Galway Races: Where Ordinary Folk Rub Shoulders with Ireland's Elite

Race Week in Galway held earlier this month is Ireland's most famous Festival; it is when the rest of the country seems to pour like a tidal wave into the city to indulge in a 7 day extravaganza of gambling, drinking, frolicking, style, paddywackery & networking!! But all in good taste and humour.

The city abounds with fleets of helicopters setting the air a-buzzing; the very latest BMW & Mercs populating the hotel car- parks; restaurants and bars bursting at the seams; pink champagne flowing like tap-water; high class prostitutes turning tricks in city centre apartments & all-night card games offering pots of six figure sums.

The ruling political party –Fianna Fáil- host a special marquee tent at the Ballybrit race course where the captains and kings of business and industry come to pay homage and socialise with Bertie our honourable Taoiseach (prime minister). ‘Pay’ being the operative word as its 350Euro for a meal & seat in this illustrious tent!


Ladies' Day - A Race Course Full of Ireland's Most Beautifully Dressed Women
Thursday is ‘Ladies Day’ when women of all shapes & sizes dress up in their most beautiful finery to be praised and ogled.
From early in the morning, large groups of classy looking females wait at bus stops all over the city on their way to the race course.
Amazingly, once the event ended, hordes of girls in the most expensive dresses just take off their high heels and just walked the miles back to their city centre hostelries and hotels. There is something so refreshing about this attitude. People may dress up in fantastic clothing for the festival, but most are still just ordinary 'down to earth' folk underneath.



'All the Fun of the Fair'

So don’t believe for one minute that the city transforms into the playground for only the rich and famous.
The festival is an amazing egalitarian event when-for one week only-the ordinary office clerk rubs shoulders with aristocracy, gypsies, priests, farmers, alcoholics, hookers, politicians, beggars, tourists and billionaires. And there is something for all ages- from betting offices, bars, restaurants to fairground attractions.
It is in many ways a festival from Celtic pre-history when all members of the tribe would gather and stand equal on hallowed ground combining worship with sport, competitions and entertainment for all ages.

'Crazy Hat' Day!

One of the funniest events takes place on Sunday when girls and women (& a few men) wear "Crazy Hats'. The craftsmanship and time that people put into their headgear is absolutely fantastic. Fully fledged farm, stables and race tracks are recreated in the most detailed minuture to sit precariously on the top of people's heads!

Not only that, others create the most outrageous full length costumes to match their garish hats.
For hours these ostentatious individuals walk and mingle with the crowds before gathering together for the awards ceremony.
This year's competition was judged by none other than Rosanna Davision, the former Miss Ireland and daughter of the internationally renowned musician Chris de Burgh.






There is nothing else quite like the Galway Races on this planet!

Galway City Mayor Leads Public Protest Against Israeli Actions in Lebanon & Gaza

Israel's present campaign against the Lebanese civilian population & Palestinians in Gaza has finally unveiled the 'fascist' idealogy that exists at the heart of its state and its backers in Washington. By pure militaristic and terrorist tactics, both countries (& Britain) are trying to ensure that no country in the Middle East threatens Western control over its oilfields while also ensuring that Israel continues to re-draw the boundaries of Palestine to the detriment of the Arab population.

(Photo shows Galway City Mayor addressing the recent anti-war demonstration in Eyre Square)

European governments & the European Union have consistently done little more than gently complain about Israel's wars of aggressions against its neighbours. It has been reduced to imitating the squeal of a mouse rather than the roar of a lion.
Fear of the USA has castrated our political leaders' sense of injustice.
The big naval fleets of Europe gathered off the coast of Lebanon not to protect the citizens of the democratic and liberal state of Lebanon from armed invasion but to meekly seek permission of Israel to evacuate its own citizens before the coming firestorm.
Sadly all the millions of ordinary Europeans that have protested against the invasions of Lebanon & Iraq have not changed their government's cowardice.
(Photo shows Marie Crawley, an old campaign stalwart friend of mine, on the protest march. Poor girl- she came to Galway from Northern Ireland to leisurely enjoy the Arts Festival activities only to find herself out demonstrating!)
Yet what choice do we have but continue our street demos and hope someday that public opinion will win out and that the Middle East, Chechnya, Columbia, Mexico, Tibet, Kashmir, Afghanistan, Sudan...will no longer serve as the playthings of the big powers and their local puppets but that true democracy and human rights will blossom?
Recently a few hundred Galwegians of all ages led by the Lord Mayor marched through the streets of the city and demanded that the Irish government do more to end Israeli aggression...One can only live in hope that every individual action & every little protest will collectively make a change occur. Fool's Paradise? Maybe, but our vision of a better world may someday become a reality. Even if we never live to see it, we will have played our part. For why else do we exist?

