Our train station is getting a facelift — now the trains must follow suit

Thu, Dec 07, 2023

They say you never get a second chance to make a first impression. For the vast majority of visitors to Galway those who come to shop to visit, to study, or to stay, the first impression for many years has been the dour greasy uninviting Ceannt Station. Ostensibly an impressive building in its day, for decades now, it has been outdated and unable to cater for the tens of thousands of people who use it weekly.

The need to keep our spaces safe

Thu, Nov 30, 2023

It must be the goal of every city or town that it makes its spaces safe. As each place developed over the centuries, it aimed to leave behind the areas within each which were determined to be wild or unsafe; places where you would be discouraged to be by nature of their design or wildness.

What might have been...

Thu, Nov 23, 2023

It is not often that the one story dominates all the world’s headlines. We got a sense of it a few years back when we were all under the curse of Covid. For the first time, perhaps ever, the entire globe was at the mercy of the one ailment; the entire global news cycle carrying the same, but localised versions of the same story. We all had variations of the one restrictions; we lived our lives in the manner that the regulators dicated.

When the calm waters turned against us

Thu, Nov 16, 2023

Communities are made up of many factors. The teams that represent us. The societies we form for the betterment of us all. The hostelries where we gather in sorrow and joy...and the businesses that light up our streets; that sponsor our football teams, that give employment to our teenagers, that provide us with the goods and services we need.

Putting the brave face on the darkness of November

Thu, Nov 09, 2023

There’s a welcome inherent in us for the bright lights of winter. A place in our souls for the gaily coloured lamination that heralds the impending season. It is just a few weeks since that the dark curtain of winter darkness has fallen upon us.

Why are we so helpless in the face of evil?

Thu, Oct 19, 2023

There is a pain deep in the pits of our stomachs this week. With the winter rains and dark clouds marking the time of year when nature resets itself for the renewal of the growing cycle, the light that gives us hope and energy is in scarce supply. It is a time when sadness is accentuated, when you grapple to find the good in things.

...and the killing still goes on

Thu, Oct 12, 2023

If one was asked to construct an essay on the reasons behind the rising murder rate in this country, you would probably feel like laying the blame at the feet of the gangland criminals who facilitate the peddling of death through the toxic poisoning of our communities. The high profile nature of their internecine battles is what fuels the coverage of crime.

But such an approach would be wrong. The main reason for the burgeoning rate of violent death in this country is the continued killing of women by men...and it is growing. The shocking numbers are camouflaged by the reason that there are thousands of serious assaults each year in which the victim almost dies.

The need for our worthy organisations

Thu, Oct 05, 2023

Back in the days when I used to buy albums, there was always that first-play thrill of finding out just how many single-quality tracks were lying there between the grooves on the vinyl. I might have been aware of a headline track, but hidden beneath would be tracks that were wonderful, but which might never see the commercial light of day, and would go on to become life-long personal favourites.

Drawing cities and conclusions

Thu, Sep 28, 2023

At different times of the year in this city, we have a juxtaposition of people whose objectives and daily pursuits may not seem the same. There is the rollover from the Galway International Arts Festival into the Galway Races where the punters/performers in both are quite keen on dressing up and pretending they are something they are not. There is the crossover of the Solemn Novena and the fringes of Rag Week where sometimes the pursuits of one are not entirely compatible with the other.

Our on-field successes can boost sporting tourism in Galway

Thu, Sep 21, 2023

Tomorrow night, on a field in Kerry, there exists the potential that Galway United will capture the First Division title and with it, seize the sole guaranteed promotion ticket back to the Premier Division. If it happens, and if not, there is another chance at home to Finn Harps next Monday, it will represent a return to the top tier for the first time since the club has dined at the main table under the new ownership.

What it means is that next season, United will be playing among the top teams in the country. The creme de la creme of Irish football will be coming west every two weeks to play our side that has powered its way through the First Division this season. I must admit, after leaving the Markets Field in Limerick last winter after United had unfairly lost heavily to Waterford United, that it was hard to be optimistic, but with shrewd signings and management, the club has now almost certainly regained its place among the best.

