The unravelling of the world continues

Thu, Dec 12, 2024

In recent years, the world has undergone profound changes. The sense of an "unraveling" has deepened in the past few months, driven by global crises, domestic turmoil, and unexpected events that have reshaped our understanding of stability.

Show up and shape the future

Thu, Nov 28, 2024

As the eve of polling day descends upon us, we stand on the threshold of a momentous decision that will shape not only the composition of our next Government but the trajectory of our nation as we approach the cusp of 2030. This election isn’t merely a ritual of democracy—it’s a call to action for every eligible voter to exercise their right, claim ownership of the outcome, and influence the coalition of parties that will steer our society through the opportunities and challenges of the coming years.

A dark week for the county

Thu, Nov 14, 2024

A place is defined by its people; those who awake at dawn and from that moment contribute to the betterment of life for their community. To offer a hello, to whistle, to hum. Those who speak and advocate; and those who don’t. Those who lift the hearts through song, through sport, through artistic excellence, through being there when a helping hand is needed.

Places become what they are because of the calibre of the inhabitants. This week, the Galway community is hurting from the tragedy that befell it on Tuesday when two swimmers lost their lives in the fog-covered waters off Silverstrand. At time of writing, the search for one continues, and our thanks go out to all the searchers and their support teams as they rally around the family of the woman who is missing since she went swimming on Tuesday.

CRITICAL EYE / SÚIL GHRINN: Pandora's Box of Politics

Thu, Nov 14, 2024

“You’re a true believer, right?”

The fast approach of the end of year

Thu, Nov 07, 2024

The hammering noise from outside my window here in Eyre Square caught me by surprise; the Christmas Market starts tomorrow, the earliest it has ever been, and a reminder once again of how the year has been concertina-ed into what feels like six months.

A big week for the world. Or is it?

Thu, Oct 31, 2024

My first interaction with the American political and military machine came not long after my fifth birthday.

CRITICAL EYE / SÚIL GHRINN: The rhythm of our stories

Thu, Oct 10, 2024

I look forward to the first full week in October every year, as announcement of the Nobel prizes introduce me to some of the greatest accomplishments of humanity. For a moment, I can have a glimpse at the most impressive work in the sciences, literature, and human rights. The awardees - often recognised for work completed decades earlier - remind us of the immense body of effort behind the scenes that underpin the technologies we use every day. Last year’s winner of the prize in medicine, Katalin Karikó, was never granted tenure by the University of Pennsylvania, and yet she persisted.

Remembering those who never came home

Thu, Oct 10, 2024

She'd still be the apple of their eyes. The steely determination she showed as a teenager evident in whatever career she chose to place herself in.

The benefit of the kind word

Thu, Oct 03, 2024

I don’t envy teenagers in the world we live in. Granted, outwardly they may seem to have many of the things that other generations could only dream of, but the possession of those riches brings with it added pressure to conform in levels unprecedented.

The need to appreciate the wisdom in our communities

Thu, Sep 26, 2024

It seems utterly daft that in modern society, a person is trusted to fly a plane, perform an operation, impart information...and then, the next day, they are not.

The benefit of resourcing small towns

Thu, Sep 19, 2024

I love towns, small towns. Those that get insulted if they’re ever called a village. Those that are laughed at it if they’re ever referred to as a city. Towns that have a bit of attitude about them, an identity, a ballsiness. Towns that have notions.

Council to recruit architect to ensure ‘city character’

Thu, Sep 19, 2024

The Galway City Council has advertised for a new role of Senior Architect amid concerns that the development of the city lacks character.

Whiff of electoral sulphur in the air

Thu, Sep 12, 2024

The increasing likelihood is that nine weeks tomorrow, the country will be going to the polls to vote in a new Government. Despite the denials of An Taoiseach and An Tanaiste who seem insistent that they will run the full course to bring the Government into early Spring, there seems little doubt but that the cold and wet days of February will be eschewed in favour of a pre-Christmas election count.

The theft of innocence

Thu, Sep 05, 2024

If you carry your childhood with you, they say that you never become older. It is that time of life is when the world looks beautiful, when matters should revolve around the simplistic; where wants and needs are then just divided into a few basics. Childhood is measured out by sights and sounds and smells before the dark hour of reason appears.

Or so it should.

A legacy of good health bequeathed to the region

Thu, Aug 22, 2024

As you read this piece this August day,there is someone in this city or county who is awaiting the results of a breast cancer check; someone for whom the watched phone represents both a terror and a salvation. Awaiting that news is the norm for so many every week and every day for so many families. As any family who has been touched by breast cancer will know, the waiting, the diagnosis, the fear are all part of the process. There is the fear of the known and the unknown; the potential that plans carefully honed will have to be shelved. Or not.

A window on a world that has changed utterly

Wed, Aug 14, 2024

Take your average nine-year-old now. Born in 2015. Five years before Covid...years before Ukraine, before Gaza and Israel, they have exprienced a change in the way the world has been.

So much has happened to form the foundations of their memories. Events that have shaken us and will continue to have implications for decades. But that nine-year-old has been born into a world of uniformity and division; of education and ignorance.

Golden feeling lifts all our spirits

Thu, Aug 08, 2024

The first Olympics I recall watching was the 1972 Games in Munich. The Ulster Bank manager in my hometown had a colour TV that threw forth the spirit of that games. The blue pool, the all-American hero that was Mark Spitz; the lithe Olga Korbut.

We watched in awe at the achievements, listened to the tinny commentary sent down a telephone line. We admired the wonderful silvery architecture of the Olympic Stadium. A games that when now viewed backwards are dominated by the attacks that claimed 17 lives.

Trains could breathe fresh life into our towns

Thu, Aug 01, 2024

The railway station in my home town was taken up and closed down about a decade before I was born, so I grew up with the shell of a cut-stone station that represented a possibility long gone. We played basketball and indoor soccer in the empty goods shed for the station. We looked at the shut-down building, the in-filled tracklines and wonder how that closure could be ever considered as progress.

Galway, be emboldened by all who wish you well

Thu, Jul 25, 2024

So here you are, men of Galway; for the second time in a generation, back to a familiar field. And you are here because you have faced down every challenge laid in front of you....and this Sunday, will be just another.