Catholic Church Protected Evil & Condemned Children to Suffer Years of Sexual Abuse

Today was a landmark day for victims of the Catholic Church in Ireland with the publication of an independent Commission's report into child abuse in the archdiocese of Dublin from 1974 to 2004.
The report clearly shows that there was a deliberate cover up of clerical abuse by the Church authorities. The bishops saw their primary goal being to protect the financial assets and reputation of the Holy Roman Catholic Church. They gave no recognition of the sufferings being done to the children by their members. Those courageous few adults that tried to expose the evil being done by priests were condemned as liars and misfits. Time and time again, the ecclesiastical authorities malevolently moved the perpetrators away from the public glare to church positions in others parts of the country or abroad allowing them to continue to commit crimes against yet more innocent children.

'Above Suspicion'

The hierarchy openly felt that they were superior to the state and not accountable to civil law. Such a exalted opinion of themselves was probably shared by the majority of the populace for much of the 20th century who treated clerics as above suspicion because they were adjudged God's intermediaries. Certainly the police and other state institutions agreed, colluded with the cover-up and undertook no action when asked to do so by the victims.

Lack of 'Christianity' in the Catholic Church

As a practicing Christian and a lapsed member of the Catholic Church, it still astonishes me that the world's largest Christian church became so corrupt; that it deviated so much from the teachings of Christ; that it promoted, perpetuated and protected evil while preaching a message of 'love and peace to all mankind'; that clerics who took vows of chastity metamorphosed into serial paedophiles and rapists; that bishops, who were supposed to be followers of the Christ that lived the life of a pauper, lived in 'palaces' and called themselves 'princes'; that most priests and bishops, if not themselves practicing child abuse, knowingly turned a blind eye to these horrible acts and saw their role being to protect the perverts. By their actions and in-actions, they condemned generations of innocent children to a life of 'Hell on Earth'.

Condemned by the Bishop of Galway

In the early 1990s, I myself was publicly condemned by the then Bishop of Galway for allowing the sale of condoms on my pub premises. I was dismissed as a wrongdoer, as corrupting the morality of youth. The bishop said that I was ignoring a central tenet of church law which was that sex existed for 'procreation' and not for 'pleasure'. A few months after these attacks, the bishop fled Ireland when it was found out that he had a teenage child by his mistress! He was the first senior cleric to be exposed for having a sexual affair.
Click here to read more on this story.
I actually had and still have great respect for Bishop Casey. He was a good man on so many levels and I sure don't believe that having consensual sex with an adult woman is wrong.
Anyway, his actions paled into insignificance compared to what soon followed. It was only after the Casey affair, when the spotlight was turned for the first time onto the private lives of clerics, that it became public knowledge that hordes of rampant paedophiles were operating inside hallowed walls.
Today's report though dealt solely with a 30 year period in one archdiocese in Ireland. We can be sure that such abuse happened from the time that the Catholic Church began to monopolise power in the country (19th century) and when it was given responsibility for the physical and spiritual care of young people and the right to establish orphanages and schools. It is also true that this evil was exported to all areas of the world where Irish priests established missions, schools and churches.
This clerical wickedness has done so much to undermine the great acts of goodness and charity carried out by other Irish nuns, brothers and priests. But power and privilege as well as blind obedience to their whims by the populace turned too many of the clerics into monsters.

Time for Renewal

The Church must immediately undergo a period of renewal and return to living the teachings of Christ by fully embracing Liberation Theology and promoting Environmentalism. The Papal Nuncio, who refused to reply to the letters from the Commission, must be expelled from the country; the Pope must issue a public apology to the people of Ireland; the hierarchy should leave their 'Palaces' and cease to be known as 'Princes' or be addressed by aristocratic titles such as 'Your Grace' or 'Your Eminence'; celibacy for clerics should be optional and women should be admitted to the priesthood. For a male-only institution, which is against all the laws of nature, obviously became a breeding ground for paedophilia.

Thierry Henry- Death of Chivalry & the White Knight

I use to look on Thierry Henry as a giant in the world of sport. He seemed to embody all the attributes of the 'gentleman footballer'-debonair, chic, knowledgeable about so many topics, always so calm and elegant in the heat of the fierce battles that took place on the playing fields of Europe and beyond.

He was an icon that you were proud to tell your children to emulate. A consummate professional.

But his behaviour on Wednesday against Ireland smacked of all that is corrupt in the cynical world of professional sport. His deliberate double handling of the ball broke all the rules of the game. But it was compounded by his celebrations after Gallas scored and his lying immediately after the game when he stated that he didn’t know if he had touched the ball.

