An address to mark the beginning of the end

Thu, Apr 29, 2021

We haven’t been a gather ‘round the wireless, shut all the doors, hush all the children sort of generation. Most of us haven’t been spoken to from lecterns since we left education, but for the past year we have stopped all the clocks and given a juicy bone to the dog on many occasions, right from that time when Mr Varadkar Went To Washington and addressed us in a dawn darkness while most of us were due to be on our elevenses. From that moment on, the country has been twisted this way and that for more announcements, briefings, warnings, tellings-off, back-pats and aren’t-ye-greats all delivered and signed to us in front of official green backdrops that will forever in our minds become the shade of Covid.

Football powergrab shows the importance of identity for us all

Thu, Apr 22, 2021

This is not an editorial about football, but it is brought on by the biggest story in football this week, a story that knocked Covid to one side in the minds of many. The issues raised by the attempt by 12 European football clubs to breakaway and form a competition with rules set by themselves, have shown us that they are not just pertinent on the streets of Turin, Manchester, London, Barcelona or Munich, but in all our communities, wherever we live.

Time for us to invest in the outdoors for a healthier future

Thu, Apr 15, 2021

While it is easy to make decisions easier when the sun shines, the arrival of that bright thing in the sky this week has been a timely boost to morale at a time when every step forward seems to be followed by two backwards. The feeling of warmth on the face has also served to remind us of the brighter days, as in the actual brighter days ahead, and not just the metaphorical ones we keep hearing about.

Publication of vaccination dates should douse the flames of tension

Thu, Apr 08, 2021

They say that patience is the virtue that you show when there are too many witnesses around to see how you may have behaved otherwise. Be that as it may, it has been a virtue that we have been implored to employ over the past year or more. And like in all instances when we require patience, it is as we enter the final straight that the adherence to it becomes the most difficult.

Focus on new ways of living shows us the end line

Thu, Apr 01, 2021

For those of us in the weekly newspaper game, there is a six or seven year wait for your publication day to come around to falling on April 1. That day when you’d be plotting prank stories about Arabs buying Galway United, when there’d be plans for a multi-storey carpark to be located under Eyre Square, or when the IDA would be announcing a new factory opening out in Parkmore for the production of skirting board ladders and glass hammers.

A year like no other

Thu, Mar 25, 2021

A year since Ireland went into a Covid-induced lockdown, we can look back and see how we have suffered and stagnated, progressed and then regressed in attempts to return to our pre-Covid normality.

Reviving the St Patrick's Day traditions!

Mon, Mar 15, 2021

ST PATRICK’S Day will be an online celebration this year. It's a great occasion to spend time with family and have fun at home. That's why The Galway Advertiser, Galway City Council and Galway Museum have come together to bring fun and interactive content and activities for all the family to your home. Discover about St Patrick's Day traditions history, give our St Patrick's Day quiz a try and enjoy games and activities with the kids, including DIY St Patrick's Day badges, Scavenger hunt and colouring!

Return to school is the first step on the road to recovery

Thu, Mar 11, 2021

Last December, I found myself through work, in the fortunate position of being in Croke Park on a succession of weekends before Christmas for the conclusion of the hurling, camogie, and football championships, one of which resulted in a welcome and impressive U-20 win for Donall O Fatharta’s Galway team. They were journeys that were different to the norm.

But the strangest aspect for me was the emptiness of spaces that I’d normally seen packed, thronged, overflowing with colour and sound. Jones’ Road, normally a kaleidoscope in summer sunshine. Now a grey backdrop of our national stadium.

Discover three inspirational women for International Women's Day

Mon, Mar 08, 2021

To celebrate International Women's Day today, Monday 8th of March 2021, we have asked two of The Galway Advertiser's international female staff to nominate inspirational women from their home country. Discover why Galway Advertiser Sports Editor Linley MacKenzie and Galway Advertiser Digital Marketing Executive Charlotte Haffner chose Neroli Fairhall, Kiri Te Kanawa and Simone Veil.

