Fantasy Football round 28 preview

Wed, Feb 26, 2020

Another weekend and another round of Premier League games completed. Frank Lampard's Chelsea secured a valuable win over Spurs in the race for fourth spot. The match was marred by VAR controversy as Giovani Lo Celso was inexplicably allowed to stay on the field after raking his studs down Cesar Azpilicueta's leg.

Augustine Hill — a new neighbourhood in a new Galway

Thu, Feb 20, 2020

Over the past few months I have opined and received many responses on the need for a big discussion on how Galway will be shaped in the next 10 years, because the next 10, and the opportunities it allows, will shape what will be achieved in the next one hundred.

Football’s back — and this time we’re genuine contenders

Thu, Feb 20, 2020

About an hour or so after I write this every Wednesday evening, you’ll find me on a muddy pitch, shouting orders with my fellow coaches, at two dozen U-12 footballers as they lash into one another. We are just one group of thousands who do this a few times a week, up and down the country. Instilling a love of football into those in our charge, in the hope that they get as much enjoyment out of it as we did when we chased a ball up and down a pitch.

Part of what inspires us is the grá that we all had for it, and knowing their disappointment that ensues if it has to be postponed, as has happened so many times in recent weeks because of the weather.

Fantasy Football round 27 preview

Thu, Feb 20, 2020

Game week 27 came to an end in the Etihad on Wednesday night as Man City strolled to a 2-0 victory over hapless West Ham. Elsewhere Man United breathed new life into their fight for the Champions League by defeating Chelsea 2-0 at Stamford Bridge. Sheffield United and Spurs won again to close the gap on a top four spot or should I say top five? And Liverpool continued their stroll to the title with a 1-0 success over Norwich City.

We’ve spoken and it’s all very clear now, isn’t it?

Thu, Feb 13, 2020

So to quote Dick Tuck, we have spoken, we bastards, and if we are to look at who we have elected right across the country, we see that what has come out of our mouths is that we want a bit of change. That we don’t mind any auld baggage that might be attached to our chosen parties; that we are open to a sliceen of triumphalism, or jingoism, that we don’t mind the odd bit of gombeenism; that we are partial to a touch of the barely concealed racism, and sure, anyway, isn’t it what everyone is saying anyway? Isn’t it, and sure, that’s all in the past now and it’s time to be moving on without harking back to that stuff at all...at least until the next time we have to wheel it out and pick on some other unfortunate divil.

Will the legacy of this weekend’s events span seven centuries?

Thu, Feb 06, 2020

To be fair, I can’t blame the folks at St Nicholas’ Collegiate Church for the ridiculously busy news weekend that lies ahead of us here in Galway. There is no doubt that when they finished that wonderful church on that February Sunday in 1320 that they had no idea that exactly seven centuries later, they would be blowing out the 700 candles on a massive cake, at the same time as the drums of Galway being named a European capital were beating out just a few fields away.

Fantasy Football round 26 preview

Wed, Feb 05, 2020

Another weekend, another round of Premier League football, and another victory for Liverpool. Jürgen Klopp's men are on course to break a number of records including securing the earliest title in the history of the league. Elsewhere champions Man City fell to defeat against Spurs, Leciester and Chelsea battled out to a 2-2 draw, and West Ham blew a two goal lead to draw with Brighton.

First month of decade has been an ugly one

Thu, Jan 30, 2020

It has been an ugly start to the New Year. As the first month draws to a close, we are not filled with the optimism that comes with the unfurling of the daffodil blooms; our hearts are not pumped with the warmth of the setting sun that stays with us just a little longer every day. The spring that should drag us out of the end in the morning is less taut, as the realities of the days ahead and past sit on our chests.

It has been a period where the absolute horrors have been visited upon us with the shocking and brutal deaths of so many young people, caught up in situations not of their own making. The deaths of those small children in Dublin, the horror of Drogheda, the stabbings, the attacks around the country. The seeming futility of truth and consequence in world affairs.

Fantasy Football round 25 preview

Thu, Jan 30, 2020

So the superlatives are starting to run out for Liverpool as they reach the 70 point mark before the end of January. Their 23rd win out of 24 matches was racked up thanks to a 2-0 away success at West Ham. The massive 19 point advantage they have over their rivals leads me to say, this title race is over.

A sense of something stirring

Thu, Jan 23, 2020

When you strip back the feeling that there is a General Election in the ar, when you peel away the veneer of what are merely election promises, when you scrape through the waffle, there really is a sense of something stirring in Galway at the moment. A sort of rumbling.

In the New Year’s Eve issue of the paper, I wrote about the potential of the city to go either way — to become a progressive, sustainable, metropolis. Or to remain as a great place to go on the lash with the lads and lassies. The choice was simple. Progression or pissheads. In the days following that article, I had contact from more than 100 people who said they agreed with the sentiment, that it needed to be said, and that wouldn’t it be great if this actually happened.