‘Sportsmanship’ was dealt a death blow by the whitest of all knights. Good has become evil. For Henry has given the green light to children and everyone else that the ‘ends justifies the means’. In a period when people are disgusted with the antics of politicians, priests, bankers, business leaders and top civil servants who preach of honesty, personal sacrifice and decency while milking the system for personal gain, we need true role models more than ever before. But the French captain has dashed our hopes that football is still a beautiful game played by heroes.

By his latest deeds and words, he wants us now to recognise lawbreaking as a virtue.

Of course the stance of FIFA has only reinforced this criminality. Their motto of ‘Fair Play’ was exposed as a facade when they seeded at the last minute the teams in the World Cup play-offs in order to ensure that the large wealthy countries secured an unfair advantage in getting through to the finals in South Africa. They lied too when they said that there was no precedent in re-staging the Ireland-France game. In 2005, they had the Bahrain – Uzbekistan match replayed due to a disputed penalty decision by the referee. However this time the world football governing body wants the money-generating galaxy of French stars to go forward at the expense of the minnows of Ireland.

Henry and FIFA together have shown that power and wealth take precedence in the world of sport just as is so often the case in the world of politics and business. Both have 'blood money' on their greedy hands.

Community-Inspired Campaign To Clean Up Galway City's Forests & Parks Gets Underway!

Our Environmental campaign group ‘Friends of the Forest’ have joined forces with Galway City Council in order to implement a new initiative designed to secure public participation in regular major monthly clean-ups of the city’s public spaces.
While we fundamentally disagree with local authority officials' still existing plans to build a road through this most precious urban forest park that will all destroy its proposed development as an important ecological corridor , nevertheless we see no reason why we should not work with City Hall to increase public use of the forest and to help eliminate the waste crisis that exists in this important natural heritage area.There is a serious and growing litter problem in parks and other green spaces across the country. However, because of the local authority recruitment embargo, ordinary citizens must re-discover 'civic pride' and take up the challenge of helping to keep our valuable green resources clean in order to protect our increasingly threatened wildlife and to encourage greater use of woods and parklands by schools, arts groups and local communities.
Inspired by the international ‘Beach Watch’ project organised in Galway by Atlantaquaria (Ireland's National Aquarium), Friends of the Forest held a series of meetings with City Hall’s Environmental Education Officer Sharon Carroll and the Superintendent of Parks Stephen Walsh on implementing regular high-profile mass clean ups that would each month focus in on different public spaces across the city.The result is that the first of these major clean-ups known as ‘Glan Suas Gaillimh!’ (Irish for 'Clean Up Galway!') operating under the auspices of Galway City Council will start at 2.30pm on Sunday November 15th in the Terryland Forest Park.
Follow-on clean-ups will include Merlin Woods, Barna Woods and our seashores.
It is hoped that residents of all ages from all across the city will take part in this major partnership initiative that could make such a positive contribution to our city’s image and well-being.So well done to Sharon McHugh & Stephen Walsh for bing so supportive and proactive in doing every thing possible to ensure the success of Glan Suas Gaillimh!
Sharon in particular has gone over and beyond the call of duty to involve children in the clean-up as a continuation of her work with schools on the Green Flag initiative This litter drive will represent an important step in re-engaging the people of Galway with City Hall’s environmental policies. We are also now hopeful that Council will re-introduce an annual eco-programme for Terryland Forest Park and elsewhere that will include family tree planting days, community arts events and educational nature tours. Continued tree planting is urgently needed to offset global warming with our forests acting as ‘carbon sinks’. As well as being major biodiversity zones, forests also serve as important passive/active amenity areas.
The Friends of the Forest are also continuing their three year lobbying of the Minister of the Environment to introduce a national refundable levy on all drink containers purchased at off-licences and other retail outlets. As discarded cans and bottles are probably the number one cause of litter in Ireland, a refundable levy would have a beneficial impact on our environment by providing an economic incentive for people to keep Irish parks, roads, and waterways clean.
Such a monetary pay-back scheme existed in Ireland until a few decades ago and is very successful today in other countries.
The monies saved could then be used to encourage greater public use of our wonderful green spaces by funding the provision of park wardens, regular outdoor family events and park facilities such as picnic areas, community gardens and eco-learning centres.

