It is Red Letter Day for our Green Spaces! Councillors -Please Support the Motion to Set up a City Parks’ Wardens Unit

Photo shows the Beauty & Ugliness of Terryland Forest Park on a Sunday in March 2021:
  • A woods that was planted by the people of Galway in March 2000 which is now teeming with wildlife
  • The lovely Terryland River which is home to fish, birds and other aquatic creatures
  • Alcohol cans, bottles & other detritus strewn across a forest floor and pathway beside a park bench (p.s. I later removed this litter)
A motion from Councillor Imelda Byrne, which has been on the city council agenda since last January, to establish a permanent on-the-grounds seven days a week wardens/rangers unit for our city parks will hopefully be finally discussed at today’s meeting of city councillors.
It is important that all city councillors support this motion for the sake of our parks, our people and our biodiversity.
It is long overdue that such a unit was established.
The city’s parks were a godsend during COVID for so many of our citizens. As per the ambition of the Galway National Park City initiative that is supported by such a broad strata of society, green and blue spaces need to be integrated into the fabric of cities.
But we need the resources and investment to ensure that they are safe and of high maintenance for the benefit of the public and for enhancing urban biodiversity. Sadly this is not the case at present with litter, anti-social drinking, vandalism and broken furniture too often symptomatic of our green spaces. The limitations placed on volunteer activity organising regular group litter pick-ups etc since March 2020 has only made a bad situation worse.
In so many other cities such as Dublin and across Europe, there are full-time wardens in public parks to ensure overnight litter is removed early every morning, that repairs and graffiti removal are quickly carried out etc. By their very presence, wardens also act as a deterrent to anti social elements that use and damage our precious green spaces.
There is only one warden in Galway city's public parks who took up her duties early last year. She is top class and does an awesome job in Terryland Forest Park and elsewhere. Yet she is only there for circa half a week as she has other duties to take responsibility for. Furthermore, neither she or anybody else is on duty at weekends when so much damage is done. The other parks personnel are also brilliant hardworking people that love their work and do so much good. But there are very few in number and have to cover all of the city’s parks and green spaces.
At the very least Galway’s three main parks need full time on-the-ground staff (park wardens/rangers) 7 days a week as otherwise broken fences, broken seating, graffiti, rubbish can be left on location for long periods. With this present situation exacerbated by the presence of drinkers etc, people can understandably be turned off visiting the parks at the very time when medical science is telling us of their importance to human and planetary health.
Furthermore, the wardens' terms of reference must include not just litter picking, providing information to visitors but also repairing fencing, planting trees, paths upkeep etc.
A few weeks ago the government offered Galway City Council twenty two new staff positions for the development of walking and cycling. Should City Hall not take some of these personnel and assign them to the parks in order to design, development and maintenance of natural walking trails and walking/cycling path routes? 
 
Why No Permanent Bins at Park Entrances?
Last September, as a community (GCCN) representative on the Special Policy Committee of Galway City Council dealing with Climate Change, Environment, Recreational and Amenity I proposed a motion, based on my experiences of the parks in other parts of Ireland such as Dundalk, that large permanent applicable park bins, supported by information signage and that are regularly emptied, be placed at the entrance to all three main parks as an alternative to the plastic bags that are presently pinned to benches-which though they do indeed help in keeping parks clean- sadly are ugly, flimsy and tend to tear easily. This was supported by all community reps and indeed all other members. Officials told us at the follow up meeting in early December that these bins would be in place by Christmas. Sadly this has not happened and members have not being given an explanation why this is the case, even though we asked. 
 
Anti-social elements above prosecution?
It is disgraceful and an insult to the citizens of Galway that at least up until a few weeks ago some individuals who did so much damage to Terryland Forest Park in December-January by ripping up and burning fences, gates and trees, destroying paths, lighting fires and covering large swathes with rubbish subsequently walked through this very same park with impunity. 
I have asked An Garda Síochána and Galway City Council, who were so helpful during the period of destruction(especially Sgt. Browne, parks staff & cllr Niall McNelis), to issue a barring order preventing them from entering this taxpayer funded facility. I am told that this is not practically possible under present legislation.
I and others cannot and should not accept such a situation and have requested that an action group be set up consisting of community reps, Garda, city parks personnel and other appropriate agencies to look at coordinating the protection our parks. After all the law should be there to protect the common good and public facilities from those that seek to destroy it.