(On the right of the photo are Doug -long beard!- & Ann, two highly motivated & veteran anti-war activists from America. Doug is actually a work colleague of mine at Galway university. Being 'anti-war' has nothing to do with being 'anti American'. In fact some of the fiercest critics of present U.S. foreign policy are Americans such as Michael Moore, Bruce Springstein, Susan Sarandon, Cindy Sheehan... )



The protest ended at the constituency offices of senior Irish government minister Eamon Ó Cuiv when hundreds of letters demanding firm government action against Israeli aggression were handed in. It is strange that this minister & our city's anti-war Mayor were earlier that week my special guests of honour at a university reception organised for my asylum seeker students -see my posting of August 1st-!! But that is the great thing about Ireland, we can disagree fundmentally on some issues but work together on areas of common agreement)

Israelis have Lost all Sense of Humanity
Finally, I recommend everyone to look at the following website that my friend Bill from India sent me which shows in gruesome detail the aftermath of Israel's indiscriminate bombings of civilian targets. Please note that it is not for the squemish

www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=viewArticle&code=20060721&articleId=2787

Europe must Expose the Lie of Israel's Terrorism Disguised as a Defence of 'Western' Values

Lebanese & Palestinian Flags proudly fly over Galway City during a recent anti-war protest

Below is the text of a letter that I wrote that appeared in this week's 'Galway Advertiser', one of Ireland's best & most popular weekly newspapers

Time for the Israeli Myth to be Shattered

Dear Editor,
In light of recent events in Lebanon and Gaza, is it not time now for Europe to finally expose the lie that Israel is a beacon of democracy and freedom in an unstable totalitarian Middle East? In fact it is the very country that has created the regional instability in its never-ending wars of aggression that represents such a growing threat to world peace. Europe has consistently supported or acquiesced in its deliberate humiliation of the Arab peoples. Continuing failure by Israel to implement a string of UN resolutions and to secretively build a large nuclear arsenal has gone unpunished by the European Union.

Israel was created in the aftermath of World War Two largely due to the efforts of a guilt-ridden Europe shocked by the 6million Jews exterminated on its soil in the Holocaust.
Parts of the British-controlled Palestine were to become a homeland for the survivors of the death camps and would go some way in acting as a form of redemption for the thousand years of oppression suffered by Jews at the hands of Christian Europe. But right from its inception it metamorphosed into an expansionist, racist, militaristic state that has taken on so many aspects of the ideology of the Jews’ former Nazi oppressors.
In 1948, its military terrorised hundreds of thousands of the indigenous Palestinian natives to flee from their United Nations-designated lands into neighbouring countries where they and their descendents still live today in squalid refugee camps. These peoples are still denied the right of return. In 1967, the Israelis repeated a similar process by invading the remainder of Palestine.
Armed and financed by the United States, successive governments have encouraged hundreds of thousands of foreigners to colonise the lands of the Arab population. This process followed a similar path to the Nazi policy and plans for Poland in 1939-‘41: the best lands were given to racially or religiously-aligned settlers; the raw materials and main sources of water requisitioned; the natives confined to isolated apartheid-style Bantustans with all borders and main roads through the newly conquered territories controlled by the military. Gaza is no more than a large concentration camp completely surrounded by a perimeter fence with its air and seaways controlled by the Israelis. With the continued construction of a massive wall on Arab lands, the West Bank will soon follow suit. A whole people imprisoned in their own homeland.
Today, the famed biblical Jordan River is reduced to a trickle as the Israelis siphon off its waters to supply its own farms and cities. As with Nazi Poland, the occupying power sees the primary role of the governing councils of these glorified ghettos and camps is to ensure that the inmates do not undertake aggressive actions against the occupier. In classic racist parlance, the Israeli state warns that the whole population will suffer collective punishment for any individual attack on their soldiers or settlers. When the downtrodden rebel, the Israelis immediately implement a draconian 'Iron Fist' policy; until a few years ago, the family homes of young stone throwers were bulldozed to the ground. Today the offices of the democratically elected Palestinian Authority are demolished and its politicians imprisoned. When a Hezbollah unit recently kidnapped two Israeli soldiers and demanded a prisoner swap from some of the over 10,000 Palestinian and Lebanese prisoners held in Israel, the response was to refuse negotiation and to publicly promise to send Lebanon back 20 years in time by a massive bombing campaign with the proviso that Israel considers all inhabitants in south Lebanon to be legitimate targets.