Disappearing banks a signifier of the changing face of Irish towns

Thu, Mar 04, 2021

The banks were always a key part of the development and growth of towns and villages across the country. In my home town, we had three banks. The Bank of Ireland (where my dad was the porter for a quarter of a century; the Munster and Leinster Bank (later AIB), and the Ulster Bank. All three were housed in fine solid buildings from a different age. Buildings that marked their importance in the town.

I was also aware of the great burst of life and energy that banks gave towns such as mine. Football and hurling clubs, badminton clubs, drama groups, scouting organisations all benefitted from a fresh intake of blood into the town every so often. Back then, a bank transfer was as exciting as the football transfer window. If the word went around that there was a new lad or lady in town, every group that had an opening was put on alert. The everchanging flow of bankers and guards stopped us getting set in our ways

Let’s recover the night-time

Thu, Feb 25, 2021

When the Justice Minister spoke earlier this week about her plans to extend the opening hours and to create measures to stimulate the nighttime economy, I was reminded of just how much this would impact Galway in particular, because of its role as a party capital and cultural hub.

Waiting for the call of hope

Thu, Feb 18, 2021

In all corners of the county this week, the phone is being watched. Those who would normally ring are being asked not to, or to use the mobile instead, in case a call should come through from the local GP telling them the news they have waited to hear for almost a year now.

Are we prepared for life after lockdown?

Thu, Feb 11, 2021

The answer to the above question for many of us would be “Hell yeah. Bring it on...bring...it....on.”

Bring on the freedom, the newfound appreciation of all that we have missed. The liberation to walk into a cafe and order a coffee and sit down at a table and take out a book.

Make the best out of 'Lockdown' Valentine's Day!

Wed, Feb 10, 2021

It's that time of the year again when couples get all loved up and splash out on romantic gifts and treats to express their passion for one another. That's right Valentine's Day is on Sunday but with the country in lockdown, coming up with ideas to celebrate the day may prove difficult. This year and last have been tough for everyone and we thought we ALL deserve a bit of love.

It’s time for patience and calm

Thu, Feb 04, 2021

They say that patience is the ability to idle your motor, while in reality you feel like stripping your gears and throwing it all overboard.

Too easy to be distracted and lose hope

Thu, Jan 28, 2021

As a child in Mayo, I always had a great sense of the potential for hope that comes with this time of the year. We had three wooden lake boats for fishing on Lough Mask, and every winter, they were upturned in our garden and allowed to hibernate against the harsh winds and rain while the fishing season remained shut. And then in late January, the boats would be turned again and the process of getting them ready for a new season would begin.

Trump’s legacy is one we can all learn from

Thu, Jan 21, 2021

This morning we wake up to a new era in world politics. Perhaps the most divisive and most colourful figure it has produced for decades has moved back into the shadows and steps can be taken to redress the damage that has been done since his arrival four years ago.

We cannot afford to close our eyes to unfairness

Thu, Jan 14, 2021

Back when I was a young journalist, I had a friend who had been born into the Mother and Baby Home. And before I ever shook his hand, I could tell that here was a man with a story, a tale that had traced its way across his face, into his furrowed brow and wrapped itself around all of his humble demeanour.

He was a man who I encountered everyday on my way to get a cup of tea and eventually, he joined me and asked me if I would do him a favour. He told me of the hardship in the home, the coldness, the harsh words, the lack of any encouragement. Then he told me of how he was sent from there to live and work on a farm, to be a substitute son, virtually a slave worker. One who would eat his meals on his own, the only communication of compassion coming from the family dog with whom he’d share the spoils of the leftovers. I can still see his face wince and the shake of his head when he recalls just how unkind they were to him.

A time for our collective hibernation

Thu, Jan 07, 2021

It has been another hard week, it is fair to say. There are none who are immune from the worry of this pandemic and its consequences. There are probably none who fully understand the changing rules and regulations with their ever changing status.

A shot in the arm for a new beginning

Thu, Dec 31, 2020

I think it was Rahm Emanuel who said once that we should never let a serious crisis go to waste. And I agree with him. In every adversity, there is an opportunity. Lest this should sound exploitative, what he meant was that every crisis is an opportunity to do things you think you could not do before. And so it has panned out this year.

E-paper

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