Councillors call special meeting to discuss Local Property Tax rate

Thu, Sep 22, 2016

A decision on the Local Property Tax rate for the county has been deferred until next Monday due to concerns about a shortfall in Galway County Council’s budget. At this week’s local authority meeting it was agreed that a special meeting will be held next week to discuss the matter.

In the meantime, councillors are to seek meetings with local Government Minister Simon Coveney, Galway West TD and Gaeltacht Minister Sean Kyne, and Galway East Deputy and OPW Minister Sean Canney to outline their frustration about funding issues.

Blacksmithing and horse shoeing to be part of Féile Ballinfoile

Thu, Sep 22, 2016

A demonstration of shoeing a horse, a blacksmith’s forge, organic garden produce, scarecrows, cooking of food in an outdoor clay oven, bird watching tours, and a wooden toy-making workshop will all form part of the annual celebration of community, heritage, and the environment in Ballinfoile this weekend.

Honour the heroes at Galway Lifeboat Station Open Day

Thu, Sep 22, 2016

The tragic death of coastguard Caitriona Lucas last week highlighted the great dangers to which our emergency services are exposed on a regular basis.

NUI Galway Emeritus Professor awarded prestigious research medal

Thu, Sep 22, 2016

Professor Michael Kane, Emeritus Professor of Physiology at NUI Galway, is the 2016 winner of the Society for Reproduction and Fertility’s premier research award, the Marshall Medal. Professor Kane accepted this prestigious award at the Annual Conference of the Society in Winchester, England recently.

GMIT and Galway Community College form new partnership to promote access to further education

Thu, Sep 22, 2016

Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology (GMIT) and Galway Community College (GCC) have signed a new collaborative agreement aimed at promoting and improving equity of access to higher education for second level students of the community school and for providing progression routes for PLC students.

Trump, Truthiness, and 'race-baiting populism'

Thu, Sep 22, 2016

There is a certain temptation these days to treat the US presidential election as some form of over-the-top reality TV show. Bring out the popcorn, bring out a buzzword bingo card, and sit back. There is certainly something of the fantastic in the air: "He couldn't! Could he?"

A Galwayman's tales from the Calais ‘Jungle Camp'

Thu, Sep 22, 2016

Last weekend, newspapers carried headlines about a 14-year-old Afghan boy, Raheemullah Oryakhel. He was killed in a hit and run after being tossed from a lorry in Calais which he had been trying to board in an attempt to get to Britain. The boy had family in the UK, and was entitled to move there, but he had despaired of the endless bureaucratic delays with his application, delays which, he felt, seemed deliberate.

EZ Living Furniture wins Award of Excellence 2016

Thu, Sep 22, 2016

EZ Living Furniture, a 100% Irish-owned family-run company, has won the prestigious Award of Excellence in the Retail Excellence Ireland Awards 2016 and has been announced as one of the top 30 stores in the country. EZ Living Furniture has gone from strength-to-strength since its initial opening in Galway in 1998, with 10 stores now operating nationwide.

EZ Living Furniture was granted the Award of Excellence for their high-end visual merchandising, customer service skills, large range of quality products, and exceptional value for money, store presentation, new accessory stores and staff training. Their family ethos can be seen throughout their stores nationwide, EZ Living Furniture uses Irish suppliers where possible, supporting Irish jobs, and provides high-quality classic and innovative designs with the best value.

Glenamaddy District Ploughing and Agricultural Show on next weekend

Thu, Sep 22, 2016

Glenamaddy District Ploughing and Agricultural Show looks set to top last year’s wonderful success with an exciting range of attractions, competitions, and activities for all visitors. A dedicated committee and team of volunteers, and generous sponsorship from local businesses mean the 2016 event will rival many more established farm shows around the country.