Furthermore, the need for the West to secure cheap oil supplies by invading Iraq, by supporting repressive Arab regimes and by ostracising democratically elected governments in the region has only increased awareness amongst ordinary Arabs that Europe and the United States are the enemy. Anti-western fundamentalism is understandably on the rise. It says a lot that if Osama Bin Laden was allowed to run in a free and fair election tomorrow in his native Saudi Arabia, he would win by a landslide.

The source of the cancer in the Middle East is Israeli expansionism. Europe should at the very least now impose a total economic embargo on the country and demand its compliance with UN Resolution 242 and begin a complete withdrawal to its pre-1967 boundaries.

Yours sincerely,

Brendan Smith
bspeedie@eircom.net

Surprise Gifts to the Minister, the Mayor & Myself!

-Photo shows yours truely & Galway City Mayor holding our beautiful wooden wildlife sculptors in the accompaniment of their creator Radoslav Benka-

As a surprise at the recent university reception for my asylum seeker students, I presented the two official guests with two beautiful wooden wildlife sculptors created by Radoslav Benka, a Slovak carver now based in Galway city. I am at the moment helping Rado to set up his own business website. I am a real fan of his creations; so I thought that it would be a nice idea to buy some of his artifacts for such an event and secure him in the process maximum exposure.
Both Minister Eamon Ó Cuiv and Mayor Ó Brolchain were chuffed with their gifts!
I thought I was being very clever! But it was me that got the biggest shock when I was publicly presented with one of Rado’s carvings by my colleague Liam Moran in recognition of my Online Social Networking activities/courses with community groups!
Nice one Liam.

The ‘Global Village’ arrives in the flesh(!) at Galway University

(Photo shows one of my students (Joy) with Irish government minister Eamon Ó Cuiv & the Galway City Mayor, Niall Ó Brolchain)

I had a really great time at an event I organised last Monday in Galway University for 18 of my asylum seeker students who had completed an Internet course held in their own hostel.
It was ‘standing room only’ for an event that had an extensive guest list that included a senior government minister (Eamon Ó Cuiv), the Lord Mayor of Galway City (Councillor Niall Ó Brolchain), local government officials, academics, police, media, community leaders…..
Speeches were made, certificates were presented, officlal photographs were taken, food was eaten…Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves!
While the Irish guests were amused at the wide ethnic diversity of the students present (Iraq, Israel, Nigeria, Cameroon, Albania, Zimbabwe, Russia, Congo…), what I found most interesting was the comments made by the asylum seekers themselves. Many were pleasantly surprised to find how easy it was to have a friendly relaxed chat with a major government minister or a mayor! Actually Eamon (the Minister!) himself said to me afterwards that he noticed how formal and reserved the students were when talking to him- some were treating him as if he was royalty.
In fact that is one of the nice things about Ireland. There is little engrained social snobbery in the country- the ordinary citizen seems to be on first name terms with everyone - even the Taoiseach (Prime Minister) and the President are referred to by their first names (Bertie & Mary) by the crowds on the street!
Speaking of the ‘masses’ mixing with the ‘elite’, this happens on a massive scale at this week’s 'Galway Races'- probably the largest and most egalitarian festival in Europe- see my blog entry in last August's archive.
(Photo shows my two good Iraqi friends Doctors Adil & Huda Jaber with the guest politicians at the university reception)

'The Wind that Shakes the Barley'... A 'Must See' Film for Irish and British people

What a film! One of the best and most evocative films that I have ever seen.
The storyline, the production and the acting were first class. The motley group of Iraqi, American and Irish friends that went with me to the movie were emotionally captived by the performances. Huda and my wife Cepta were reduced to tears; my 'green' Irish rebel heart was beating with joy one minute, with anger and sorrow the next. I could see images of my own grandparents and grandcousins in so many of the onscreen roles.

