Galway cannot afford to lose its taxi industry

Thu, Dec 04, 2025

At the time of going to press last evening (Wednesday), traffic across Galway City had slowed to a crawl. The cause was not an accident nor a surge of seasonal congestion, but a coordinated protest by taxi drivers who say they are fighting for nothing less than their livelihoods. Their demonstration, while inconvenient for many, was a stark reminder of the fragile balance that keeps Galway moving—especially after dark.

A bright thread gone from Galway’s patchwork

Thu, Nov 27, 2025

Galway has lost many of its great characters and citizens in recent years — those vivid, unruly, generous spirits who animated the city’s great ongoing soap opera. Each departure has thinned the patchwork a little more. These were people who might have disagreed ferociously on politics, art, or the proper way to make the perfect pot of tea, but together they helped shape a city that has always prided itself on principled dissent, on argument, on action. Galway has always needed its contrarians, its believers, its dreamers. Margaretta D’Arcy was one of the finest of them.

A light gone out across the nation

Wed, Nov 19, 2025

There should have been celebration in Ireland this week. After a weekend of sporting triumphs, the country was ready—almost hungry—for a lift from the relentless gloom of recent times. Joy was supposed to ripple through communities, offering a brief but welcome relief. Instead, a hollow stillness has settled around kitchen tables and parish halls, a darkness that no good news can penetrate. A pain in our gut. Five young lives—bright, beautiful, beginning—were taken in an instant on the Ardee Road at Gibstown in Dundalk. And now a nation finds itself grieving alongside the families who must somehow live in the aftermath.

A parent who once lost a child said something that has lingered with me for years: “I might smile now and again or laugh at something, but I am never happy. A light has gone out.” Across Louth, Monaghan, Meath, Lanarkshire, and far beyond, five lights have gone out, and with them five futures—full of possibility, friendship, hope—have been cut short. What remains are empty chairs, silenced phones, and the unbearable quiet where laughter used to be. Parents will look into empty unchangding bedrooms that stand as a permanent reminder of life.

The Connolean era begins: a presidency with purpose

Thu, Nov 13, 2025

It has been a strange week in Galway. The sun set on the Higginsian era. The sun rose on The Connolean Era. We lose one mainstay of our public representation over the past three decades, and welcome back one who has shaped the city for the past four. How fortunate are we, as a nation, to be able to replace one president with another and ensure that both destinations — the Áras and the city by the Corrib — are equally enriched for the exchange.

The new fear taking flight

Thu, Nov 06, 2025

There’s a new unease rippling across the countryside — not a fear of wolves or weather, but of wings. The wild birds that once symbolised freedom, grace, and the turn of the seasons have become, in the eyes of many farmers, harbingers of ruin. The spectre of avian influenza — bird flu — now hangs heavily over Ireland’s farms, coops, and even the bird tables of our gardens.

The Department of Agriculture’s decision to impose a compulsory housing order for all poultry and captive birds from 10 November marks a sobering moment. It’s a sign that what was once a distant threat has now landed firmly at our own doorsteps. Across the border, the UK — including Northern Ireland — is moving in lockstep, signalling that this is not a local issue but part of a wider European crisis. The virus, highly pathogenic and fast-evolving, has already forced the culling of an entire commercial turkey flock in Co Carlow after an outbreak of the H5N1 strain. A three-kilometre protection zone and a ten-kilometre surveillance area now encircle the farm, stark reminders of how quickly contagion can spread.

Connolly’s election will keep national eye on Galway politics

Thu, Oct 30, 2025

Tradition dies hard in Galway. On a rain-swept weekend that saw the familiar swirl of a Macnas parade, another proud Galway ritual unfolded — the election of one of its own to Áras an Uachtaráin. On November 11, Catherine Connolly will be inaugurated as Ireland’s tenth President, the second Galway-based person in succession to hold that office. As she steps into her new role, President Michael D. Higgins and Sabina return to the west — welcomed back into the community that launched his political and cultural journey. It is a fitting circle: Galway gives, Galway welcomes back, and Galway once again finds itself at the heart of Ireland’s political life.

Connolly more presidential than the campaign has painted her

Thu, Oct 23, 2025

If the polls are right, then in seventy-two hours, Ireland may be saluting its next President — and hearing a familiar Galway accent echo through the national count centre at Dublin Castle. Catherine Connolly stands on the brink of a historic victory. Analysis suggests she is comfortably ahead of her main rival, Heather Humphreys. Yet, as every seasoned watcher knows, politics has a habit of humbling the confident.

And then there were two…

Thu, Oct 09, 2025

The presidential race, once expected to be a tame affair, now finds itself distilled into a contest between two very different women — and two very different visions of what the Áras should represent. After the weekend’s political drama, one thing is clear: the race for the presidency has become a mirror for how we think about truth, leadership, and the kind of Ireland we want to project to the world.

The changing face of Galway: a city in motion

Thu, Oct 09, 2025

There was something deeply reflective about the ceremony held last week to honour two remarkable figures — my former colleague Ronnie O’Gorman and former County Council manager C.I. O’Flynn. It was a gathering that looked back with gratitude and forward with curiosity, a moment to pause in a city that rarely stands still.

