Galway Advertiser 2008/GA_2008_12_30/GA_3012_E1_014.pdf 

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14 N E W S

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December 30 2008

Connolly slams lack of tree preservation policy at city council
BY MARY O'CONNOR The absence of a tree preservation and replacement policy at the Galway City Council is of great concern and is detrimental to the city's green enviroment. That is the opinion of city councillor Catherine Connolly who said the

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recent decision by the council to cut down four mature beech and chestnut trees at the entrance to Wellpark Grove on the Monivea Road highlighted in a very acute way the absence of a tree preservation and/or replacement policy in the city. "After a number of meetings and a petition with over 170 signatures this matter was resolved satisfactorily with the planting of three lime and two oak trees. However the absence of a tree policy has surfaced again with the cutting down of mature trees on the University Hospital Galway site and in particular the Inis Aobhinn site on the Costello Road side of the hospital.

Shantalla residents were "horrified" to see two mature trees on the Costello Road side in the process of being cut down on the Tuesday of Christmas week, she says. "On contacting the city council I was very concerned to learn from the enforcement officer that there was nothing he could do as the land was not owned by the city council. What then emerged was even more worrying in that it was confirmed that the HSE West had recently been granted permission for an inner ring road with a particular condition of that planning permission that all the trees on the hospital site were to be recorded with a view to their preservation and/or

replacement. "However that planning permission had not yet been activated and in the meantime if the HSE West decided to cut down the existing trees there was nothing the city council could do!" Councillor Connolly says this is an "absolutely extraordinary situation" and highlights the urgent need for a tree policy to be adopted by the city council. "Without such a policy it is clear that the owners of private property and indeed institutional land in the city can cut down any trees they like. I tabled a motion in this regard last July and received a positive response that suitable specialists would be employed to undertake

a full tree survey in the city together with the drafting of long term management plans. "However as far as I understand this is only in relation to city council property which leaves trees on private property and institutional land unregulated and the preservation of trees thereon utterly dependent on public outrage." Councillor Connolly says she tabled a further motion for an update on the situation and also for the adoption by the city council of a tree policy in relation to existing trees on both public and private land. "I am also awaiting the report of the enforcement officer in relation to the trees cut down."

Local student awarded Bank of Ireland scholarship
BY MARY O'CONNOR

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Galway student Conor Keane, who is studying Civil Law at NUI Galway has been awarded a prestigious Bank of Ireland scholarship. It is one of 80 new scholarships for third level education valued at over 1m. The scholarships provide students with financial support that ranges in value from 3,200 per annum up to 38,000 for the duration of study. The bank also announced that a further 80 scholarships will be available in 2009, the last year of the largest single millennium initiative from either the State or private sources and the largest privately funded

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scholarship scheme in Ireland. Applications for a scholarship can be made from January 1 2009.

The Bank of Ireland Millennium Scholars Trust was established in 2000 providing a fund of

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12.5m over the first 10 years of the new millennium to give people who face economic, social or physical barriers an opportunity to access third level education. Now in its ninth year the Trust has already spent more than 8m supporting 574 students to pursue their dreams of attending college irrespective of age, background or the discipline they wish to study. Scholarships are open to students of any age or discipline and previous beneficiaries of scholarships include students of pharmacology, culinary arts, acting, forensic investigation, environmental science, business, medicine and ballet. Almost 300 scholarship recipients have already graduated, with a further 60 to graduate in 2009. Commenting on the awards, Brian Goggin, CEO Bank of Ireland, says the Bank of Ireland Millennium Scholars Trust has taken immense pride in giving access to education to nearly 600 deserving individuals. "Whilst all of these students share the fact that significant obstacles precluded them from achieving their educational goals up to this point, they also share something else in common - motivation, commitment, talent and an unquestionable clarity of vision. It is an honour for our organisation to be part of their lives and I wish each and every one of them a wonderful future as they start this new period in their lives."