The Non-Irish Origins of St. Patrick's Day & 'All Things Irish'!

St. Patrick’s Day is Ireland’s national holiday and understandably St. Patrick himself is looked on as the personification of all that is Irish.
It is probably the only holiday specifically associated with one nation that is celebrated with gusto in countries across the globe, with prominent streets and buildings on so many continents being decked out in Emerald Isle Green.
Yet St. Patrick himself and so many of the traditions associated with the Festival have their origins far beyond our green shamrock shores.

So for instance:
1. St. Patrick- British & Roman!
St. Patrick himself was actually Romano-British, the son of a Roman official that was taken as a slave by Irish sea raiders probably from near Carlisle (at Hadrian’s Wall) in northern Britain in the early 5th century. Even his adopted name is not Gaelic, coming from the Latin term ‘Patricius' (noble).
Yet, as we say in Ireland, the invader/foreigner oftentimes becomes 'more Irish than the Irish themselves' (except for a few Northern Unionists!). Though sent as a prisoner to Ireland & forced to work as a slave looking after sheep in the mountains, Patrick decided to voluntarily return to Ireland as a Christian missionary years after his escape from captivity.

2. Guinness- Invented by Londoners & with some later support from the British Army!
'Guinness' was copied by Arthur Guinness from an 18th century London drink made out of roasted barley. The beer was known as ‘porter’ because it was originally popular with the porters (carriers) in Covent Garden. Arthur Guinness switched from producing the more common ale at his Dublin brewery. However Guinness was initially not well received with Dubliners because of the owner’s support for the British colonial regime and his opposition to the republican United Irishman during the rebellions of the late 1790s.
Guinness’ international reputation had also a lot to do with the British Army! In WW1, the high-energy consumption ‘porter’ breweries in mainland Britain were closed down by the government to concentrate the national energy resources on the armament production factories. However Guinness and the porter breweries in Ireland were allowed to stay open thus giving them a virtual trade monopoly in the then British Empire that stretched across five continents.


3. Irish Pub- Viking roots!
The 'Irish pub' was actually created by Viking invaders in the 9th century in their new slave-trading settlements of Dublin, Cork, Limerick etc. Common to all these Viking cities was the presence of a 'tavern' where Vikings, after grueling days or months spent fighting, raiding, pillaging or trading could come to enjoy the delights of beer, music and food served by gorgeous-looking Celtic wenches.
Over a thousand years later (in 1996), I returned the favour to our Viking brethren by managing the first Irish pub in Iceland- ‘The Dubliner’ in Reykjavik! (pubs were only legalized in that country in 1989)

4. 'St. Patrick's Day Festival Parade’ -an American invention!
It originated in the mid-18th century American cities of Boston (1737) and New York (1762) where it was actually created by Irish soldiers serving in the British Army who marched on March 17th in honour of the patron saint of Ireland. The latter parade is usually recognised as the first true parade. By the 19th century, it had become an opportunity for the Irish emigrants in the USA not only to promote their heritage, but most importantly to present a powerful expression of Irish nationalism and the struggle against British colonial rule in Ireland.

New York's Parade for Indian & Irish Independence  
Interestingly, the New York Parade of 1920 took on a more cosmopolitan anti-imperial flavour as it became a huge demonstration for Indian as well as Irish independence with Indian republicans carrying large banners emblazoned with messages such as '315,000,000 of India with Ireland to the Last'and 'President De Valera's Message to India: Our cause is a common cause.'


5. Irish Whiskey -the essence of the Middle East!
The process of creating whiskey(from the Gaelic 'uisce beatha' = 'water of life') - 'distillation' was learnt from Coptic or Arab alchemists by studious Celtic monks. The former used it for medicinal purposes. However, we Irish soon saw its greater significance in the hospitality and entertainment sectors!

6. Sexy Irish Traditional Dancing- another American invention!
Traditional Irish step dancing only gained an international appeal in the 1990s thanks primarily to the efforts of an American, Michael Flatley.
This Irish-American from Chicago created the choreography for the 'Riverdanceshow and, with fellow lead dancer Jean Butler, led the show to amazing success as the intermission act in the Eurovision Song Contest in 1994. Irish step dancing has never looked back since and Riverdance has generated a myriad of successful offshoots. Not only that, but the dour unsmiling
Irish dancers of previous eras were transformed into vivacious high-kicking Irish cailíní and buachaillí in figure-hugging attire. Furthermore, modern Irish dance now unashamedly embraces elements from other cultures (Russia, Arabian) increasing its international appeal even further.
Michael Flatley portrayed all that was good and important about Irish-Americans. When Irish traditions were dying out in the Emerald Isle, it was they that for centuries nurtured and kept alive the flame of Celtic culture.