The show, which will be held on Sunday October 2 in the Glenamaddy Equestrian Centre and 30 acres of surrounding lands, will once again play host to a top class ploughing match, an indoor pedigree and commercial cattle show, an extensive trade show, a dog show, music and dancers, along with a vintage show, threshing display, a working forge, tractor pulling, ladies’ tug-o-war, sheep display and a free play zone for children. Outdoors, the ploughing championship, an official National Ploughing Association event, while indoors, the cattle show, will be the feature events on the day.

Food On The Edge 2016 programme launched in Galway

Thu, Sep 22, 2016

The programme for this year’s Food on the Edge, taking place in Galway next month, features more than 50 luminaries from around the world who will discuss the future of food over the two-day symposium. The programme was launched on Friday in the Veranda Lounge of the Radisson Blu Hotel in Galway.

Messages In Water event to mark impact of suicide to be held tomorrow at Nimmo’s Pier

Thu, Sep 22, 2016

A community event to help promote awareness and healing relating to the impact that suicide has on the lives of people in and around the city of Galway and county, is to be held in the city tomorrow evening Friday September 23.

Lots happening at Kilchreest Village Festival this weekend

Thu, Sep 22, 2016

All eyes will be on Kilchreest this weekend as it hosts its first ever Village Festival.

Council await news from OPW on south Galway flood relief works

Thu, Sep 22, 2016

Galway County Council is still awaiting a response from the Office of Public Works regarding an application for funding for proposed works in South Galway to try to alleviate the area’s flooding issues.

Top competition for Galway Oyster and Seafood Festival events this weekend

Thu, Sep 22, 2016

The Galway International Oyster and Seafood Festival takes place this weekend on Nimmo’s Pier from tomorrow September 23rd to 25th. Among the feature events are the World Championship Oyster Opening competition which this year will see an unprecedented 20 international champions vie with each other for the title.

Portiuncula Hospital’s radiology department shortlisted for major award

Thu, Sep 22, 2016

A Ballinasloe hospital’s radiology department is the only such facility outside Dublin to have been shortlisted for a prestigious award.

The radiology department at Portiuncula University Hospital has been shortlisted for the 2016 MEDRAY Award.

My Calendar puts the fun into fundraising for schools

Thu, Sep 22, 2016

Now that children are back in school, it is time for the Parents Associations and Committees to get active on behalf of their schools. Many things are always on the agenda but without the finance it is difficult to plan ahead, so how do we fundraise?

Take part in the Run for Sunshine and remember Baboró’s Teenagh

Thu, Sep 22, 2016

Family, friends and colleagues of the late Teenagh Cunningham are inviting the public to take part in the ‘Run for Sunshine’ on this Sunday, September 25 at 12 noon in aid of The Oesophageal Cancer Fund and Baboró International Arts Festival for Children.

Moving on up the charts….why we are all winners

Thu, Sep 22, 2016

Back in the day when we’d hang around the telly on a Thursday night to watch Top of the Pops, we’d keep an eye on our favourite artists and hope that they’d made a move into the Top Ten, and even to the top of the charts. And you’d never hope that your fave artists would get to No 1 ‘cos that meant that everyone liked them and they weren’t ‘your artists’ anymore.

We like league tables, we love to know where we’re sitting. Whether it’s your ticket at the tax office, or your place in the queue for the NCT, or waiting for a pizza in Papa Johns, we all like to know where we sit and where we stand.

Galway resident shortlisted for prestigious short story award

Thu, Sep 22, 2016

A UK native, who is living in Galway, has made the shortlist for the BBC National Short Story Award. Morning, Noon and Night by Claire-Louise Bennett was selected along with four other stories from a whopping 478 entries.

Celebrating its 11th year, the BBC award is one of the most prestigious for a single short story, with the winning author receiving £15,000, the runner-up £3,000, and three further shortlisted authors £500 each.

Starting a solid and successful Leaving Certificate 2017 year

Thu, Sep 22, 2016

Summer results
Whatever the story, each Leaving Certificate student will benefit from a clear analysis of his/her year, and results of the year gone by, and the putting in place of a personal structure and a goal for the year ahead. September through October is a good time to do all this.

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