A new initiative to enable people experiencing domestic abuse and coercive control to receive support in their local pharmacy has been launched in pharmacies in Galway.

Safe Pharmacy, is being led by the Irish Pharmacy Union (IPU) in partnership with Safe Ireland, An Garda Síochána and the HSE.

So far, 49 pharmacies in Galway have already signed up to the Safe Pharmacy initiative, from across the county – and the IPU expects many more to get involved.

The idea is to provide any person who is experiencing domestic abuse with a safe and secure location to seek support.

Participating pharmacies will provide access to a phone in a private consultation room and contact details for local support services. This will allow victims to make that important call, for example, to a family member, local specialist domestic violence services or the Gardaí.

Anyone who is experiencing a domestic abuse situation and wishes to seek the support provided is advised to look for the purple Safe Pharmacy sign on the window displays of participating pharmacies.

In the pharmacy they should ask to speak to the pharmacist in the consultation room, this happens multiple times a day in every pharmacy so will not appear out of the ordinary to anyone who is in the pharmacy at the time.

In the privacy and security of the consultation room the person can inform the pharmacist that they require support – and this will be provided.

Detective Superintendent Sinéad Greene of the Garda National Protective Services Bureau acknowledged that it was often the case that victims of domestic abuse and coercive control felt that they don’t have someone to turn to for vital support or to disclose what they are experiencing.

“The COVID pandemic made it even more difficult for victims to seek safety and in response, Gardaí continue to reach out to provide reassurance and to guide those affected to access local and specialised resources,” she said.

“In extending access to their private consultation room, the pharmacies that are part of Safe Pharmacy will be providing victims with a safe environment to access support, away from the perpetrator.

“Gardaí will be working closely with these pharmacies nationwide to encourage victims to access several free and confidential supports,” she added.

Online course to help combat incontinence

Galway In Days Gone By

Gallant Galway fall short in epic battle

Public input sought to tackle transnational organised crime

Farmers are willing to play their part on climate change strategy but they need support

A community group set up for and run by Ukrainians in Galway is set to launch a new portal to secure employment for new arrivals to the city.

The group, called Ukrainians Helping Ukrainians Galway (UHUG) is run out of the Westside Community Centre where it recently opened a hub to supply essentials to those arriving from their war-torn homeland.

Archee Kvashyn, himself a refugee who arrived in An Spidéal four months ago, is heading up the efforts and says their hope is to provide a link between employers looking for staff and Ukrainians in search of work.

“What we want to do is collect information on who has jobs and keep this information in the Ukrainian Hub. People who have a job for Ukrainians contact us and we will be able to find them workers,” he says.

Among the around 2,500 Ukrainians who have arrived in Galway since the Russian invasion of their country in February, there is huge experience and a great willingness to work, says Archee.

“We have a lot of different people, qualified and unqualified. Doctors, engineers, builders and many others and we should be able to talk to people who can offer them jobs.”

He says they were working to gather those looking for work into groups with at least one person with good English who will help with communication.

But the issue of accommodation remains at the forefront of their minds, and with hundreds of those staying in Galway at the moment facing eviction from their temporary accommodation in student digs, UHUG wants to help.

Archee says they want to link up those who have space in their homes, or in holiday homes, with Ukrainians who have settled in Galway – many of whom have found work and have children attending schools here.

The international Protection Accommodation Services (IPAS) is working with those people to secure accommodation, says Archee, but there are fears that they will be moved to another area – and UHUG is hoping to speed up the process.

In addition to this work, the group has also secured a location to run a summer camp for Ukrainian children – at NUIG where they will also run English classes.

“The classes are very important for adults. Children pick English up very quickly at school but for older people it is more difficult.

The group has been supported by Galway City Partnership which has recently hired two staff with to assist with the Ukrainian groups with assistance from Galway City Council.

Community Development Worker with GCP, Ciara Coy, says they assist community groups across the city and have been helping UHUG to achieve its aims through the securing of space to hold their classes and for their summer camp.

“They also have regular coffee mornings for Ukrainians in Galway to meet up with each other.

“We now have two workers, hired with funding from Galway City Council, to carry out the work with Ukrainians under the he Social Inclusion and Community Activation Programme (SICAP) and we are hoping to employ two more,” she says.

For those looking to support UHUG through the provision of work and/or housing, contact Archee by emailing home@uhug.ie.

(Help at hand: Archee Kvashyn (front, in blue hoodie) and some of his Ukrainian colleagues at Westside Community Centre. Photo: Joe O’Shaughnessy).

The development of smaller housing schemes for rural villages across the county would help address the population decline in these areas – according to a local authority official.

