Let’s not kill our islands by making life more difficult

Thu, Dec 01, 2016

An island by its nature is a finite feature of geography. The smaller the island, the more you can see its edges from standing in the highest point. From here you can look down and feel part of this wonder of nature. This piece of rock and soil, this large stepping stone in the pond of the ocean, upon which we feel privileged to trod, upon which we feel safe and liberated. You look down towards its edges and here you find the most comfort. Monarch of all you survey.

It’s now more important than ever to mind each other

Thu, Nov 24, 2016

To the children who sat through school this morning with empty rumbling tummies, the talk of the return of property boom means nothing. To the people who walk through town this week, staring at the windows, eyeing things they know they cannot afford, talk of a recovery means little. They stumble on, upright but overwhelmed by a sense of helplessness.

Galway has to get on the Rugby World Cup shortlist

Thu, Nov 17, 2016

This month next year a decision will be made on who will host the 2023 Rugby World Cup. The bookies were saying yesterday that Ireland is the 2/5 favourite to be awarded the honour, but there is many a slip twixt world cup and the lip and there cannot be any element of complacency regarding a potential bid.

Fear born in Paris was used to reshape world affairs

Thu, Nov 10, 2016

And so here we are, at a place in international affairs where it seems everything has been turned on its head. This week last year, as people gathered in Paris for a football match, to go to a concert, to enjoy life, we did not know the fear that would be used for much of the following 12 months.

Lá breithe sona do TG4 —a cultural mirror leaves its teen years behind

Thu, Oct 27, 2016

Back in the days when learning Irish consisted of the fear of getting a shlap with a big shtick if you failed to know any of the less miserable aspects of Peig Sayer’s difficult existence, the prospect of a TV station that would be broadcast almost entirely in Irish was not one which warmed the cockles of the heart.

A minute for meningitis — Download the ACT app now

Thu, Oct 20, 2016

Don’t you just love it when a plan comes to fruition. When an objective has been reached. When a difference has been made. And in particular I love it when I see the many worthy causes here in the west set out a long term plan and then go on to reach that. I walk with pride through the Croi building in Newcastle knowing that we ran or walked or shook a bucket to help it. Each time we pass the Galway Hospice we all take some pride from having donated in some small but not insignificant way to its being and its continuation. Those who sleep out for Simon and COPE each year know that their discomfort will help reduce discomfort for those who really need their services.

Share the darkness and bring light to the vulnerable

Thu, Oct 13, 2016

Light determines much of how we view things. Not because it throws clarity into areas where there was none, but because the way we feel, the way we do, the way we think is often influenced by light.

And if we are often amazed by the speed of light, let us remember that light is never the victor in that race, because whenever light arrives at whatever point, it will find that darkness has reached there before it.

Passing of a political giant

Thu, Oct 06, 2016

They were the best of times, they were the worst of times.

Picture Palace will be a monument to plámás but must be finished.

Thu, Sep 29, 2016

When the notion of an arthouse cinema for Galway was first mooted back in the day, it seemed a much more desirable project than it has since become. In a city that just loves its luvvies, it seemed only right that a place with a history of film development and promotion should have a flagship arthouse cinema, a venue that would act as an unofficial shrine for those who love non-mainstream movies.

Moving on up the charts….why we are all winners

Thu, Sep 22, 2016

Back in the day when we’d hang around the telly on a Thursday night to watch Top of the Pops, we’d keep an eye on our favourite artists and hope that they’d made a move into the Top Ten, and even to the top of the charts. And you’d never hope that your fave artists would get to No 1 ‘cos that meant that everyone liked them and they weren’t ‘your artists’ anymore.

Every community needs people like Caitriona Lucas

Thu, Sep 15, 2016

There is a scene in A Few Good Men where the character played by Jack Nicholson provoked by the Tom Cruise character, says that he represents those who stand guard on the wall while we sleep, while we have our parties, while we take liberty for granted, while we enjoy the freedoms that we have, because people like him are standing on that wall, day and night. Leaving aside the characteristics of that part he played, there resonates from his words the reality that exists in every community across the world.