7. There is no such thing as Irish 'Craic'!
The term 'Craic' is looked on today as an Irish word denoting a quintessentially Irish form of fun (drink, music, amusing & friendly conversation).
In fact there was no such word in the Gaelic Language until the 1970s. It is actually an old English(!) word spelt 'crack' that meant in  Elizabethan times 'to boast', 'to banter' or 'to tell a joke' as in the term 'to crack a joke'.

8. 'Irish Coffee'- invented for the benefit of American tourists suffering from the Irish weather!
On one cold evening in 1942 at a small windswept airport terminal on the west coast of Ireland, the local chef felt pity for the tired and freezing passengers who had just embarked from a seaplane that had to turn back from its trans Atlantic journey due to atrocious weather conditions.
Being Americans, he knew that they would enjoy a cup of hot coffee (not then much consumed by Irish people) topped with fresh cream. But because of the freezing conditions, he decided to spice it up with a shot of Irish whiskey. Legend has it that one of the passengers, remarking on the unusual taste of this drink asked, "Hey Buddy, is this Brazilian coffee?", to which the chef Joe Sheridan replied, 'No, that's Irish coffee'. And so, history was made!

9. Irish Songs-written by English, Americans, Scots & Australians!
Many of those great 'traditional Irish' ballad songs that are sung with such gusto every night by broken-hearted inebriated Galwegians or Dubliners in some Irish pub across the world were in fact written by English, Scotch, Australian or American!
(Click on song title below to hear the song)

For instance Dirty Old Town (that many mistakenly believe refers to Dublin) was written by the (Scottish-) English socialist folk singer Ewan MacColl; From Clare to Here by English singer songwriter Ralph McTell; Willie McBride/Green Fields of France by Scottish Australian Eric Bogle; Danny Boy by English lawyer Fred Weatherly; My Wild Irish Rose and When Irish Eyes are Smiling by New York Broadway star Chauncey Olcott; and the late great Johnny Cash wrote Forty Shades of Green

British Army made an Irish theme song the most popular music of World War One
Written in 1912 by Englishman Harry Williams and Jack Judge, the son of Irish emigrants, the song It's a Long Way to Tipperary was heard
by English news reporter George Curnock being sung by the Connaught Rangers regiment of the British Army as they marched through Boulogne in August 1914. He wrote about it in the Daily Mail and very soon it was being picked up by other British regiments and became the most popular marching song of the war.

10. Irish Traditional Music- reinvented by British Punks
It was a London-based Punk group of mixed English & Irish background that shook Irish music to its foundations and re-invented it for a modern Western youth audience. The anti-establishment Pogues, led by their brilliant lead singer and lyricist Shane MacGowan, that revitalised Irish music and brought vibrancy, youthfulness, relevancy and radical politics back into a staid Irish music scene.
Formed in 1982, the inventors of Celtic Punk fused traditional Irish folk with contemporary English punk and rock.
The name 'Pogues' comes from Pogue Mahone, the anglicisation of the Irish 'póg mo thóin,' meaning "kiss my ass".
As with Riverdance, their music was oftentimes condemned by the native Irish purists who preferred to keep Celtic culture in a sealed box untainted by outside forces.
Silly people! Like all cultures, Irish traditions are ever-changing, are constantly borrowing and being re-shaped by external influences.


11. The Irish Potato- Brought to Ireland from North America by English colonists
More than any other food item, the potato is associated with Ireland. Today it is a central element of Irish cuisine with a myriad of traditional recipes associated with this root crop, ranging from Boxty (Irish Potato Griddle Cakes), potato soup, Dublin Coddle to Colcannon. Particularly from the early 1800s, it became the staple diet of the Irish people. Because of its high nutritional value and its ability to be grown abundantly on poor soils, the majority of the impoverished native peasantry planted this vegetable  on the miserable patches of lands left to them by their new lords and masters, the British ruling elite, who had conquered and colonised Ireland  during the wars of the 16th-18th centuries,  transforming the countryside in the process into grazing and tillage lands to provide livestock and grain for the British market. Over dependency on the potato in the 19th century sadly had dire consequences when potato blights led to mass starvation, death and emigration particularly in the Great Famine (an Gorta Mór = the Big Hunger) of the 1840s.