The white flag has been raised... and we’re off

Thu, Sep 25, 2025

After months of speculation, party posturing, and a few failed bids, the race to Áras an Uachtaráin is on. It’s a modest field: just three names will appear on the ballot, making this the first presidential election with so few contenders since 1990 — when Mary Robinson made history. The stakes are high nationally, but perhaps nowhere more so than in Galway, where the outcome could trigger a seismic political shift.

A child lost, a system in crisis

Thu, Sep 18, 2025

As the search for young Daniel Aruebose continued over the past few weeks, culminating in the discovery of remains yesterday, the slow, painful unravelling of another Irish tragedy has begun to expose far more than the grim possibility of a child lost — it is unearthing, once again, the stark failures of a child protection system stretched too thin, and too often blind to the quiet disappearances of vulnerable children.

A child lost, a system in crisis

Wed, Sep 17, 2025

As the search for young Daniel Aruebose continued over the past few weeks, culminating in the discovery of remains yesterday, the slow, painful unravelling of another Irish tragedy has begun to expose far more than the grim possibility of a child lost — it is unearthing, once again, the stark failures of a child protection system stretched too thin, and too often blind to the quiet disappearances of vulnerable children.

The discovery of human remains on a site along Portrane Road, outside Donabate, has cast a pall not only over a community desperate for hope but over a country asking itself an increasingly urgent question: how could this have happened?

Sleepwalking into history – again

Wed, Sep 10, 2025

History rarely repeats itself in the same form, but it has an unnerving way of rhyming. When we look at the events unfolding across the globe — from drone strikes in Poland to devastation in the Middle East — there’s a growing sense that we are, once again, sleepwalking into the kind of global crisis we swore we would never repeat. And this time, the consequences could be even more far-reaching.

Behind every great school is a secretary and a caretaker

Thu, Sep 04, 2025

We hand our children over to schools every morning, trusting them to be safe, supported, and educated. We picture classrooms, teachers, and books. But behind every bell that rings, every lesson that begins, and every school door that opens, stand two or more often-overlooked figures: the school secretary and the caretaker. These are not just peripheral roles; they are the beating heart of every school in this country.

The Shortt story uplifts us all

Thu, Aug 28, 2025

In a world where the headlines too often bring grief or gloom, it’s not just refreshing—it’s deeply healing—to celebrate the triumph of one of our own. This week, Roscam’s John Shortt returned home to Galway not just as a young man who sat his Leaving Cert, but as a triple medalist and double world champion at the World Junior Swimming Championships in Romania. And what a homecoming it was.

From golfgate to Gaza — the benefit of perspective

Thu, Aug 21, 2025

Five years ago this week, the eyes of a locked-down nation turned to Galway. “Golfgate,” as it came to be known, stirred up national outrage. There was shock and fury at the flouting of Covid-19 restrictions by politicians and public figures. News bulletins were filled with questions: Who was in the room? Who sat beside whom? Who ate the dinner? The event ignited a firestorm—resignations were demanded, apologies made, careers dented temporarily. Even Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, became indirectly entangled.

Transformation of historic waterworks building into water sports hub to commence next year

Thu, Aug 21, 2025

Galway City Council has announced the redevelopment of the Old Galway Corporation Waterworks building on Dyke Road into a modern, all-weather water sports activity centre will commence next year. This exciting project will see the historic site revitalised to support Galway’s growing outdoor recreation scene while also enhancing its appeal as a year-round tourism destination.

A season turns with silver in hand

Thu, Aug 14, 2025

There’s a welcome in the light these days—a golden haze in the early mornings and a gentle cooling in the evenings that speaks of a season in flux. August, perched between the defiance of summer and the inevitability of autumn, has always been a time of transition. But this year, it’s brought a strange harmony of opposites: the heat of high summer clinging to the skin, while the rustling of leaves hints at the long descent into winter.

Here in Galway, we know how to read the signs. The city has a rhythm all its own, and we mark time not only by the calendar but by the mood of the streets, the hum of the Claddagh breeze, and, lately, by the roar of celebration. It has been a week to remember—our women of steel showed the nation just what mettle looks like, claiming glory in the All-Ireland senior camogie final and bringing a curtain of success down on a sporting season full of twists. They have earned their silverware, and they have earned our pride. There is something special about heading into the darker months with that kind of joy tucked under the oxter.

Women of Galway, women of steel

Thu, Aug 07, 2025

This Sunday, in the great theatre of Croke Park, under the endless sky of Dublin’s northside, the women of Galway take to the field once more. Maroon and white hearts beat faster as the clock ticks toward the All-Ireland Senior Camogie Final—a familiar yet sacred moment, nearly 30 years on from that first crowning glory in 1996.

When nature puts smacht on us: a world at war, tamed by the elements

Thu, Jul 31, 2025

In a world that seems to teeter perpetually on the brink—gripped by war, conflict, division, and environmental degradation—perhaps the greatest reckoning won’t come from diplomacy or force, but from nature itself. We often forget how small we are until nature reminds us. And when the world misbehaves, there comes a moment when the earth, sea, and sky conspire to put smacht on us all.

Storm Éowyn recently lashed Ireland with hurricane-force winds, snapping power lines like thread, silencing phones, darkening homes, and grinding modern life to a halt. Even in Galway, far from the battlefields of global conflict, we were not immune. Without electricity, transport or communication, we were suddenly stripped of the illusion of control—reduced, perhaps, to a third of what we are.

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