Consultation can move us all forward

Thu, Feb 07, 2019

Consultation is an under-rated concept. But it is key as it helps engender the support that decisions need to be successfully implemented. The importance of it is to the fore in Galway this week because of two major projects. One which is just starting out, and the other which is midway through.

Let's make more of our global connections

Thu, Jan 31, 2019

Back in the day, town twinnings were a great fashion altogether. Every little town and village had some fella living down the road, probably in on a witness protection programme or someone who said he hailed from some little Breton village named Creton-LeBlanque or Moron du Ville. And in a time when there was really nothing on the telly and it rained for eight months of the year, the temptation for a jolly to an exotic destination (anything east of Moate) was too much to resist.

Get ready for RUXI’s midnight runners

Thu, Jan 24, 2019

Imagine the scene in a small rural cottage. It’s nine o clock on a Saturday (the regular crowd shuffles in)...Paddy is in the jacks, clean-shaven, unusually clean shaven for that hour of the night. New geansai on him. His Sunday mass geansai. His sums copy shirt underneath. A pair of Farah slacks giving him shape. Smell of Old Spice and Lynx off him. At this hour of a Saturday, he’s normally just about to get ready for cocoa and slippers and a shout at the telly “how did that hoor Darcy get his own TV show...”

But tonight, it’s different. Tonight, Paddy is looking at the mirror and talking to himself. “You talking to me.... ha, are you talking to me. C’mere I wantcha, are yooooo talking to me.”

Fantasy Football January review

Tue, Jan 22, 2019

What a weekend of Premier League action that was.
There were seven goal thrillers at Molineux and Anfield, crucial relegation clashes, and a very angry Italian manager after a tepid London derby loss for Chelsea against Arsenal on Saturday evening. Thankfully there is cup action this week to give all Fantasy managers a well earned break. And with no league action this weekend let's have a look at the top three in the Advertiser Tribal League in association with St Anthony's and Claddagh Credit Union.

The benefits of recycling our wasted community wisdom

Thu, Jan 17, 2019

I often wonder about the amount of wisdom that filters through our lives unused. The stories untold, the knowledge unshared, the information that is left under-utilised. All of our communities feature hundreds of people who have a major contribution to make to the betterment of life, yet there is often no facilitation of this expertise.

On one level, think of the men’s sheds — set up to enable people of mixed personalities and expertise to come together, and after a few ‘howyas’ and ‘lishens’, that a conversation ensues about how they can combine to make life better for their communities.

Fantasy Football round 23 preview

Wed, Jan 16, 2019

It was a fairly quiet week on the football simply because there was very little football taking place.

Being Nora — city loses one of its great characters

Thu, Jan 10, 2019

It was only about two months ago when I was sitting scribbling in a comfy chair in a corner of Renzo cafe and gallery on Eyre Street, when I looked up and saw her face looking down at me.

Cracking Down On Gambling Laws

Mon, Jan 07, 2019

There’s been a major crackdown on gambling laws in Ireland this year, as what was once recognised as a safe haven for businesses due to favourable cooperation taxes, has seen revenue commissioners get gambling and gaming operators in their sights as they seek to clean up the industry somewhat. There’s been a suggestion that the relevant authorities want to reign in operators, as they felt things had increasingly gotten out of control. The Irish population have a real passion for gambling, with over 6,000 said to work in the gambling outlets spread around the country. The passion for gambling in Ireland increased considerably thanks to the emergence of online and mobile gambling, especially as this gives people the ability to place bets or play their favourite casino games at any time of the day or night. This has allowed PartyCasino, among others, to offer their services to a very willing audience.

So, you could say that gambling operators based in Ireland have enjoyed a number of very fruitful years, but that is all about to change as they look to chase up those who haven’t paid the full amounts of tax due, whilst also looking to crack down on those who are operating without the correct licenses in place. Over 400 licenses have been issued or renewed this year, with the authorities taking a keen interest in gaming machines too.

Simplicity can be the hardest thing of all

Thu, Dec 13, 2018

Maybe it was all Darina Allen’s fault. For about 100 years of cooking Christmas dinners and burning turkeys, we were happy.

But somewhere around the 1980s, Darina came along. In two-channel land, everything was watched on Irish television. There were people who came in late at night to stand for the national anthem at shut down time, and then watch the multicolours of the test card and listen to the whistle of its accompanying sound. Maybe, that was where we got the notion that there was nawthin’ on the telly.

Fantasy Football round 17 preview

Thu, Dec 13, 2018

Another week of European action has ended with Spurs achieving their "greatest ever European result", a 1-1 draw away to a Barcelona B team and Mo Salah and Alisson Becker sending Liverpool through to the knock-out stage after a tense 1-0 win over Napoli at Anfield on Tuesday night.