In its portrayal of the 'Irish War on Independence', the 'Wind that Shakes the Barley' brilliantly touched on universal themes that could be placed in any age, in any country across the world that is or was experiencing occupation by a foreign military force. It particularly captured the essential racism and terrorism of all armies of occuption as they try and fight a native guerilla force that is deeply woven into the fabric of a local community. In the film, the British forces carry out classic counter-insurgancy tactics that almost always fail in the end. In response to the successful guerilla campign of the IRA, the British government created what John Walsh of the English 'Independent' newspaper recently called modern Europe's first state-sanctioned terror group. The orders for this army force (the 'Black and Tans')-comprising many criminals and recently released prisoners-was to initiate a reign of pure terror against the civilian population and bludgeon them into submitting to British rule.

In the film as in real life, they left a trail of death and destruction in their wake- burning streets and houses, shooting innocent civilians, torturing prisoners and carrying out summary executions. Their open racist contempt for the natives was shown in the film not just in their brutality but in their verbal abuse and sneering of the Irish and all things Irish. Their words and actions reminded so much of Israelis' comments this week towards the Lebanese; of American GI language towards the Iraqis and formerly the Vietnamese; of the Turks towards the Kurds; of Bosnian Serbs towards the Muslims; of Russians towards the Chechens; pf Sudanese Arabs towards the Darfur negroes... Yet the British atrocities only had the opposite effect to what the their government had hoped for, with support and recruitment to the Irish republican resistence only increasing.
But the movie also admirably showed the underlying tensions and divisions that existed in the Irish republican movement. The scenes that centred on the debates and arguments over the terms of the Treaty brought back by Michael Collins from London were classic! One of my favourite moments though was when a Irish republican court -operated by an almost exclusive all-female (!) judiciary- awarded in favour of a poor woman who was unable to pay the principle and exhorbant interest for a loan that she had obtained from a wealthy Irish businessman. Priceless! But the next scene then showed an IRA unit going in and forcibly releasing the convicted businessman. Why? Because they needed his money to buy rifles and bullets to fight the British! For already the seeds for the divisions and largely social class conflict of the Irish civil war of 1922 were been sown.

The movie also cast light on many other forgotten aspects of this period of Irish history:
-the prominent role of women in the resistance movement
-the refusal of the Irish railway workers to transport British military personnel and weaponry
-the execution of 'traitors' by the IRA volunteers of men they once called friends
-the excommunication by the Catholic Church bishops of anti-treaty republicans
-the racist attitudes of the landed aristocracy towards the native Irish
-the network of farm houses that provided food and lodgings to the IRA
-the excellent guerilla tactics employed by the IRA
-the high level of IRA weaponry that came from raids on British police barracks

The British 'Independent' reporter John Walsh said of the film, "At last a film that brings the truth to British eyes (of British rule in Ireland)". The same could also be said of Irish eyes. Ken Loach has done a great service to both countries

Film on Ireland's 'War of Independence': Obvious comparisons to modern Iraq

Well done to the British film producer, Ken Loach. His film - 'The Wind that Shakes the Barley' - on the subject of the 'Irish War of Independence' has being condemned viciously by the British tabloid press. Which must be a good thing!
'The Sun' and other similar newspapers tore him asunder for exposing the terror tactics of the British army against the Irish population during the War of Independence (1918-1921). But he told nothing but the truth about the British paramilitary units known as the 'Black 'n' Tans' (so called becasue they wore a mix of brown and black uniforms) who committed so many atrocities against civilians- torture, burnings, drunken rampages, murders.... that, as with Cromwell's armies of the mid-17th century, they will live forever as demons in the folklore of Ireland. But for the British establishment today it is embarrassing that people will make the obvious comparision to the tactics of the US & UK occupation military forces in present day Iraq.
Ken is representative of an honourary tradition amongst a section of British society who always had the courage to speak the truth about Ireland and other issues of worldwide human rights and suffered much personal abuse and vilification as a result. People such as Gareth Pierce, Tony Benn, Ken Livingstone and Chris Mullins spring to mind.