However the potato was introduced into Ireland only in the late 16th century from North America, probably by English soldier and adventurer Sir Walter Raleigh on his estates in county Waterford that had been awarded to him from lands seized from Irish rebels. Raleigh is mostly remembered today for popularising another crop from the the New World, namely tobacco. However his legacy in Ireland is somewhat different and will be forever associated with colonising Irish lands with English settlers and American spuds.

12. Claddagh Ring- African Origins of the Irish Symbol of Love
The Claddagh ring (Fáinne Chladaigh in Irish) is internationally renowned as a traditional Irish token of friendship, love, or marriage. It is called after the fishing village of Claddagh ('Cladach' = stony beach in Irish), now a suburb of Galway city on the west coast of Ireland.
Each element of this distinctive metal ring has symbolic meaning: the hands represents friendship, the crown loyalty, and the heart love. If the ring is placed on the right hand with the heart turned outwards, it means that the wearer is "unattached". When the heart is turned inwards, it is a sign that  he or she is married or in a permanent relationship.
Many famous people have worn it including the British Queen Victoria, Hollywood actor Gabriel Byrne, film producer Walt Disney and US President Bill Clinton.
It has appeared in popular television programmes including Friends, and in Buffy the Vampire Slayer where the character Angel (who was an Irishman in a previous life) presents Buffy with a Claddagh ring on her birthday saying “My people – before I was changed – they exchanged this as a sign of devotion. It’s a Claddagh ring. The hands represent friendship, the crown loyalty…and the heart….well you know…..wear it with the heart pointing towards you it means you belong to somebody."
All wore the ring in the belief that it is a authentic Love Symbol from ancient Ireland.
Yet its origins probably lie in North Africa, in the white slave trade practiced by the fierce Moorish pirates in what was then known as the Barbary (Barbarian) Coast.
According to legend Richard Joyce, from British occupied Ireland, was captured by Muslim pirates on a ship traveling to the slave plantations of British West Indies. Sold like many hundreds of thousands of captured Europeans in a slave market in Morocco or Algeria, he was bought by a kindly  goldsmith from Algiers who taught him the skills of his trade during his 14 years of captivity.
Under a peace treaty during the reign of King William III, Richard was released along with all other British prisoners. In spite of being offered riches and a daughter in marriage by his former master. Richard returned to Galway. Equipped with his new metalwork skills and designs, he became a successful goldsmith. It is said that he presented the first Claddagh ring to a lover that had remained faithful to him during his long years in captivity.

13. Easter 1916 - Ireland's greatest rebellion against British Imperial Rule- Led by a Scotsman, an Englishman, an American and the English-born wife of A Polish Count
The Easter 1916 Rising is probably the most celebrated rebellion against British colonial rule in Ireland. Though it ended in failure, it was the catalyst for the larger scale guerrilla warfare campaign of the Irish Republican Army (IRA) that commenced in January 1919 and became known as the War of Independence which led to the establishment of the Irish Free State and the end of British rule in 26 counties of the 32 counties of Ireland.
Yet interestingly, many of the rebel leaders were foreign-born, evidenced of the extent and influence of the Irish Diaspora. The chief planner of the rebellion, Tomas Clarke was born in the Isle of Wright, England; James Connolly the internationally renowned socialist and overall commander, was born in Edinburgh ScotlandÉamon DeValera, commandant of the Boland Mills unit, was born in New York to a Cuban father; Constance Georgine Markievicz (neé Gore Booth) second in command of the St. Stephen's Green rebel forces was born in London and married a Polish aristocrat Count Casimir Markievicz from what is now Ukraine. The father of Pádraig Pearse, the Commander in Chief of the overall rebellion and the person most associated with the Rising was from Birmingham.

14. Ireland's Picturesque Landscapes of Green Fields & Stone Walls - A Product of British Conquest & Colonisation

A rural landscape comprising a mosaic of little green fields and a network of drystone walls is the image that many foreigners have of Ireland and its ancient Celtic past and rural traditions. In fact the fields and walls were largely created by British colonists and merchants from the early seventeenth century onwards when, after the defeat of Gaelic clans, the huge forests that covered much of the country were cut down to provide fuel for the English ironworks, timber to build ships for the imperial navy, tillage and pasture lands for the production of crops and livestock for export to the English homelands.


