In the news

Although she has taken some “really hard calls” during her first year volunteering, Childline volunteer Lauren Dolan says she finds the work hugely rewarding   Like many people, Lauren Dolan was unsure of whether she would have the requisite tools to cope with working as a Childline volunteer.
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Having grown up performing with her family’s youth circus in her native Finland, Ulla Hokkanen says she “wanted to give back some of the fun that the circus had brought to her life” through her involvement with the innovative Galway Community Circus Ireland’s first dedicated youth circus, Galway Community Circus was established in 2002 and has since been granted charity status for its work with minority and disadvantaged groups.
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Hands up who does not know somebody affected by cancer? Those that can answer in the affirmative are in the minority in Ireland, but with the work of researchers like Dr Róisín Dwyer the group might not be so elite in years to come.
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There was only ever one place for Cian Ó Cíobháin to lay his hat. Brought up in the surrounds of the Raidió na Gaeltachta's Kerry studios as his father Seán worked in the newsroom, a love for the Irish language radio station was nurtured.
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Tuam businessman, and star of RTE's The Secret Millionaire, John Concannon, talks to The Galway Independent about his work with suicide and self-harm charity, Pieta House. According to the Central Statistics Office, 486 deaths in Ireland in 2010 were recorded as suicides.
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Bernie Glynn’s life took an abrupt turn when she was 27 years of age. Less than a year after her marriage to Galway man Albert Glynn, she began feeling tired, suffering from high blood pressure, a poor appetite and general malaise.
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The West of Ireland has long been praised for the quality of its food and produce and, in celebration of this heritage, the city will play host to the first Galway Food Festival next weekend. Central to that celebration of our culinary prowess will be Attymon native Aoife Qualter, who will be run off her feet in a dual role of festival deputy chairperson and manager at ‘The Kitchen’ restaurant at Galway City Museum.
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Whatever your stance on the Occupy movement, part of you has to admire someone whose beliefs are so strong they are willing to sit in a tent night after night during the winter months in Galway.   Nobody thought they would last this long, but, five months on, the Occupy Galway camp remains in place at the northwest corner of Eyre Square.
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Having just smashed his own record for completing seven marathons on all seven continents, 45-year-old ultrarunner Richard Donovan is showing no intentions of slowing down just yet. Two years after setting the world record for running seven marathons on seven continents in five days, the Galwegian last month managed to top his feat in just four days, 22 hours and three minutes.
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The new director of the Galway City St Patrick’s Day Parade, Caroline McDonagh, says that one of the biggest things that she wants to bring during her tenure is an increased emphasis on community.
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One of Ireland’s greatest stage actors, Druid Theatre co-founder and Tony Award winner Marie Mullen is “humbled” to be honoured by her alma mater, NUI Galway, this week.   Marie will be presented with the AIB Award for Arts, Social Sciences and Celtic Studies at the twelfth annual Alumni Awards Gala Banquet this Saturday, 3 March, at the Bailey Allen Hall at NUI Galway, and Marie says it feels “fantastic” to be honoured with such an award.
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Local radio DJ Jimmy Norman has been waking Galwegians up with his breakfast show for over 21 years. However, the Galway native has just moved to a new time-slot and is looking forward to a ‘big’ future in afternoon radio.
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A series of lectures on Irish traditional music will begin in Galway City Museum next Tuesday and starting them off is renowned uilleann pipe player Dr Jimmy O’Brien Moran, who believes it is essential that we retain and promote Irish traditional culture.
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Recently appointed by President Michael D Higgins to his Council of State, Professor Gerard Quinn believes one of the important things he can bring to the role is highlighting disability law reform.   As Director of the Centre for Disability Law and Policy at the NUI Galway School of Law, Gerard deals with disability law reform on a daily basis and has a very close personal connection to the issues.
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