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.
The weather and the space allow us all to have a newfound appreciation of the city places around us. I have a personal relationship with the streets of Galway. I’m not fond of the massed crowds, the squeezing for space. My favourite time is the morning when the city has not yet properly woken, when the wheels of commerce are grinding into life; fresh breads delivered, vegetables hoisted off trucks for the hostelries.
It is at that hour that I enter the city most days. The city centre has a uniqueness at that time. I normally grab a coffee and sit in a cafe and write and look out at the evolving square as it gradually gets busier. In the last few weeks in particular, I have been struck by the number of walking tours around the city. They give great energy to a city; they preserve the history and act as great big commercials for the place. I am glad that there are currently courses available in the art of tour guiding, because it is an art. A good guide is worth a fortune in terms of what you get from a visit to a place.
Over the past few weeks too, there have been several disturbing videos of some violent incidents which have taken place in the city. There is no doubt but that the dispersal of these videos send out an image of the city that is not realistic and they do nothing for the image of the place. These incidents, shocking and regrettable as they are, are not an accurate reflection of what it is like to walk round the city centre.
However, that is not to say that we should ignore them. For a city such as ours to flourish and continue to attract tourists and visitors and students and day trippers and locals, it is essential that we feel safe; that there is protection against behaviours which in some cases have been animalistic. The more we tolerate bad behaviour and leave spaces unguarded, then the more bravado there will be among the perpetrators to do what they want, when they want, and to whom they want.
Our city centre has to be made more inviting and it will be — This winter, the proposal is that the Galway Christmas Market will run for two months, from November to early January. This is to be welcomed. I always thought it particularly sad that visitors to Galway for the actual days of Christmas came to a city that had a sense of ‘you should have been here last week” about it. The sight of the market being dismantled too at a time of the year when people have the time and the inclination to finally enjoy Christmas was also one that made the city suffer.
Our city is a beautiful place. I hope that all who are visiting it as tourists or experiencing it as students get to create memories that will stay with them for life.