Galway County Council Director of Services Liam Hanrahan made his comments as approval was given for an eight-house development in the North Galway village of Ballymoe close to the Roscommon border.

Members of Ballinasloe Municipal Council welcomed the new houses, saying that other smaller villages could benefit for similar-size schemes.

Senior Executive Engineer Damien Mitchell explained that the €2.5 million development would be in close proximity to the village centre and would be convenient in terms of walking and cycling.

He added that it would go to tender in September, and it was hoped that works would commence in early 2023. The development comprises of two two-bed bungalows and six two storey two-bed dwellings.

Director of Services Liam Hanrahan described it as an estate that suits the size of the village and was acceptable in terms of road safety and convenience for the future occupants.

He said that while the Department of Housing might like a development of around 40 houses, this would not be suitable for a small village such as Ballymore and would be more appropriate for larger towns where there would be more services.

Planning permission has been granted for the small development, which was said will be ideal for small families or elderly residents, subject to 14 conditions being complied with.

Among these is a requirement that a road safety audit be completed prior to the development commencing while the new estate will also have adequate lighting and be connected to the local wastewater treatment system.

Welcoming the development, Cllr Michael Connolly (FF) said that similar estates for other smaller villages such as Ballymoe should be encouraged and particularly in areas where the population is falling.

“It is a development that will bring more activity to the village, and this is what we need in rural parts of County Galway where the population is in decline.

“A new shop has opened in Ballymoe and this housing project will go towards ensuring that this business will thrive into the future. We need more of this type of development in our rural villages,” Cllr Connolly added.

Equally Cllr Peter Keaveney (FG) said that it was a welcome move and one that would be bringing a derelict site close to the village into use.

“It will breathe new life into Ballymoe and it is of a size that is appropriate for the village,” said the Glenamaddy councillor.

Some Galway County Council officials were ‘quite comfortable’ to continue having very limited contact with local politicians – even after Covid restrictions had lifted, it was claimed this week.

Several councillors repeated their complaints over lack of access to staff in relation to mainly planning and housing issues at this month’s Galway County Council meeting.

They voiced their frustration at how long it was taking to get email replies and some staff were refusing to take calls from them.

Chief Executive Jim Cullen had previously told councillors that uncontrolled access presented difficulties due to data protection requirements.

Access would be in a controlled manner, and he would ensure there were designated points of contact within each section and enquiries would then be answered. The root of the problem was there were not enough staff to deal with enquiries from the public representatives, with staff numbers down from 1,025 to 804

Councillor Jimmy McClearn, leader of the Fine Gael group of Galway County Councillors, said councillors were as likely to get a reply from the Pope as they were from the planning department.

“Some staff members are quite comfortable not having to deal with councillors.

“How will I set up a meeting with a planner if a planner won’t meet me? That’s the fundamental flaw. What are the data protection issues? There’s no money in the planning office, no sensitive information. All information is online – even the public can access it. If nobody will return a call how can we go about our business?” he fumed.

Cllr Andrew Reddington (FG) said he had called into County Hall four days in a row to talk to staff members in the planning department but was “more or less told we’re too busy”.

“We’ve families in County Galway spending thousands of euro on a planning application but we can’t organise a pre-planning meeting for them. It’s the only council in the country this is happening in. It’s completely insane.”

Sinn Féin Cllr Dermot Connolly said he sometimes gets calls back from the planning office at 9pm.

“They’re carrying a savage weight on their shoulders.”

Cllr Seamus Walsh, who has been on the Council since 1999, said councillors should not contact planners until a decision was made. At that point they could get details of the reasons for a refusal which they could pass to their constituents.

“There’s an eight-week statutory requirement for decisions to come out. They’re under tremendous pressure.”

A professional planning agent who prepared applications, the Fianna Fáil politician said planning staff were being overly strict in applying rules on things like sight lines which was putting more of a workload onto staff.

“You don’t need a 70-metre sight line on a boreen in Connemara,” he opined.

Following a meeting between the corporate policy group, Cathaoirleach Michael ‘Moegie’ Maher and Chief Executive Jim Cullen it was agreed to provide an all-areas fob for councillors and a list of staff in each department who could be contacted.

(Photo: Chief Executive Jim Cullen)

Landmark Gort pub sells for €20,000 over its asking price

Pensioner gets suspended sentence over pitchfork threat

Burglar defecated on sitting room floor

Galway's trusted source of news for over a century Editorial: news@ctribune.ie | Ph: 091 536222 Galway's Media Giant Advertising: sales@ctribune.ie | Ph: 091 536222 © Copyright Connacht Tribune 2021 | Website design development by Ourside Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions