Galway postmistress to stand in next General Election

Thu, Jun 25, 2015

Seona O’Fegan has become the sixth woman in Galway to declare she will stand as a candidate in Election 2016. She is also the first in a series of community and post office candidates who will contest the upcoming General Election.

Councillors unhappy about the publication of farmers' CAP payments

Thu, Jun 25, 2015

A number of county councillors have expressed unhappiness about a new policy whereby the details of farmers' grants from Europe are being published online. This follows new EU regulations, which required details of all payments made to Common Agriculture Policy beneficiaries in 2014 to be published by member states. Some €1.8 billion was paid to 130,000 farmers and rural enterprises nationwide under CAP schemes last year.

Galway teens sought for Foróige Youth Leadership programme

Thu, Jun 25, 2015

Foróige Galway is running an intensive week long youth leadership seminar in Galway city from Monday July 27 to Friday 31 and the programme is open to all young people around Junior Cert age, with no charge applicable.

A light of hope for our walled-in people

Thu, Jun 25, 2015

He walks the streets of the city with his friends. Down Shop Street. Having the laugh. The fun. And he feels part of it all. And they talk about music and Messi. And for a short while every school day he feels part of this city, a cast member in the show that is Galway. And they listen to buskers. And haul their schoolbags on their backs. And tease each other. But when he gets to the part where he has to go in a different direction, there is a kind of awkwardness that eschews words. They know where he's going back to and he knows where they are headed. He knows because he has seen their homes, he has gone to their streets and been at their houses. Proper homes with doors and rooms. He wishes he could bring them back to where he lives. He wishes that he could be proud of where he lives, but there is nothing to be proud of. His family don't own it, nor did they pick it themselves. And then Mother and Father are always around. But not because they want to be.

So he goes to the one room which is his bedroom, kitchen, sitting room, playground. A place where he shares his space. The scarce space he needs as a child. Space to think. Space to play. And to read books and to learn and to hide for a while when it all gets too much.

Home owners affected by bypass to meet Transport Minister

Tue, Jun 23, 2015

Questions over compensation for home owners in negative equity, whose homes are to be demolished by the new N6 Galway City Transport Project route, will be raised at a meeting in Leinster House next week.

Planning objections expected against proposed bar and restaurant for Clybaun

Mon, Jun 22, 2015

There is significant opposition among a number of residents in Knocknacarra against a proposal to build a new pub and restaurant at a site off the busy Clybaun roundabout. A planning application was lodged regarding this development on May 29 and submissions will be accepted until July 2.

'Important for the economy of the entire city' - call for one way traffic system to be retained

Thu, Jun 18, 2015

Galway's traffic woes are to be compounded by a return to the two way system on Lough Atalia and College Road the chair of the Galway City Business Association has warned. The association is calling for the current one-way system to be retained - at the very least until the end of the summer.

Fine Gael/Labour the most likely victors of Election 2016

Thu, Jun 18, 2015

With summer upon us and the political season drawing to a close, it is an opportune time for Insider to take the political temperature and to speculate about what may lie ahead. This review is of course given an added edge by the fact that, at some point in the next nine months or so, what is likely to one of the most unpredictable general elections in the history of the State will be held.

'I was a working class boy'

Thu, Jun 18, 2015

One of the notable shows in this year’s Galway International Arts Festival is Maum at An Taibhdhearc, starring David Heap, who is best known for his role in Fair City. The play is based on a true story, this compelling new drama dares to uncover little known facts about a case that is still clothed in secrets and shame.

Galway man finally meets the 'miracle' Donegal teen whose life he saved

Thu, Jun 18, 2015

Galway man finally meets the 'miracle' Donegal teenager whose life he saved

Country feels pain at dimming of our brightest generation

Thu, Jun 18, 2015

Country feels pain at dimming of our brightest generation

I spoke to a woman last month who had lost her daughter. Way too young. Way too soon. Beautiful child. It has been several years now. She told me that she gets by; that she can laugh, and that she can cry. She cries a lot. She sighs a lot. She told me that her husband still finds it hard to look at a photograph. That he grimaces and internalises. And tries to forget but can’t. It just signifies too much. All the years of raising and loving. The smiles. The beautiful smiles. The nights of going in checking to see if she was asleep. The nights she might have been calling out for them after a bad dream. Life goes on for them. A new reality. An altered existence. But it is a life without total enjoyment. The joy has been taken out of life, she told me.

Galway homes caught in ‘cannot sell’ limbo - Grealish

Tue, Jun 16, 2015

Hundreds of Galway homes cannot be sold because they are caught in a legal limbo arising from management companies going defunct and local authorities refusing to take over the estates.

Kyne demands air ambulance service be made permanent

Tue, Jun 16, 2015

The air ambulance service is vital for the west of Ireland, providing support for patients where ambulance times by road are longer, and it is now essential the service be made permanent.

Call for Galway women to stand for election in 2016

Mon, Jun 15, 2015

Election 2016 is the first general election in the State where parties have to ensure 30 per cent of their candidates are female, or face financial penalties, and now a campaign group is calling on Galway women to put themselves forward for election to Dáil Éireann.

College Rd and Lough Atalia to return to original traffic system next Friday

Thu, Jun 11, 2015

The one-way system which is currently in operation along Lough Atalia and College Road will revert back to the original two-way system next Friday June 19.

'When I was growing up you’d have thought the Australians had won at Gallipoli'

Thu, Jun 11, 2015

These are eventful times for Australian-Irish poet Robyn Rowland. Not only has she published two new collections of verse, but, after more than three decades in which she has spent half of each year in Connemara, she has also received Irish citizenship.

Will any Galway West TD be a minister after Election 2016?

Thu, Jun 11, 2015

The Government formed in the wake of the 2011 General Election was the first in 30 years to be without a TD from Galway West amongst its ministerial or junior ministerial ranks. Indeed, since the demotion of Ciarán Cannon in the 2014 reshuffle, neither Galway constituency – which between them had elected six government deputies in 2011 – has been represented at the top table of Irish politics.

Let us all do one thing to make 2020 a reality

Thu, Jun 11, 2015

The bid to make Galway the European Capital of Culture in 2020 is not some sort of raffle. Would it be that it were, then we could all wake up 'the morning after' in a crumpled heap, say either well done to ourselves through a foggy dew of Sauvignon Blanc, strangers and snackboxes, or just say 'shucks, that was a blast, but sure it's the luck of the draw,” and get back to living our lives. If it was simply a matter of throwing the names of the candidate cities into a hat, then you could console yourself for not having done more, for not sharing your vision with anyone, for not taking this once in a generation opportunity to actually have your say in something that will determine the destiny of this city for the next 100 years.

Vincent Browne brings the debate to Galway East

Wed, Jun 10, 2015

The People’s Debate with Vincent Browne will be in the Raheen Woods Hotel, Athenry, on Monday June 15, with Fianna Fáil TDs Michael Kitt and Colm Keaveney and Fine Gael TDs Paul Connaughton and Ciaran Cannon taking part.

Farmers being encouraged to wrap their silage bales in pink this summer

Wed, Jun 10, 2015

This week's spell of sunshine has led to a flurry of farmers cutting grass in anticipation of making bales of silage and hay. People may have noticed fields around Galway featuring a new bright colour in the form of a more feminine pink wrap on the round bales. If so, commend the farmer for supporting a clever new initiative called 'Wrap it Pink'.

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