In focus: Galway’s gambling scene

Thu, Dec 13, 2018

We all know the old cliché: “the luck of the Irish”. Whether this originated in the context of gambling or not, there’s no doubt it’s relevant to the Irish people’s love of a flutter – whether it’s on the horses, in the lottery or even in one of the country’s many casinos.

How we stop doing things the stupid way

Thu, Nov 29, 2018

When all is said and done, there is great wisdom to be got from Puss in Boots in Shrek. A master of the art of life, a great survivor, a curator of the nine lives that he was born with, he was often known to impart the words of a creature who had lived life to the full and knew all its twists and turns.

And although, Puss in Boots is unlikely to be ever mentioned in the same breadth as Einstein or Shaw or Wilde, there is one of his quotes that often comes to my mind, and maybe because that is the way I am wired.

Fantasy Football round 14 preview

Thu, Nov 29, 2018

It is back to the Premier League after European duties and for Irish fans, domestic action is a welcome distraction from the FAI's strange decision to bring back Mick McCarthy to manage of Ireland after parting ways 16 years ago.

Forty families a minute make the call

Thu, Nov 22, 2018

Poverty cannot be appreciated until you have lived it. Until you have walked the streets wanting, but not looking like you are wanting. Until you have trundled through Shop Street at Christmastime with an ache in your heart knowing that you cannot have what others have. But it is not envy. It is the feeling of being unnoticed, unwanted, that is the most hurtful and debilitating.

We all make the mistake of thinking that poverty is being without food, without clothes, without shelter, but is so much more than that. It is about how all of these things make people feel.

Pallas Karting Christmas gift voucher - the Christmas present of 2018

Thu, Nov 22, 2018

Christmas is 'the most wonderful time of year'. Everyone is getting into the spirit of festive and cheer, and towns and villages throughout the county are decorated and illuminated by Christmas lights, creating a special atmosphere which only this time of year can generate.

Fantasy Football round thirteen preview

Tue, Nov 20, 2018

After another depressing round of internationals for Ireland where Martin O'Neill's men played out an uninspiring 0-0 draw with Northern Ireland on Thursday night followed by another 0-0 snoozefest against Denmark in Aarhus on Monday evening, the good news for Ireland fans is that there are no more international rounds until March and it is back to the Premier League.

Reaping the benefits of a culture of nurturing

Thu, Nov 15, 2018

Gardeners are good at nurturing. I suppose it comes with having a great patience, a desire to believe in the capacity of the fruit and plants they tend, a gut feeling that with the proper conditions, they will deliver. The right amount of photosynthesis, the right amount of care, the right amount of gut feeling.

I have visited the Portershed in Galway on many occasions over the past few years, and it is full of gardeners. Not wellied-up green-fingered types, but people who stand there watching over their patches, waiting to see if they turn to the sun or turn away. If they absorb the rain, or let it destabilize them.

Fantasy Football November review

Tue, Nov 13, 2018

Round 12 of the Premier League ended with Man City proving that sky blue is the colour in Manchester as they defeated Man United 3-1 at the Eastlands on Sunday evening.

Connacht coach Andy Friend believes his team have what it takes to make the Champions Cup

Mon, Nov 12, 2018

Connacht coach Andy Friend believes his team have what it takes to make the Champions Cup after watching them destroy a hapless Dragons side on Saturday. James Cannon and Colby Fainga’a scored their first tries for the province in a 33-12 bonus point win that carried them up to fifth in the Pro14 Conference A table. Seven Pro14 teams qualify for the Champions Cup and Friend reckons his squad can kick on and grab one of the spots. They are certainly benefiting from the impact of Australian imports David Horwitz and Fainga’a and optimism currently abounds.

The international break, which has seen Bundee Aki, Kieran Marmion, Finlay Bealham and Quinn Roux called up to the Ireland set-up, gives fans, players and Friend the opportunity to reflect on a rollercoaster start to the season. According to a Sportsbetting.ag review a top bookie at SBR and a look at the best odds available, Connacht are given a decent chance of success in the Pro14 and the Challenge Cup. They are sixth in the betting for the Pro14, behind only Leinster, Glasgow, Munster, Scarlets and Ulster. In the Challenge Cup, they are sixth in the list, with only Clermont, La Rochelle, Harlequins, Sale and Northampton ahead of them.

Fantasy Football round 12 preview

Fri, Nov 09, 2018

After the rollercoaster week that was the Champions League and Europa League, it is back to the normality of domestic matters.

E-paper

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