The Tuam Herald

The Tuam Herald May 17th 2012

admin — Wed, 16 May 2012 10:38:39 +0000

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Herald Extra May 17th 2012

admin — Wed, 16 May 2012 10:38:12 +0000

Editors night in

admin — Wed, 16 May 2012 10:27:54 +0000

EDITORS’ NIGHT IN: Gerry O’Regan, Editor of the Irish Independent; Kevin O’Sullivan, Editor of The Irish Times; David Burke, Editor of The Tuam Herald and Jim Fahy, recently retired Western Editor for RTE, on the podium in the Synod Hall of St Mary’s Cathedral, Tuam, on Friday night at a reception to celebrate the 175th anniversary of The Tuam Herald. All four began their journalistic careers with the paper, one remains with it. Photo: Ray Ryan

€500,000 pledge to secure future of Stadium

admin — Wed, 16 May 2012 10:27:05 +0000

By JACQUELINE HOGGE
UP TO €500,000 is to be invested in Tuam Stadium over the coming three years to secure its status as Galway’s second football venue, according to the chairman of Galway County Board Noel Treacy.
A deputation of several key figures from the County Board attended this month’s meeting of Tuam Town Council following an invitation by councillors who were outraged by last month’s decision to move a pivotal National League fixture from the town to Pearse Stadium.
Several councillors appealed to the GAA to increase its funding in the stadium, which they described as a lifeline for businesses in the town.
Cllr Larry Bane, who has been one of the most vocal in raising the issue, said the current state of facilities in the stadium was well below par and that urgent funding was needed to bring the stadium up to standard.
Quality surface
“Finance is a big problem, we understand that, but Tuam has a pitch surface of the highest quality and teams love to play here,” he said.
“But the facilities are not up to scratch and until the people in Tuam get behind the stadium, the situation won’t change.
“Down through the years there’s been fantastic support for Galway teams but it’s so disheartening to see grounds in other areas such as Castlebar, Sligo and Roscommon and then to see what has happened here in Tuam.”
Mr Treacy said there was no diminution or reduction of status for Tuam and an investment of over €300,000 in the past three years proved of this.
“We have a three year plan to invest a further €500,000 in the stadium to help us address the outstanding health and safety issues that restrict us by law on the numbers of people we can admit to games in Tuam,” he said.
“We see the future as a partnership venture with the people of Tuam, and by moving forward together on this will see positive progress being made.”
Cllr Tom Reilly suggested that members of the Town Council be voted onto the Tuam Stadium Committee to ensure greater co-ordination of work needed to bring the stadium back up to the top level.
Cllr Imelda Kelly urged Tuam Stadium Committee hold an AGM at the earliest opportunity so as to let people know exactly what was happening.
“There is a lot of anger in the town, particularly when the last match involving Galway and Kildare was moved at the last minute,” she said.
“Tuam was geared up for this game, businesses were relying on it at a time of ongoing economic uncertainty and to have it moved caused a lot of bad feeling because the message went out that the Galway manager didn’t want to play in Tuam.”
Galway Football Chairman John Joe Holleran said the decision to move the Kildare game had been made at the request of Galway manager Alan Mulholland, who he said deserved the support of the board given the circumstances surrounding the game.
“At the start of the league we were given four home games, with two scheduled for Tuam and two for Galway, but the manager did request that the venue for the last game be left open depending on how the team were doing,” said John Joe.
“As it turned out, when the second last game of the campaign came around we were facing possible relegation to Division 3, which placed enormous pressure on the management.
“After we won that game our future was looking brighter with the Kildare game offering a shot at promotion to Division 1 by way of a place in a National League final so the players and manager expressed their desire to play the game in Galway.
“I would have preferred to go ahead with the game in Tuam but we had to back the management.”
John Joe insisted that Tuam remained vital to the promotion and development of football in north Galway but said restrictions on health and safety meant a maximum of 9,000 people could be admitted to any one game at the ground, with that number increasing to 12,000 for a double header.
“The big thing now is to formalise a Tuam Stadium Committee and our preference is to have both a chairman and secretary from Tuam on this, we’re not there yet but we’re working on it, as without this, we can’t drive Tuam stadium forward,” he said.
“Our preference is to create an executive committee involving people from the football board, county board and people from Tuam itself as we need involvement from local people if we are to effectively promote Tuam Stadium.
An application for government sports capital funding has been submitted for Tuam with the decision due in October.
“While we won’t know the outcome of that process until October and November the grants awarded are normally based on the amount of funding raised locally,” added John Joe.
“There is no question of downgrading Tuam Stadium, given the amount of money already invested and plans to invest a lot more over the coming years.
Galway County Secretary Bernie O’Connor said members of the public were welcome to attend the next AGM of Tuam Stadium Committee and he hoped those who did attend would become actively involved in raising funds to support development of the stadium.
“People need to stop focusing on criticising the decision to put the big games in Pearse Stadium as that position won’t change anything, the money needs to come from Tuam in order for the upgrading of facilities here in town to be realised,” he said.
President of Tuam Chamber of Commerce Ronan Glynn, who attended the meeting as part of the GAA delegation, said it was time for a strategy to be developed so that everyone knew what needed to be done.
“Tuam Chamber of Commerce fully supports the work by Tuam Stadium Committee to move forward in developing the ground but we need to see what criteria are necessary in order for this to happen,” he said.
Three members of the town council were voted on to the Tuam Stadium Committee with Deputy Mayor Cllr Eamon Kitt, Cllr Tom Reilly and Cllr Larry Bane set to attend the AGM over the coming months.
John Hynes, Chief Executive of Galway County Board, said the lack of clarity on the situation regarding Tuam had led to much of the misinformation that had circulated in recent months.
He thanked the council for the opportunity to clarify the situation and said there was no doubt surrounding the commitment of Galway GAA to Tuam Stadium.

