Search Results for 'Byrne'

I always dread hearing a hosepipe ban announced, for legal reasons. And why is that, you might ask? Well, it’s on account of Murphy’s Law, which states that “although several weeks of sunny weather may create the expectation of a good summer, a declaration of drought will immediately be followed by dark clouds, heavy rain and a chance of localised flooding”. So the hosepipe ban came into effect earlier this week and we haven’t had a dry, sunny day since. I rest my case.

Whoever would have thought a couple of months ago that a visit to the garden centre would become such an eagerly awaited event? Suddenly somewhere you popped into to pick up a few bits without thinking – a bag of compost, a bird feeder and a six pack of lettuce plants – became a Destination. Outfits were chosen and displayed on social media. Lists were made and a flask and sandwiches packed in the car just in case the queues were so long you couldn’t get home in time for lunch.

What a mixed bag gardeners have had this spring! Some of the best spring weather for years, extra time for many of us to tackle garden jobs – and the closure of our garden centres, nurseries and hardware stores, just as the growing season gets underway. A time of changes, confusion and contradictions in all aspects of our lives – when we’ve turned to our gardens for distraction and comfort, and counted ourselves lucky to have them.

Galway United’s thirst for national football honours was finally satisfied in Lansdowne Road in 1991 with a 1-0 win over Shamrock Rovers in the FAI Cup. It was a success that gave reality to dreams cherished for so long by so many who had fostered local football for decades. Linley MacKenzie spent the weekend with the United squad, watching their dreams become reality.

“A flower is a weed with an advertising budget” says Rory Sutherland in his brilliant book ‘Alchemy: The Surprising Power of Ideas That Don’t Make Sense’. If you think about it, he’s absolutely right. What we call a weed is a plant just like any other, with a job to do – and the leaves, flowers and seeds to do it – but if it decides to grow where we don’t think it should, we call it a weed, and give it its marching orders. And all because it doesn’t have an advertising budget, basically: Its flowers and foliage are not considered suitable garden material, because the ‘budget’ didn’t run to eye-catching size, shape or colour.

If there’s one thing guaranteed to lift the spirits, it’s bright seasonal colour in containers at doors and windows. With a little planning, you can have pretty things in pots and windowboxes all year round, and they’re perfect for places where space is tight.

Welcome back to Gardenwise! As the days get longer and the sun gets stronger, it’s time to look outside and reconnect with the garden. We need it now more than ever – it’s not only a distraction from the news headlines, it grounds, calms and soothes and helps give us hope for the future. As the plants wake up and the birds get busy, a little time spent tending to the garden now will pay huge dividends – in lots of ways.

WALTER MACKEN was one of the finest writers to emerge from the west of Ireland in the 20th century, and one of the most popular, but in recent decades his work has fallen into neglect.

BUCCANEERS 6 QUEENS UNIVERSITY 24

The Healthy Galway City Strategy 2019-2021, launched this week, aims to ensure Galway is a city where everyone can enjoy physical and mental health and wellbeing to their full potential, where wellbeing is valued and supported at every level of society, and where responsibility for health and wellbeing is shared and supported.