Irish, Iraqis and Americans 'out on the town' together!
I am going to see the film tomorrow night in the company of my wife Cepta and some friends who happen to be Iraqis and American anti-war activists. They requested me to go with them because of my political views as well as my family's involvement as IRA volunteers in this war of liberation of 1918-'21. But my family were typical of this period-so I hold no special knowledge except that I listened too many a fireside chat when I was a little boy as these old veterans told their stories.

Anyway, our pub conversation after the movie should be priceless!
So I will give you my views on the movie in my next posting

Time for the City Council to Fulfill its Election Promises on Developing a Sustainable Transport Infrastructure

At last! – my neighbourhood can this week rejoice as City Hall contractors began work yesterday on installing a permanent pedestrian crossing and associated traffic-calming devices on the Headford Road opposite Tirellan school. One of the busiest city roadways has for too many years denied safe access to pedestrians and turned the once simple pleasure of walking to the local shop or to school into a death defying exercise!


A Lollipop Lady is on hand at certain times during weekdays to help children cross to and from the school. But that is only for a few hours per day during school term.
So I am frustrated that it has taken so long to reach the construction stage.
I have been leading a residents’ campaign for such a pedestrian facility since 2002. In 2003, we persuaded the roads section of Galway City Council to officially recommend its installation. In 2004 funds were allocated for its construction. However two school years have passed since then. Thankfully though no serious road accident occurred involving pupils walking to this school.
In recent discussions with City Hall, we were also promised that a permanent pedestrian crossing is also now being considered for Bothar na Traobh near the Kirwan Roundabout. But that may take years to materialise (if ever)?
Yet our aims goes much deeper that just securing a once-off crossing. We want the installation of permanent pedestrian crossings on all roads leading onto all city roundabouts in order to facilitate uninterrupted pedestrian flow.

Council’s Roadside Failure
So we are alarmed that this City Council, now in its third year in office, has made no progress whatsoever in this area. For remember, this was the council comprising young new faces with fresh ideas, many from new political parties that promised so much when it was elected in June 2004. It was to herald a new dawn for the people of Galway.
Alas, the councillors' election promises on many critical issues such as transport have still to be delivered. One of the basic tenets of the Galway City Development Board Strategy (which I helped produce) adopted in 2002 is that the city will become ‘pedestrian-friendly, cycling-friendly, disability-friendly and child-friendly’.
The councillors collectively should be ashamed of themselves that they have failed to face up to the ‘roundabouts’ issue and have failed to put in place the basic city-wide infrastructure required to facilitate pedestrian and cyclist flow in Galway’s suburbs. The traffic nightmare that they all promised to prioritise has got progressively worse since they took up office. It is now too dangerous for most residents to contemplate alternatives to car transport even for short journeys to shops, schools or places of worship. This has led to the almost complete extinction of bicycles from the school grounds whereas just over twenty years ago, 30% of pupils cycled.

The Disappearing Walls & Hedgerows of Galway

…and the walls came a tumbling down…
Drystone walls and hedgerows, once the great characteristic features of the Galway countryside, are now being destroyed by the Irish state at such an alarming rate that only isolated rumps will remain within a few years unless decisive action is taken soon.
A combination of ever-increasing roadside housing development, county council road widening and National Road Authority’s (NRA) projects is annually wiping out hundreds of miles of beautiful traditional field boundaries whose origins stretch back millennia.

The blinkered vision of the NRA towards the rich cultural landscape that was Tara is sadly being surpassed by their recent destructive activities in county Galway.
In the construction of the Loughrea By-Pass, the NRA ripped out miles of hedgerows and traditional stonewalls leaving in their place a horrible mis-mash of fences, metal barriers and concrete walls. This will inevitability led to a cancerous continuation of installing these anti-natural heritage intrusions into the surrounding landscape. For these native field boundaries played a critical role in acting as a receptacle for much of our flora and fauna after the uprooting of our native forests by the British military and landed gentry over the centuries. They acted as vital ‘green highways’ for the movement of wildlife across the island.

