Outdoor dining is restoring the heart of our community

Thu, Jun 10, 2021

I have always been fascinated by the audio offerings that come with whatever car I have had. From the first cassette players to the smoothness of the CD drives, sucking in the discs; to the Pioneer speakers which I had drilled into the doors. As times has gone by, what passed as extraordinary in those cars are now de rigeur, the norm. This year when I changed my car in Galway, I discovered that my new car and its complicated audio system had an even newer feature that ordinarily would be like a lighthouse in the Bog of Allen, brilliant but useless.

But in this year, in this time, perhaps this feature had its use. Under the button marked media, comes up on the screen sights and sounds of walking in snow; the crackling of a winter fire, the images of a forest under birdsong...and perhaps the most unusual one, the full sound and clatter of a cafe with the hum of conversation, the banging of cups and saucers, the tinkling of cutlery.

Farewell to a planter of ideals

Thu, Jun 03, 2021

There is a Greek saying that a society becomes great when people plant trees, the shade of which they will never sit under. There have been many such people in Galway, and my hope is that there will be many more. Indeed, our society needs a constant flow of people whose unselfish actions make better the place they live and work.

Salthill Sundays — an ugly manifestation of machismo and bravado

Thu, May 27, 2021

Was there ever anything as innocent as the Sunday spin? Back in the days when cars were scarce and the options of anything meaningful to do on Sunday afternoons were even scarcer, the Sunday spin was the highlight of the week. Whole families poured into one of the dozen types of car available at that time, and they travelled up and down bumpy country roads in search of something...anything. Normally a toilet or some place for the carsick kids to spew up.

Bad cess to the hackers for piling misery upon misery

Thu, May 20, 2021

As if things could not be bad enough for the health services struggling to cope with the impact of the pandemic, the abominable hackers had to come along and carry out this act of malware criminality at the worst time possible. For those who have been suffering serious illness not related to the pandemic, their treatment plans were set in disarray, and now there are fears that the must unscrupulous of people have access to patient data and will sell it to the highest bidder, or release it on the general web.

Nothing like a bit of retail therapy to spark off normality

Thu, May 13, 2021

In times to come when they will write up various theses on this pandemic and how we reacted to it — and they will do thesis upon thesis on it as we revise every aspect of it, there will be a map drawn up which will show how we have reacted to the different stimuli and restrictions along the road.

And when it comes to this week, there will be a positive turn, one that see the road go downhill to the place we want to go. Like one of those hills you freewheel down on a bike.

Harbour vision can make us look to the sea and the wind

Thu, May 06, 2021

It is perhaps surprising that a city such as Galway which was built on the water and is mostly surrounded by it, should have taken this long to realise that perhaps for centuries, we have been looking the wrong way. There are not many cities that have the proximity of its port so close to the city centre and yet have it so underutilised. Perhaps now, comes the vision that will change that.

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.

E-paper

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