy made a fine save from Cormac Hogan late in the half.

With sweeper Tom Cuddy, Rory Kelly, Ciaran Flynn, Hogan, Eoghan Cuddy, Rick Bannon and Jer Quinlan making an impact in the opening half, Laois had some positive moments in front of a modest crowd, but they had no answer when Galway were in full flow on the resumption.

By the end of the match, all six of Galway’s starting forwards had scored from play with Rory Burke, who had lined out against Cork seniors the previous weekend, a little surprisingly the last of them to manage that feat.

Naturally, there was a lot of interest in Aaron Niland’s return to inter-county action after an injury disrupted 18 months and the Clarinbridge teenager hardly disappointed with a hat-trick of points even if he left a couple of other scores behind him in the second half.

All over the field, Galway held a significant edge in class. Jonah Donnellan was admirably composed in the number six jersey, with Lawless, Sean Murphy, Ben O’Donovan, Ed O’Reilly and Gearóid King all integral to a defence which only conceded five points from play.

Both Cullen Kileen, who picked off a brace of neat points, and Paddy Mac Cárthaigh had strong periods in midfield, with Jason Rabbitte, Conor Gilligan, dual player Ryan O’Donnell, Brian Callanan and Niland looking the part up front. Three reserves, Michael Burke, Donnacha Campbell and Colm Burke, also made the scoresheet.

Pictured: Galway defender Jonah Donnellan in control against Rick Bannon of Laois during Saturday’s Leinster U-20 hurling championship clash at O’Moore Park. Photo: Joe Keane

Mayo 2-18

Galway 3-13

By DARREN KELLY AT TUAM STADIUM

BASED on early results in this year’s Connacht under-20 football championship, Galway and Mayo probably set up the perfect dress rehearsal for a provincial final last Wednesday as the green and red prevailed in this thrilling contest.

Darragh Beirne’s two-pointer on 59 minutes was the winner, giving Peadar Gardiner’s team their second win. Despite a first loss, Galway showed character to recover on two occasions.

And admittedly, one or two breaks went against them, especially when Ciarán McDonagh appeared to be fouled just when the final whistle was blown.

“Any day you lose to Mayo is not a good day,” acknowledged manager Derek Savage. “I felt we were in a winning position. The lads responded really well in the middle of the second half and really asked a lot of questions of Mayo.  We got ahead and we just didn’t finish out the game.”

But while we can dissect certain decisions, it doesn’t hide that Mayo nailed big scores over a 60 minute spell full of twists and turns that was the type of game Jim Gavin and his football review committee were dreaming about when they revolutionised the game this winter.

Galway enjoyed the better of the early exchanges and their patience paid off inside 60 seconds when Seán Dunne’s cross field delivery fell into the hands of Seán O’Connor, who split the posts for a two-point head start.

Savage’s side built a five-point advantage by the quarter hour even if Padraic Godwin needed to block a Cathal Keaveney attempt. Éanna Monaghan and Colm Costello converted frees but Niall Hurley, Tom Lydon and Josh Carey left the deficit at 0-4 to 0-3 on 13 minutes.

But in a contest full of crunching blows, Galway struck the first straight after. Mark Mannion strolled down the left before finding O’Connor. The Maigh Cuilinn winger spotted Monaghan to his left and the 2022 All-Ireland winning joint captain hit low at the posts.

Keeper Conor Meaney got a touch but despite the best efforts of Rio Mortimer, it crossed the line for the game’s first goal. O’Connor played another into the corner 60 seconds later which Dunne retrieved before creating a scoring position and the hosts were 1-5 to 0-3 ahead.

With the wind, it was set up for Galway to dominate but they appeared to switch off as Mayo got back into contention.  Mortimer pushed forward to create two scores for Oisin Cronin and Paul Gilmore.

Pictured: Galway’s Ciarán Mulhern on the attack against Paul Gilmore of Mayo during Wednesday’s Connacht U-20 football championship tie at Tuam Stadium. Photo: David Cunniffe.

CARDIOVASCULAR health refers to the health of the heart and blood vessels. Diseases affecting either the heart or blood vessels are known as cardiovascular diseases (CVD), which are the leading cause of premature death in Ireland. One in four deaths in Ireland is due to    CVD.

An initiative last Autumn between CROÍ [the West of Ireland Cardiac Foundation], IFA and the  Dept of Agriculture, involved carrying out wellbeing checks on farmers’ cardiovascular health at local marts across Ireland.

As part of the initiative, over 1,200 health checks were done in 16 locations. These checks found that nearly 50% of participants presented with elevated blood pressure or cholesterol levels.

Mark O’Donnell CEO of CROÍ said that the response to this pilot programme showed the real need for accessible health checks in rural communities.

“Cardiovascular health is key to overall well-being, yet many risk factors go unnoticed. With 80% of premature cardiovascular disease being preventable, early detection and early treatment is essential.

“The high rates of elevated blood pressure and cholesterol identified, highlight why regular heart health checks matter,” said Mark O’Donnell.

There is though a good news side to this as the vast majority of cardiovascular diseases are preventable.

Cardioiovascular Disease: get to know what it’s about

Heart and blood vessel disease – also called heart disease – includes numerous problems, many of which are related to a process called atherosclerosis which is a condition that develops when a substance called plaque builds up in the walls of the arteries.