Sadly the national road agency is being aided and abetted by Galway County Council. It is true that planning stipulations oftentimes require stonewall perimeters for new roadside housing development; but these are of a modern design that bear no resemblance to the older eco-types.
Recently my family had a combined hedgerow and drystone wall bulldozed by the council in a road widening scheme and were told that, for reasons of safety & NRA guidelines, the authority now only install wooden fences or concrete posts/wire perimeters as replacements.

Amazingly the local authority’s Heritage section is undertaking absolute trojan work trying to promote and preserve field boundaries through innovative community-based projects such as the ‘Golden Mile’ competition and the council’s own Heritage Plan 2004-2008. But it looks like a losing battle for the Council’s stronger right hand seems to care little for what the weaker left hand is doing. As a member of the Galway Heritage Forum, it pains me to say so. I hope though I am proved wrong & I have started a campaign to stop this destruction of an important countryside heritage. For Galway with its field walls and hedgerows is like China with its Great Wall, Australia without its Great Barrier Reef or Venice without its canals

Sight and Sound of US Warplanes Reawakens Fear in Galway

While Salthill Air Show organisers waxed lyrically about the tourism monies made and how it was a wonderful joyous occasion for parents and children, the sight and sound of US and UK military aircraft over Galway brought fear and anxiety to at least one family living in Salthill.
“It was frightening to see and to hear the same warplanes that are bringing so much death and destruction in my country re-appear once again over the skies of our new home” said an Iraqi medical friend of mine. His ordinary peace-loving mixed Sunni-Shia family from Baghdad fled their once quiet neighbourhood due to the madness and anarchy unleashed by the American invasion forces.


Innocent civilian relatives, friends and working colleagues of this family died at the hands of trigger-happy gung-ho Americans troops, Western private security mercenaries or local sectarian and criminal elements who now control the daily life of a country that has been reduced to a post-apocalyptic ‘Mad Max’ world. Daily pogroms, massacres, kidnappings and bloodlust have now devastated the lives of everyday Iraqi people while their occupiers live, eat and sleep in their surreal zones of comfort with such euphemistic names as the “Green Zone”.

So what further family-orientated festivals celebrating modern engineering has Mr. McGrath planned for us next? Maybe a festival dedicated to the power of the motorised vehicle complete with a few Black ‘n’ Tan Crossley tenders, SS armoured half-tracks or US Humvees re-enacting their famous drives through civilian areas?
It is a sad day for Irish tourism that we have to glorify the killing machines of brutal occupation armies that are bringing so much sorrow to so many ordinary families.
It is a disgrace too that a Galway business organisation publicly condemns those of us who didn’t attend the airshow as doing a great disservice to the city. Actually, it is the Mayor, local politicians, the GAAW and the rest of us who protested peacefully against weapons of mass destruction who are following the principles of the founders of our state. While it is those that lambast us who are continuing the tradition of what WB Yeat’s called "fumbling in the Greasy Till" at the expense of moral values. It is time to cease funding this annual ghoulish celebration of death’s scythe that dresses itself up as a family event. Or maybe the organisers could do the sensible thing and ban warplanes so that we can all attend? If not, why not?

Police Disrupt Peaceful Anti-War Protest

20 police turned up at the anti-Airshow protest that gathered at the Claddagh Hall in order to confiscate and burst 99 Red Balloons! Not since the dark days of the 1980s has Gaway experienced such blatent political actions by the country's police against anti-establishment and human rights campaigners. This agressive action took place even when the family-dominated demonstration included the Mayor, city councillors and a member of Dail Eireann.


We were told that these 30 cent balloons would interfere with the workings of sophisticated multi-million dollar warplanes! Who are they fooling?

There should be an investigation into who was ultimately responsibile for giving these ridiculous orders to police that turned them into the laughing stock of the whole country.
On a separate note, the presence of so many police at such a peaceful event questions the priorities of the present Minister of Justice while law-abiding residents across the country are screaming unsuccessfully for more community policing in order to tackle rampant crime, drug wars, and street violence in their neighbourhoods.