Only policing and respect can alter street behaviour

Thu, Sep 14, 2023

There has been only one topic of conversation in the city this week — and that is the fall-out from the incidents that took place over a few days last weekend. Because individuals have appeared before the courts in relation to those events, I am precluded from commenting specifically on them. However, my points this week will be based on the generality of the decline of behaviour on the streets of our main cities and towns, and what we need to do to make sure they are the exception rather than the norm. There is a real fear that someone’s life may be lost, whether a participant or an innocent bystander, as some incidents spill over into the public domain.

That lovely end of season feeling

Thu, Sep 07, 2023

There is a lovely end of season feeling to Galway over the last few weeks. Consigned to memories now are the heady days of the Arts Festival and the Races, there is one eye firmly on the autumn, and how blessed have we been with the wonderful weather of the last few weeks.

New boundaries aim to right electoral wrongs

Thu, Aug 31, 2023

As if it hadn’t happened already, the next General Election campaign kicked off in earnest yesterday morning with the publication of the new electoral boundaries across the country. For politicians, it’s a bit like the World Cup where you know you’ve qualified but you find out the hotels you’ll be staying in and most importantly, the pitch you will be playing on.

Remembering the forgotten women of honour

Thu, Aug 24, 2023

A petition is gaining momentum to name the city's new pedestrian bridge in honour of Julia Morrissey. Who? Some may well ask.

A half century of excavation and provocation

Thu, Aug 17, 2023

There is a cyclical nature to the life of a town or city that is fascinating to monitor from afar. When I say afar, I mean in terms of time. There is nothing like a dollop of wisdom, hindsight and context to bring meaning to any aspect of our lives that we may choose to revisit from time to time. Perhaps this is why I love local news, the humanity of it, the rawness, the pomp and the circumstance; the stories and events that are important because of their grandiosity; or their relevance because the stakes are so low.

New Shannon bridge opens up world of opportunities for Galway tourism

Thu, Aug 10, 2023

It is not every day that you move closer to the far-side of Europe, but that mammoth 5,500km journey became a lot more doable with the opening of the impressive new Athlone Greenway Bridge over the river Shannon.

The need to future proof our culture

Thu, Aug 03, 2023

So here we are, at the turn of the Galway year. They used to say that if there were intercounty players at the Galway Races, that they must be out of the championship, their boots hung up for another year.

Now, in these everchanging times, every intercounty player in the country, bar the camogie finalists, could attend the Galway races and not have a county game left to care about.

Good timing for United's Cup Final stars as all kicks off down under

Wed, Jul 19, 2023

By the time you read this, you will probably be either watching (or will know the result of) the historic World Cup match between Australia and the Republic of Ireland in the opening game. Regardless of the result though, what it represents is not the culmination of a long road to participation, but probably just the beginning of that journey to full appreciation of the potential of women's sport.

Tents and events as the city throws itself headfirst into festival fever

Thu, Jul 13, 2023

As a kid, I used to love when the circus came to town. Early one morning, there would be the ping-ping ping of the tent pegs being driven into the ground in The Green, just behind my home house in Ballinrobe. We would go to school excited with the thought that by the time we ran home at lunchtime across the town for a quickly-consumed dinner (dinner in the middle of the day people, you see), the town park would have been transformed into something colourful and magical and so very different from the nothingness that was normally there.

This week, as I look out the window of my office here at the Advertiser in Eyre Square in the heart of the city, I hear more ping-pings and like my circus memories, they too are signifiers of excitement ahead. Down below us, the construction of the Galway International Arts Festival Festival village is underway at the top of the Square.

JFK’s view from the docks has changed

Thu, Jun 22, 2023

My, how the tables have turned in the sixty years this week since President John F Kennedy stood in Eyre Square and said ‘if the day was clear enough, and if you went down to the bay, and you looked west, and your sight was good enough, you would see Boston, Massachussetts. And if you did, you would see down working on the docks there some Doughertys and Flahertys and Ryans and cousins of yours who have gone to Boston and made good.”

E-paper

Read this weeks E-paper. Past editions also available from within this weeks digital copy.