Pieta House West campaigners say Grove site is a non-runner

admin — Wed, 16 May 2012 10:26:51 +0000

By SIOBHÁN HOLLIMAN
THE HSE’s suggestion of locating Pieta House West on the old Grove Hospital site in Tuam has been firmly dismissed by those campaigning for the suicide prevention facility.
One of the main advocates for establishing a Pieta House for the West, Tuam’s John Concannon, says the preferred site continues to be the Toghermore Integrated Mental Health Campus and that the old Bon Secours hospital on Vicar Street is a non-runner for the project.

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Warning after laptops stolen from Tuam school

admin — Wed, 16 May 2012 10:26:34 +0000

GARDAI have issued a warning to businesses and households in Tuam and North Galway not to leave computers or other easily transportable valuables where they can easily be seen.

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Claregalway author to dish up national foodie column

admin — Wed, 16 May 2012 10:26:14 +0000

By SIOBHÁN HOLLIMAN

FOODIE DUO: Mona Wise with her husband Ron. Photo: Ray Ryan

CLAREGALWAY mother, writer and home cook extraordinaire Móna Wise has enjoyed her first taste of success after securing a deal with the Sunday Times for a weekly food column.
Móna, whose first book The Chef and I will be launched at the end of the month, has thousands of followers for her food blog www.wisewords.ie.
The column premiered last Sunday with Móna and her American chef husband Ron featuring as the cover story for the Sunday Times Home section.

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President wishes Herald well on 175th anniversary

admin — Wed, 16 May 2012 10:25:31 +0000

PRESIDENT Michael D Higgins issued a message of congratulations to The Tuam Herald as it celebrated the 175th anniversary of its first publication on Friday.
The President, who was in Galway to receive the Freedom of the City, said:
“I wish take this opportunity to wish all involved with The Tuam Herald every best wish on the occasion of your 175th anniversary.
“The Tuam Herald has a proud history and tradition of keeping its readers informed on local and regional issues of interest and concern.
The paper has a well earned reputation of fair and professional journalism, coupled with the determination to deal with issues in the public interest.
“I wish all of the staff at The Tuam Herald every success in the future — and I also take this opportunity to send my best wishes to David Burke, all of the Burke family, the staff, your readers and friends.”

Hub town rules are stifling Tuam’s chances of grant aid

admin — Wed, 16 May 2012 10:25:00 +0000

By JACQUELINE HOGGE
EFFORTS to have the rules regarding Tuam’s Hub status relaxed are to be made by a deputation from the Town Council, after it emerged the town is precluded from a major source of funding due because of its designation.
The matter was raised at this month’s council meeting where Cllr Sally Ann Flanagan said she had written to Minister for Local Government Phil Hogan about the matter.
“Towns throughout the country are able to apply for Leader programme funding worth a total of over €96 million, yet towns with Hub status such as Tuam are not eligible for this money,” she told the meeting.
“This is a huge disadvantage for our town and it seems very unfair that a status that was meant to help the area is being used to prevent us accessing a large source of public funds.

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New hope for Mountbellew college expansion

admin — Wed, 16 May 2012 10:24:19 +0000

By SIOBHÁN HOLLIMAN
THERE has been a last-minute turnaround by the Department of Education on a planned extension to the Holy Rosary College in Mountbellew.
Concerned parents and staff attended a public meeting recently to voice their concerns after the much-needed extension was left off the national building programme.
However it’s emerged that the €370,000 spent to date on design, planning and tender documents won’t be lost as Education Minister Ruairí Quinn will be informing the board of management to proceed with allowing the plans go to tender.

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