Gort- the 'Samba' Capital of Ireland

An innocent traveller passing through the small town of Gort in the west of Ireland yesterday would have been forgiven if he suddenly felt he was suffering the after-effects of swallowing some hallucinogenic concoction as they experienced a feeling of being magically transported to tropical South America. For the flags, colours, ethnicity, language, music and dances of an Amazonian river port transformed a normally placid rain-sodden wind-swept Galway town into the sunny Samba Capital of Ireland.



A Brazilian ‘Brigadoon’ ensued as waves and waves of dancers in outrageous rainbow attire appeared on the streets to enact the traditional festival of ‘Quadrilha’.
Gort, with probably the largest concentration of Brazilians in Ireland, became the gathering point for their compatriots working in Roscommon, Cork, Dublin and elsewhere.

Even the Brazilian ambassador to Ireland turned up to give his seal of approval to the antics of his fellow countrymen and women.

The event was a credit to the organising abilities of local volunteers such as Rosiliane de Silva who put on a street carnival ‘par excellence’ that put an infectious smile on the faces and a lilt in the steps of every visitor.

We enjoyed the sights, sounds and smells of Latino cuisine, samba bands, old-style farming community group dances to more modern pulsating urban dances such as the ‘Axe’. Many of the native Irish present were so overwhelmed by the delights on display that they quickly donned yellow and green jerseys and shouted greetings in pidgen portuguese to every passerby! The two Brazilian shops on the main street did a roaring trade.
The unbelievably hot weather combined with Brazil's involvement in the World Cup made it seem as if we were all ‘Brazilian’ for the day!

'Quadrilha' - A Lesson on How To Enjoy a Festival without Getting Blind Drunk!

But the most striking element of the festival was the almost total absence of alcohol combined with the wide variation in age of both participants and visitors alike. I saw costumed mothers and daughters dancing together joined later by infant grand daughters and cousins. Of course there were skimpily clad girls gyrating to the music joined by their over-friendly boyfriends and there was drinking a plently within the pubs surrounding the square.


But this is in no way contradicted or took away from the beautiful family atmosphere that pre-dominated. I looked hard to find evidence of annoying drunks, street brawling, empty beer cans, broken bottles, urinating and vomitting. I am happy to report that I failed totally in my endeavours. What summed it up was that over the course of four hours I saw only one police man on duty. When he wasn’t on traffic duty, he was standing around like the rest of us admiring the Latino dancing.



If for nothing else. the Irish can learn so much from the Brazilians on how to party!


It is also worth noting that the Brazilians gave due respect to the country that they now find themselves living in by hosting almost as many 'Irish' flags as 'Brazilian.


Not all Brazilians are mad Party-goers!
Interestingly not all of Gort’s Brazilians participated in the festivities. I saw many of them travelling back to the town late that evening when the street party was ending; some with lunch boxes under their arms. They probably spend all day working in in hotels, shops, farms and construction sites.


Furthermore. there is also a sizable local community of evangelical Christians from Brazil who do not agree with the public carnival displays of their Catholic countrymen.

Further information can be obtained at on the Gort Quadrilla festival website: www.brasilianfestivalgort.blogspot.com
Likewise, read my previous article on Gort’s Brazilians.

The New Eyre Square- Sterile & Ugly!

The New Eyre Square- Sterile & Ugly!
Originally uploaded by Speedie1.

After all the controversy and after going way over budget with a final cost of over €9million, Eyre Square finally re-opened to the public.
The term 'Eyre Square' has became synonymous in Ireland with 'a major construction or planning cock-up'.
I was one of the many hundreds of Galwegians that campaigned against the City Council 'concertising' Eyre Square, the heart of the city centre.
There is no denying that the old square needed major surgery. But I wanted another St Stephen's Green-style park in what is after all the very heart of the city. I envisaged a 'Green Oasis' endowed with ponds, seated areas surrounded by low-lying hedges, fountains, an Edwardian central bandstand....So it may not surprise you that I am not impressed with the final result.
However I was prepared to give credit where credit is due, compliment City Hall if it turned out fine and admit that maybe a 'plaza' and a 'green park' could be successfully combined.
Alas, the final result is boring, bland, sterile and a huge anti-climax. I can't work out where the money was actually spent!
The nice addition of a children's playground is undermined by its small size; the shiny grey stone extensively used throughout the development is out of character with the old uneven limestone of many of the neighbouring old buildings; the seated areas are too exposed, there are no sculptures or a central raised concert area; the trees remaining and those planted don't combine to create pleasant green corridors for walkers.
What we have got is a sterile landscape lacking character, depth or friendliness.
A golden opportunity lost and a waste of taxpayers money.
On a positive note, it was confirmed last week that the square will provide wireless access in a few months.

