Ireland. The first meeting was held at Craig's Hotel. Rear-Admiral William Le Poer Trench was in the chair and the members included Father Laurence Dillon, P. P.; Rev. Mr. Travers Jones, and representatives of the professional and business interests in the town. Their first responsibility was the public lighting and a gasworks was immediately erected at a cost of £1421. On 16 March 1880, Ballinasloe was constituted an urban sanitary district and in 1899, this body became Ballinasloe Urban District Council under the Local Government (Ireland) Act 1898. This became a town council in 2002. In common with all town councils, it was abolished in 2014. Local media Local and regional newspapers include the Ballinasloe Life magazine, the Connacht Tribune, Galway Advertiser, Athlone Topic and the Roscommon Herald. Local radio stations include Galway Bay FM, Shannonside FM, Midlands 103 and Tipp FM. Hospitals Ballinasloe has one university hospital, Portiuncula University Hospital. Opened by the Franciscan Missionaries of the Divine Motherhood in 1943, it is managed by the Saolta University Health Care Group. Ballinasloe had one psychiatric hospital, St. Brigid's Hospital, opened as the Connacht Asylum in 1833. After the introduction of deinstitutionalisation in the late 1980s the hospital went into a period of decline and closed in 2013. Sport Ballinasloe has soccer, golf, and rugby clubs, alongside Duggan Park GAA grounds. The local GAA clubs are Ballinasloe GAA (incorporating St Grellan's Gaelic football club and the Ballinasloe Hurling Club), Derrymullen Handball Club and Ballinasloe Camogie Club. The soccer club, Ballinasloe Town AFC, plays its games at The Curragh Grounds in the town. Ballinasloe also has two resident boxing clubs. Facilities in and near the town include a golf club (established in 1894), an equestrian centre (established in 1994 four miles from the town), an athletics club, GAA grounds, tennis club, two swimming pools, 40x20 handball alley, rugby grounds, soccer grounds, driving range, and a recreational track. There is also an outdoor water sports venue, providing water-based activities, such as kayaking, canoeing and zorbing. Religion Ballinasloe has two Catholic churches (St. Michael's Church and Our Lady of Lourdes Church) and one Evangelical Protestant church (St. John's Church). Education In Ballinasloe there are four national schools (Scoil Uí Cheithearnaigh, Creagh National School, Scoil an Chroí Naofa and St Teresa's Special School), two secondary schools (Garbally College and Ardscoil Mhuire), and a further education college providing adult education courses. In addition, there are