Speed ramps are needed to slow traffic down in every town and village in County Galway.

This was the view of Galway County Councillors who voted unanimously to write to the Department of Transport requesting more funding for speed bumps in urban areas.

The motion — proposed by Councillor Michael Regan (FF) — was backed by colleagues of all sides, with Councillor Declan Geraghty (Ind Ire) praising it as the best motion he had seen come before Galway County Council.

Councillor Regan said that “most car users are ignoring speed limit signs, slow down signs and school signs”.

Speed ramps installed in built up areas, would “make our villages and towns safer”.

Central government needed to provide additional funding to Galway County Council ‘as a matter of urgency’ so it can roll out this road safety measure, he said.

“We cannot expect An Garda Síochána to be at every town and village and they do not have sufficient staff.

“It’s only a matter of time before we have a number of fatalities in our towns and villages and I ask Galway County Council, in the interest of safety, to provide speed ramps,” said Councillor Regan.

The motion was backed by all councillors and forwarded to the Department of Transport.

Councillor Tomás Ó Curraoin said speeding was a huge problem in Bearna, Na Forbacha and all along the R336 in Conamara.

“We’re getting flak about it — ramps would do the job,” he said.

He claimed cars were “flying it in Cois Fharraige” and motorists took “no notice” of speed limit signs.

The motion from Cllr Regan came following a high-profile grassroots campaign from school communities in Bearna, Na Forbacha, An Spidéal and Indreabhán earlier this year calling for safety measures outside schools.

It’s expected that these campaigns will ramp-up again in the coming weeks as schools settle back.

Councillor Noel Thomas (Ind Ire) said the impact of signs outside schools wears off, and motorists through Maigh Cuilinn were ignoring warning signs installed there.

Councillor Dermot Connolly (SF) remarked that he had been at a Wolfe Tones concert at Thomond Park in the summer and the speed ramps in the residential areas surrounding the venue provided a physical impediment to speeding motorists.

Pictured: Children in Na Forbacha pictured at one of a series of protests demanding better road safety in South Conamara earlier this year.

More than 15,000 people have signed a petition demanding a full reinstatement of maternity services at Portiuncla Hospital.

A further 13 East Galway GPs have added their voice to the campaign, revealing that it was made clear to them at a recent meeting between doctors, the HSE and hospital managers, that even if recommendations from two reviews were implemented, the decision to divert high risk pregnancies from Portiuncla would not be reversed.

“As it currently stands all high risk/complex maternity cases will automatically transfer to Galway University Hospital (GUH). In recent weeks our patients have expressed the same overwhelming sentiment; they want safe, accessible and local maternity services in their own communities,” they state in a letter.

“There is significant social and economic deprivation in our area. Geographically we are struggling to retain our services and now vulnerable high-risk women are being forced to travel past their local maternity hospital, significant distances, in frequently congested traffic conditions to deliver their high-risk pregnancies.

“Our voices and the voices of our patients matter; women’s voices need to be heard. We write in support of our patients and communities seeking confirmation from the HSE and Minister for Health, that full safe and equitable maternity services at Portiuncla University Hospital (PUH) will be retained.”

Founder of the campaign, Cllr Evelyn Parsons, said a reply from Health Minister Jennifer Carroll MacNeill to a resolution from Galway County Council provided “no clear assurance, no published evidence base, and no commitment to halting the erosion of maternity services at PUH”.

“Instead, it emphasises investment in a new ‘Level 4 campus’ at Galway University Hospital (GUH) — raising further questions about equity of access and the future role of PUH within the regional maternity network.

“The letter also states that ‘consideration for the future direction of maternity service development will require an extensive evidence base’. Our alliance is concerned that this phrasing may indicate a policy trajectory whereby patients are diverted away from PUH in order to broaden the dataset underpinning future investment in GUH, rather than a balanced approach based on local need and transparent risk assessment.”

The Minister’s response also referenced the External Management Team at Portiuncla introduced to provide additional oversight over the maternity unit.

“For many in the community, this raises legitimate questions about whether the team has functioned as a safeguard, or as a mechanism through which service changes were managed without sufficient transparency or published rationale.”

She also pointed out that one of the units that high risk pregnant women may be directed to has a 20% midwifery vacancy rate. Mullingar Hospital has a high reliance on agency cover and locum consultants and HIQA [Health Information Quality Authority] has safety concerns over its operation.

“This downgrade affects families in eight counties – one third of the counties for which the Minister carries responsibility and one fifth of the population. Communities of an entire region cannot be expected to accept service withdrawal in the absence of any safeguards.”

More than 4,000 people have signed an online petition with a further 11,000 signing hard copies calling for a reversal of the HSE decision to downgrade the maternity unit.

Pictured: Members of Portiuncula Maternity Alliance with copies of the petition opposing the downgrade and calling for reinstatement of full maternity services.