Fantasy Football round 24 preview

Mon, Jan 20, 2020

Another game week and another three points for Liverpool. The Reds extended their enormous lead at the top of the Premier League thanks to a 2-0 victory over Man United at Anfield on Sunday. Elsewhere Man City drew 2-2 with Crystal Palace, Newcastle defeated Chelsea with a last minute winner in the northeast, and Norwich gave themselves hope of staying up thanks to a nervy 1-0 win over fellow strugglers Bournemouth in east Anglia.

Galway Neighbourhood looking to lessen impact on planet with reducing single use plastic use!

Fri, Jan 17, 2020

Galways westend launches own plant based reusable bottle!

Time for us to pass judgment on the Ireland that we all want

Thu, Jan 16, 2020

And so it is. Just like the two buses coming along at once, our long awaited General Election comes along on the same day as our long awaited opening of Galway 2020, immediately knocking it off the front pages of the media, diverting it away from the eyes of the nation, like a bridesmaid winning the Euromillions on the day of your wedding. They just had to go and spoil it for us, didn’t they, without even a sideways glance at what else might have been in the diary.

Fantasy Football round 23 preview

Wed, Jan 15, 2020

So we are halfway through January and it looks all over bar the shouting as Liverpool extended their enormous lead at the top to 14 points with a hard fought 1-0 success over Spurs in north London. Elsewhere Watford's great escape continues to gather momentum as they defeated fellow strugglers Bournemouth 3-0 on Sunday to climb at of the relegation zone for the first time this season; Man City annihilated Aston Villa 6-1; and Southampton exacted revenge for their 9-0 hammering in October, inflicting a 2-1 defeat on Leicester to all but kill off The Foxes' faint title hopes.

Just waiting for that grand stretch in the evening

Thu, Jan 09, 2020

There is, I’m telling ya. I felt it in me waters. Just a small one mind ya, not anything outrageous. But it’s there nonetheless, that stretch in the evening. Ok, it’s not so grand yet, but there’s definitely a minute or so more of sunset now than we had last week, and ‘twas so dark the other morning, I didn’t know where I was going to work or coming from work.

We’re mad waiting for the grand stretch in the evening because it makes life so much easier. The arrival of the stretch in the evening is a Godsend to those of of us who find it hard to make conversation. For those awkward moments when you’re stuck in the lift in Roches, or find yourself queueing for your sandwich beside a complete stranger who you might never have seen before — that kind of complete stranger. At times like that, it is always great to be able to share some discourse on the state of the stretch in the evening.

Fantasy Football round 22 preview

Wed, Jan 08, 2020

Did you enjoy the week off? Yes after seven and half game weeks inside a month, last weekend's FA Cup action was a welcome break for Fantasy managers.

Galway can’t waste another decade of indecision

Thu, Jan 02, 2020

Galway is great craic. Mighty craic. You can depend on Galway to give you what you want. A mighty place to go for the weekend. With the lads, and the girls. Jaysis, a place we can eat and drink and dance all night... And eat chips, clip clopping over the pebble stones or the medieval tarmac that lines the streets of our city and stagger back to the Airbnb sated. Galway is like that friend we all have who is always laughing and smiling. Even when he shouldn’t. The one you never take seriously because he is always smiling and laughing and having the craic.

But is this all we want Galway to be? In 100 years time, do we want Galway to have had a century of just being that sort of place, where the attraction of hen parties and stag parties is our core objective? Is that all we can achieve with the enormous potential of the place laid out before our eyes; a town which sits on the lip of the Atlantic, on the edge of Europe, with its face washed by the spray of the bay. Its attraction built on its possibilities rather than its realities.

Fantasy Football round 21 preview

Tue, Dec 31, 2019

The final whistle at the Etihad Stadium also brought the conclusion of December which means it is time to the name the Advertiser Tribal League's Manager of the Month in association with Monroe's Tavern.

Look after the little things this Christmas

Thu, Dec 26, 2019

Look after the little things in life. Because one day the time will come when you realise they are the big things.

And there is no better time to find this out than at this time of the year. In the days leading up to Christmas, it is easy to be consumed by the enormity of it all; pushing ourselves through heartache and stress, and losing the familial feel of togetherness Christmas once had, when there was nothing else or nowhere else to go to.

Fantasy Football round 18 preview

Wed, Dec 18, 2019

The football just keeps coming and coming. Round 17 produced another humiliating defeat for Arsenal as they were gunned down by the brilliance of Man City's Kevin De Bruyne. Liverpool increased their advantage at the top of the table thanks to a 2-0 home victory over bottom placed Watford and a slip-up by second place Leicester. Chelsea lost at home to Bournemouth and Spurs moved within four points of the Champions League spots.

E-paper

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