Make time and enjoy Culture Night next week

Thu, Sep 08, 2016

Time is like a circus — it is always packing up and moving away. No sooner do we sit ourselves down to enjoy time, but it is gone again.

Like a Pokemon, you spend more time chasing it than savouring it. It is the most precious commodity that we have, it is the most valuable thing we can spend, yet we starve ourselves of it so that we can have a future in which there will be more time.

Why the impasse at the Sportsground?

Thu, Sep 01, 2016

What a difference a season makes. Connacht Rugby kicks off its new Pro 12 campaign on Saturday as reigning champions for the first time. No doubt there are still some players and many more supporters who are still pinching themselves to make sure last season's heroic campaign is for real. It is the same feeling Joe Connolly must have felt when he lifted the McCarthy Cup in 1980 - some 57 years after Galway last won the All Ireland - or when Galway United won the FAI Cup in 1991.

Direct route or circuitous - dreams can be realised

Thu, Aug 25, 2016

It has been an anxious week for students since opening their Leaving Cert results and now receiving their CAO offers in the first round.

The Green Isle Hotel — a hidden gem in the middle of west Dublin

Fri, Aug 19, 2016

With just under 270 bedrooms, an exquisite selection of food, live music, and recently refurbished leisure centre, the Green Isle Conference and Leisure Hotel has established itself as the ideal location for family getaways.

Park and relax at the Crowne Plaza Dublin Airport

Fri, Aug 19, 2016

If you are flying from Dublin this summer, Crowne Plaza Dublin Airport is offering a great deal valid until September 30. Book the Park, Stay & Go package and get your holiday or business trip off to an easy start. All you have to do is book any room the night before you fly and you will get up to eight days free parking in the hotel’s secure multi-storey car park.

The hotel’s courtesy shuttle will whisk you to and from the airport in around seven minutes and operates from 4am until 11.15pm every day. Just call reservations on (01) 862 8888 or e-mail [email protected] and mention the Park, Stay & Go package to avail of this offer.

Andorra holidays – tapas, duty free, and snow

Fri, Aug 19, 2016

Duty-free shopping, tapas restaurants, and a relaxed vibe on the slopes; is it any wonder Andorra has become such a favourite among Irish skiers and snowboarders. Set high in the Pyrenees between France and Spain, the tiny principality of Andorra has invested hugely in upgrading its lift systems, terrain, snow-making, and activities in recent years. It also has a strong snow record.

Has the Olympics lost its lustre?

Thu, Aug 18, 2016

Sporting events produce more than their fair share of elation and disappointment - and few could not be moved by the tears of defeat shed by Katie Taylor this week and empathise with the anger of Michael Conlon when decisions went against them in the boxing ring in Rio. It has prompted widespread accusations of corruption at an Olympic Games that has been marred with issues since winning the bid in 2009.

With allegations of drug taking, a first-ever national doping ban in Olympic history for the Russians, poor ticket sales, green diving pools, fixed results, and now the arrest of Pat Hickey, president of both the European Olympic Committees and the Olympic Council of Ireland (OCI), the allure and integrity of the event unquestionably has been undermined.

Time to get Galway to Clifden Greenway sorted

Thu, Aug 11, 2016

This summer thousands of Irish will have crossed the channel to France for their annual holidays, to revel in the sun, relax by a pool, and, for those who want a little more activity, perhaps take a bicycle ride.

The Olympics doesn’t fire the imagination anymore

Wed, Aug 03, 2016

We tend to look at Olympic Games through the glass prism of the rose-tinted glasses. I remember seeing my first colour TV while watching the athletics at the Munich Olympics. It was the era of the flares, the locks. It was a rare look at events that happened somewhere else across the world and we were watching it. Remember these were days not long after the wonderment of the moon landings. Our brains were sponges for saturation of colour, of exoticism. The only live events on television were All-Ireland semis and finals, the FA cup finals, the European Cup finals and the Eurovision.

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