A traditional Irish (honest!) Toast
In honour of the day itself, may I send you all an old and heartfelt Irish blessing:
"May your glass be ever full,
May the roof over your head be always strong,
And may you be in heaven
half an hour before the devil knows you're dead!"

Part 2: March 12th 2000-c3,000 people came to a field & left behind a forest. The Rewilding of Galway city had begun

(Continued from Part 1)

 

Grace & Irene Cummins in Terryland Forest Park, March 12th 2000

Unlike many other Irish cities, Galway did not possess a central public park of any major size. Reviewing the ‘Development Plan for Galway city’, we agreed that the lands either side of the Terryland or Sandy River that started at the River Corrib and continued towards Castlegar village should be preserved for posterity as a mix of leisure, farming and wildlife habitats. We called it the ‘Terryland River Valley Park’ and mounted a concerted campaign based on the belief that it could become “the future lungs of Galway city” with the retention of its riverine wetlands, limestone outcrops, caves and country fields characterised by traditional stone walls and hedgerows, that would be complemented by the addition of an visitors’ educational city farm, fishing piers, landscaped parks and the planting of trees. Within months, we got the support of the majority of city councillors and officials. City Manager Joe Gavin and Gus McCarthy of the Planning Office were particularly welcoming. Renowned ecologist Gordon D’Arcy issued a major (Crann) report recommending a major expansion of the woodland element. Michael D. Higgins, then Minister for the Arts, Culture and the Gaeltacht, was so enthusiastic about the idea that he sent a wildlife expert from his department to undertake a biodiversity assessment of the proposed area. Kevin Collins of the national Tree Council helped in securing funding under the government’s Urban Woodland scheme. When Stephen Walsh became Superintendent of Parks, he established a multi-sectoral steering committee for the new park that was unheard of anywhere in Ireland. It comprised representatives of people with disabilities, local residents, environmentalists, artists, Teagasc, Coillte, OPW, the third level sector, heritage, the council planning office, government departments,  the Tree Council of Ireland and schools.  

Years before terms such as ‘Climate Change’, ‘biodiversity extinction’ and ‘social inclusion’ became part of everyday and political speak, the visionaries of late 1990s/early 2000s were designing a park to become a ‘carbon sink’ to serve as the ‘Lungs of the City’; an ‘ecological corridor’ for wildlife connecting the Corrib waterways through the city to the farmlands of east Galway; a facility for the annual planting of thousands of native Irish trees and wildflowers by the people of Galway through mass public ‘Plantathons’; an ‘outdoor classroom’ for schools promoting science and the arts; a green space with an ‘access for-all’ infrastructure; a location for the regular hosting and celebration of ‘arts in Nature’ events; a living heritage area for the preservation and learning of traditional rural heritage skills such as coppicing and drystone walling; a “people’s park” owned and co-managed with the city’s communities; and the promotion of new green technologies. There were ambitious plans to construct a forestry interpretative/learning centre, a tree nursery and an outdoor green amphitheatre.

But at another level it was part of a shift in Galway and Irish society happening during that period. A citizens’ group ‘Save Galway Bay’ had been campaigning for years against locating a wastewater treatment plant on Mutton Island.  In January 2000, a huge community campaign got underway to stop the construction of a large regional municipal incinerator which led to Galway becoming the first municipality in Ireland to implement a three bin recycling-based household waste system. The following month the business, education, health, state, trade unions and community-voluntary sectors formally came together with the council to develop a holistic city strategy as part of a radical EU prompted reorganisation of local government. 

 

(part 3 to follow)


Happy Mother (Earth) Day!

Terryland Forest Park
On Mother's Day, let us give thanks and appreciation to Mother Earth, the personification of all living things and the biosphere that sustains us all.

For most of the existence of the human species, it is the Mother Goddess or Goddess of Life that was worshiped first and foremost. The Greeks called her Gaia; the pre-Celtic Irish called her Dana or Anu, in Hinduism she is known as Pritvhi Mata; amongst the ancient peoples of the Andes she was referred to as Pachamama.
The fertility of the soil and the fertility of the female took priority over everything else. It is only in the late period of human history, with the smelting of metal from the Bronze Age onwards, that the male gods began to take priority over the female Goddess. The power of metal weaponry and the ability to kill began to take precedence over the power of reproduction and the ability to give life.
Since then our species arrogantly began to convince ourselves we were male Lord and Master over all of the dominions of the Earth and that all living things exist purely to serve our needs. This disconnect with the rest of Nature has led to Climate Chaos, pandemics and the destruction of the planet.
Time to undo the selfishness and 'mé-féinism' of the last few millennia and begin again to worship the ability to give life rather the ability to dispense death. All Power to the Female!