'Last Chance Salon' for City's Wildlife?

Cormorant
Originally uploaded by Speedie1.

Last Monday I was honoured to be chosen to present to a full meeting of the Galway City Council one of the most important local strategic policy of recent years. Commissioned by the Galway City Development Board (CDB), the 'Galway City Habitat Inventory' was produced by one of the country's top ecological outfits NATURA.
Its aim: to protect and enhance the natural areas within the city's boundaries where wild flora and fauna can live.
If the report's recommendations are implemented, the document could serve as a successful blueprint for biodiversity in other urban environments in Ireland and abroad.
Sadly, we have been waiting since February 2005 to meet the City Council on this report. In the interim, at least one of the sites earmarked for protection has been destroyed by a developer.

Actually, I never got the chance to speak as the report was deferred on the night to a Council meeting in mid May due to heavy discussion on the controversial Lackagh quarries.
Anyway, the document was the result of the combined efforts of a myriad of organisations and individuals involved in, or concerned with, wildlife and land/aquatic management including the government's Parks & Wildlife Service, Birdwatch Galway, Galway University, Galway City Council, Western Regional Fisheries Board and the OPW. There were also individual contributors such as the renowned naturist Gordon D'Arcy and Crann's Sasha van der Sleesen who have done much over the years to increase public awareness of the wildlife population of our urban jungle. As a community representative on the CDB, I played a role in having this action adopted as a key priority.

Its publication has come at a critical time in the city's history. There is ever-increasing pressure being forced onto the rural areas located within the city boundaries. Continuous high population growth is leading to more roads, residential & business developments devouring the last remnants of our natural landscapes. What are today's green fields will become tomorrow's concrete housing estates. Hence it is critical to ensure that land is allocated now for other species to exist and that links are developed to allow the free movement of wildlife between habitats. Without biodiversity, the survival of the human race itself will be threatened as all life forms on this planet are interconnected.

The report shows that Galway city still has a wonderful cornucopia of wildlife habitats including blanket bog, limestone pavement, turloughs, hedgerows, wetlands, muddy shores, salt marsh, sea cliffs etc. An amazing 58 kinds of habitats were identified with 22 considered to be nationally or internationally rare. The authors provide details on each habitat and any known threats to their survival. Most importantly, they give recommendations necessary to conserve these habitats that include.
o Designate any nationally or internationally important habitat as Special Area of Conservation (SAC) or National Heritage Area (NHA)
o Prepare a management plan for each of the designated habitats
o Protect and enhance 3 major ecological corridors or what the Americans call 'green highways' which directly connect a series of natural habitats into the neighbouring jurisdiction of Galway County.
o Hedgerows and stone walls should be retained were possible as part of ecological networks

Urban Wildlife Habitats: A Rural Landscape in Galway City

ballindsheep
Originally uploaded by Speedie1.

Urban Habitats: Drystone Walls in Galway City

Rural landscape in Galway City
Originally uploaded by Speedie1.

Rural landscape in Castlegar, Galway City

Urban Wildlife- A Hedgerow in Galway City

A Country Lane in Galway City
Originally uploaded by Speedie1.

Urban Wildlife- Swans, a Symbol of the City

Swans
Originally uploaded by Speedie1.

A Beautiful Lake Habitat Protected

dooleylake
Originally uploaded by Speedie1.

Last year, environmentalists and community activities persuaded the City Council to retain the agricultural zoning status of much of the hinterland of Ballindooly Lough, the only major 'turlough' within the city's boundaries.
We also got the council to designate the lake as an 'Area of Local Ecological Importance' thereby offering further legal protection to its wildlife denizens