Search Results for 'welfare officer'

Galway’s arts scene lost one of its most colourful personalities last week with the sudden death of Connor Maguire, my erstwhile comedy sidekick and long-time friend. As Maguire & McBride, or in tandem with Eamonn and Fiona Kelly in The Comedy Cumann, we regaled audiences at Cúirt, the Galway Arts Festival and other occasions and locations for many years.

Kilconly native Michael Kerrigan has been elected students’ union president of Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology. Mr Kerrigan will take up the role following a year as deputy president and the union’s first Deputy President for Education, having also completed a year as vice president for welfare. 

Ireland has one of the highest suicide rates in Europe among teenagers and young adults — in a week where rural Galway witnessed yet another high profile death by suicide, following the passing of a young GAA player in the county, it is more important than ever that people reach out and avail of services at their disposal. Mental health does not discriminate and anybody’s mother, father, brother, sister, daughter, or son can be affected.

Roscommon native Sam O’Neill has been elected Students’ Union president of Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology for a second term, after an overwhelming majority of 90 per cent voted to re-instate him into the position.

----With just a few weeks to go before the closing date, the Road Safety Authority (RSA) is reminding people nationwide to get their entries in for the 2011 Leading Lights in Road Safety Awards. The awards recognise the extraordinary and often un-sung contributions of people across Ireland to make roads safer. The closing date for entries is Friday September 16 and the winners will be announced at an awards ceremony in Farmleigh House on Wednesday October 12. Information on the categories and how to nominate a ‘Leading Light’, as well as entry forms, are available at www.rsa.ie/leadinglights.

A young horse, left in severe distress as a head collar had embedded itself into its face leaving a deep wound, had bolted from the land owned by a farmer who had been unable to give a closer inspection, the Galway District Court heard this week.

The public are being urged to don their walking shoes and take part in a walk being organised by the Irish Heart Foundation and GMIT Students’ Union to promote World Heart Day tomorrow (Thursday).

I am interested to see what kind of a review will take place by the Mayo County Board and I suppose equally fascinated as to who will have the responsibility for carrying out this review. If it was done properly, I believe it would highlight significant shortcomings in our GAA structures locally. If addressed professionally it could present a great opportunity to highlight a number of issues that need to be changed, and if changes were implemented then the review would have served its purpose and be a good thing. We surely now realise that we are breeding players who are not delivering on the big stage. We are producing players that continuously look for excuses and opportunities to apportion blame on others. Of course players are not blameless, but we must look at the system that is producing our inter-county footballers. The review should scrutinise the performance of our county board officers. Someone should take a close look at their roles and benchmark their performance since taking up office. After all players and management are benchmarked by their progress or lack of on the football field. It is as we know a result driven business. For these and other reasons I would suggest that an outside agency, ie, one removed from the local GAA scene should be tasked with conducting the review. However the summer season just does not seem like an appropriate time to conduct interviews and carry out an investigation into what is wrong with our current system. It should be carried out during the winter months, when people have a little more time to discuss issues. I am aware that at least six counties have conducted reviews in the last year, so the template is out there already. Incidentally one of those counties that initiated a review of its current practices of the preparation of its inter-county players was Cork, not a county where you would perceive there to be a problem. But that is an important point too; reviews should be ongoing and not just conducted when there is a problem.

The annual general meeting of the Irish United Nations Veterans Association (IUNVA), Post 9 (Athlone), took place on Monday January 18. The Post was re-established in September 2009 and over 30 members attended the AGM in the NCOs Mess Custume Barracks, Athlone.

Athletics