March 12th 2000: c3,000 people came to a field & left behind a forest.

Part 1: The Rewilding of Galway city had begun. 

Pupils, Teachers & Parents of Scoil Chaitríona in Terryland Forest Park, March 12, 2000

 

On this day 21 years ago, nearly 3000 people turned up in what previously was pasture inhabited by grazing cattle adjacent to the Quincentenary Bridge. Over the course of a few hours, these volunteers in Galway's first community 'Plantathon' planted thousands of native Irish trees in the first phase of a development new to Ireland, namely an urban forest park. We called it Terryland Forest Park, a zoned green area of 180 acres lying within the boundaries of Galway city. It was an inspiring sight to behold. Months of hard work and lobbying by members of the park’s multi-sectoral steering committee led by Stephen Walsh, who had been appointed in the previous year to the new position of ‘Superintendent of Parks’ of what was then Galway Corporation, came to fruition. We watched joyously as groups of trainee Garda Síochána, scouts, girl guides, pupils from different schools, company staff as well as families, politicians and senior council officials arrived in the park over the course of the morning, afternoon and early evening armed with shovels, spades and forks to be part of what was and still remains Ireland’s largest community-local government partnered urban forestry project. There was a true sense of togetherness that day, a feeling amongst many that we were creating something special, something that we hoped would make the city a better place to live in for present and future generations as well as become a unique urban sanctuary for wildlife. Many of those dreams have indeed come true. But there are still many other aspirations that have yet to occur that should reinforce its legacy. The idea for such a park started in late 1995 when a small group of community activists living in housing estates along the Headford Road came together in my house one night to discuss long term solutions to the urban sprawl that we were living in. We realised that within a matter of years, as a result of the city’s population growth (‘the fastest growing city in Europe’), the agricultural lands that were still a feature of our locality could be covered in concrete and tarmac with its inhabitants deprived of usable green space...

(to be continued) 


Photo shows children, parents and teachers from Scoil Chaitríona Senior on that memorable day. Thank you
Jim Hynes for being one of those teachers and being a pioneer over many decades in promoting the Outdoor Classroom. Thank you Lol Hardiman, Niall O Brolchain, Paddy Cunningham Stephen Walsh, Donal Keegan, Gordon D’Arcy, Joe Quilty, Kevin Collins and Sasha van der Sleesen for being part of that great team that was the steering committee of Terryland Forest Park

Volunteers needed to transform Old Laptops into New to Help School Students in need!

 

Are you available to volunteer in helping in a wonderful transforming old laptops into new’ initiative that aims to benefit school students and others whose financial circumstances do not allow them to buy new laptops? If so an online training course under the Tech2Students scheme being organised by Camara and the Access Centre NUI Galway is taking place from 2.30pm to 4.30pm on Monday. To book a place contact me as soon as possible and a set of instructional notes will be sent to you in advance.

The closure of schools last March due to COVID-19 led to a seismic change in Irish education as online teaching and learning became the new normality. However this shift exposed a considerable technology gap in society with many families not being able to afford the laptops that have now become an essential device for their children to access and download online educational courses and teaching materials. In other homes, children that are in their Leaving Certificate year have had to share a laptop with their siblings and parents. As a result of this smart device deficit and with problems associated with broadband connectivity, many young people with financial difficulties are encountering serious learning barriers and have been locked out of education as a result.
To come up with a solution last spring that could help students in their time of need and to face up to the challenges of providing the necessary secure equipment, the technical personnel at our workplace of the Insight SFI Research Centre for Data Analytics compiled easy-to-follow guidelines that reimaged laptops by wiping off all data and installing free open-sourced operating systems and other key software. I was so happy at the time that we managed to help a lot of young people continue their educational studies unhindered by providing fully functional and suitable smart devices.
Insight is now working within the Tech2Start programme led by the Trinity Access Centre, Camara and coordinated in Galway by the brilliant Imelda Byrne, Aidan Harte and team at the Access Centre of NUI Galway to offer a similar but expanded system nationwide.
Furthermore if you have laptops that you no longer need and are willing to offer them to this initiative, please contact tech4students@nuigalway.ie
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