This build-up narrows the arteries, making it harder for blood to flow through: if a blood clot forms, it can stop the blood flow. This can cause a heart attack or stroke.

Arrhythmia is another form of coronary artery disease: this is an abnormal rhythm of the heart. There are various types of arrhythmias which can cause the heart to beat too slow, too fast or irregularly. Atrial fibrillation is an example of a cardiac arrhythmia.

Importance of identifying all of the key risk factors

Several factors contribute to the development of cardiovascular disease. While some, such as age and family history, are beyond an individual’s control, others can be managed through lifestyle choices. Key risk factors include:

■ Family history: A person’s genetic makeup may increase the likelihood of heart disease.

■ Age: The risk of cardiovascular disease rises with age.

■ Gender: Middle-aged men and post-menopausal women are at a higher risk.

■ Lifestyle choices: Smoking, a poor diet, and a sedentary lifestyle [little exercise] significantly elevate heart disease risk.

Pictured: Knowing your heart can be a lifesaver.

A Different View with Dave O’Connell

The two astronauts who went to space for eight days and came back nine months later might have struck the rest of the world as remarkable – but Irish lads have been pulling strokes like that for years.

The astronauts’ elongated adventure immediately brought to mind a former colleague of mine, now deceased, who once turned up at home – and there’s no other way of putting it – well-inebriated, to find he couldn’t get the key into the front door.

His then-wife, later separated, answered the door to let him with what you might call more of an observation than a greeting.

“You’re drunk,” she said.

“Drunk? I’ll show you ‘drunk’,” he replied. And he turned on his heels into the night, to arrive back three days later.

The only thing he shared with US astronaut Butch Wilmore was that, on his eventual splashdown, my old friend also found he was struggling with the pull of gravity, having lost some of the normal function in his legs.

It’s fair to say that this wasn’t his first rodeo, because on a previous occasion, he’d been sick on his good suit.

But having found the coast clear when he got home that time, he had a brainwave . . . the kind of brainwave that you have after eight pints.

He decided to put the suit into the washing machine so it would be grand and clean by the time that his wife came home.

And indeed it was clean, as a new pin; a very small new pin because it had, not surprisingly, shrunk several sizes in the wash – to the point that it wouldn’t have fitted his small son were he making his First Communion.

It will surprise no one that my friend was a journalist, albeit from a different era — as were two of the three brothers I bumped into, gingerly making their way through Athlone on a midweek afternoon some years back.

None of them lived anywhere near Athlone, but they’d been at a family funeral of a relative who had settled some years earlier in Roscommon.

He had opted to be buried in his adopted home county on his death – which had been four days earlier. His cousins had given him a great send-off but if they’d gone on much longer, they’d have been still around for his Month’s Mind.

Roscommon 0-15

Galway 0-12

By Ivan Smyth at Tuam Stadium

GALWAY minors suffered their first defeat of this year’s Connacht Championship campaign as they came unstuck against a gritty and more economical Roscommon outfit last Friday evening.

Although referee Shane Corcoran wasn’t a popular figure in Tuam Stadium, Neil McHugh’s side lost this game because of their greater unforced error count and wastefulness in attack. The boys in maroon kicked nine wides as opposed to five for their opponents while Galway spurned three goal chances, which was always set to prove crucial.

Galway’s discipline proved a major issue as they conceded 0-10 from frees. This included a two-point free which came when Roscommon’s Sam Hannon was impeded after calling a mark from his side’s kickout with the ball brought forward 50m. Galway were also guilty of not handing back possession to Roscommon at different stages of the contest with Corcoran very strict on this.

If Galway beat Sligo, they will all but confirm a semi final spot at least. The most disappointing aspect of this defeat for Galway will be the fact they will now need results to go their way if they are to obtain a direct route to the provincial final. With both sides having enjoyed comfortable opening round victories, it was little surprise that there was a tense feeling to the early stages.

The opening throes of the game encapsulated the contest as the sides traded the lead but despite Galway controlling possession and looking menacing, their unforced effors and spurned chances allowed Roscommon to grow in stature. The sides shared the opening four scores with Oisín Ó Neachtain and the lively Darragh Costello getting Galway off the mark.

The Roscommon defence appeared apprehensive in the early stages as Eoin Gacquin cut through but despite a direct route to goal, the centre forward tried to take the point but shot off balance as his effort went wide of the mark. Costello almost procured an early goal as his dinked effort bounced off the crossbar and out. Galway continued to enjoy a measure of control as Cian Hynes, who was Galway’s best player on the night, Cillian McPhillips (free) and Cillian O’Toole slotted over.

Hannon kicked a two point free for Roscommon during that spell as the visitors capitalised on Galway’s indiscipline during the second quarter to power in front. For the final 13 minutes of the first half, Roscommon outscored Neil McHugh’s side 0-5 to 0-1 with all the winners’ tally coming from frees.

Hannon and Shay McGuinness frees moved Roscommon level before a Dara Curran placed ball, which came after Gacquin was harshly penalised for not handing the ball back with the free moved into a scoreable position. Curran pushed the gap out before Galway’s sloppy second quarter was encapsulated in first half injury time.

Pictured: Galway’s Eoin Gacquin on the attack against Roscommon’s Shay McGuinness during Friday’s Connacht Minor Football Championship tie at Tuam Stadium. Photo: Joe O’Shaughnessy.