'Communities United Against Cuts' Protest

At last, those working with communities are starting to unite and fight back against proposed government cuts that will devastate neighbourhoods and led to ghettoisation and a social meltdown that will undermine all the good work done over the last decade by organisations such as Galway City Partnership.
Why should the innocents particularly the disadvantaged be forced to suffer and to pay for the sins of the coterie of selfish 'me fein' property speculators, bankers, planners, top civil servants and certain politicians that got us into the recession that Ireland is now facing?
Galway city recently saw a fantastic colourful crowd of over 1,000 community activists of all ages protest against the threatened state cuts to the community sector. It will be the first of many such rallies over the coming months.
See my previous article entitled Economic Meltdown Could lead to Social Meltdown

Horse-Drawn Cart on a Busy City Road!

On Sunday afternoon, I was pleasantly surprised to see a man standing up on an open cart steering its horse through a Kirwan Roundabout populated by speeding cars driven by aggressive drivers.
I just had to take this brave man's (& horse's) photo! So I flagged him down & got talking to him.
A true gentleman, his name is Michael Cunniss & he has worked with horses all his life.
Only a few decades ago, a sight of a horse-drawn cart would have been a common everyday occurrence in Irish towns. Now, our modern roads are just too dangerous not only for horses, but for pedestrians & cyclists. So much for progress!!

Arrogance of the Ceann Comhairle John O'Donoghue defies belief!

(Click on picture for larger version)

It is not surprising that John O'Donoghue and his government defenders can use in his defense that he abided by parliamentary rules thereby breaking no laws in the huge expenses that he accumulated over the last few years that was paid for by the ordinary tax-payers of Ireland.
But hasn't the ruling establishment since time immemorial written the laws to protect their own selfish interests? Morality and ethics sadly does not figure high on their agenda.
Yet even still his behaviour goes way beyond these low political standards.
For what can you say about a servant of the state that reclaimed a miserly stg£1 donation that he made to Unicef while on a visit to Scotland? Or who stayed at a 5 Star hotel and spent 65,000Euro of taxpayers monies with other TDs while attending a Conference in South Africa on Combating Poverty?!
Due solely to public anger at these unethical abuses, he has been forced to announce his resignation, the first time that this has happened to a person in such high political office since the foundation of the state?
A honourable act on his behalf? Not bleeding likely? For he has postponed his resignation until next week knowing that the Green Party at their convention over the weekend may decide to pull the plug on the government leading to the dissolving of Dail Éireann and the announcement of a general election. Clever man that John is, he knows that, as he will be still hold the office of Ceann Comhairle, he will automatically be given a seat in the next parliament hereby avoiding the anger of the people.
Selfish interest comes before civic duty.
What is the morality and sense of patriotic duty in this Green-Fianna Fáil Government. Let all true civic-minded people in both parties stand up and be counted. Demand an immediate end to politicians and top civil servants filling their pockets at our expense and a return of integrity and honesty to Irish politics.

Lisbon Treaty Does Not Deliver the Reform to the EU that is Needed

Irish Agriculture on Its Knees

acknowledging the progress initiated by the European Union in such areas as human rights, the environment and ending the military conflicts between states that once was endemic across much of Europe, nevertheless there are serious discrepancies in other policy areas that are incorrectly promoted by Irish EU proponents as success stories.
Ireland’s traditional agricultural and fishing communities have been devastated by EU membership. In a time when food security is becoming increasingly important due to the sharp rise in world population and the looming global energy crisis, the numbers working on Irish farms and at sea are only a small fraction of pre-1973 levels while more and more of our food is imported from countries who let their own people starve, destroy biodiversity and drain off scant water resources so that they can export agricultural produce to Europe and elsewhere. The Common Agricultural Policy has done nothing to develop sustainable agriculture. With its rich grasslands, Ireland could become an international centre for organic agriculture, something never grasped or understood by successive Irish government.
Likewise, the depletion of our fish resources and the livelihoods of our once proud fishing communities were caused by the free rein given by the European Commission to the foreign fleets allowed inside our waters.
These problems are not unique to Ireland though. Other EU countries have suffered similar fates.
I have only recently returned from southern Portugal where many villages lie almost devoid of young people, where the fish-processing industry of Portimao has been obliterated and where farmers are giving away the fruits of their labour in spite of the unprecedented demand from the burgeoning tourist sector of the Algarve. This is because the local hotels and supermarkets chains import food produce from Africa and elsewhere rather than give a living wage to indigenous producers.Portugal is also where I saw many young teenage Eastern European girl prostitutes along the roadsides, the victims of vicious pimps and human traffickers who have become beneficiaries of the easing of border restrictions within Europe over the last decade.
It is obvious that the European Union needs radical reform. But not what is proposed by the anti-democratic Lisbon Treaty, which as our EU Commissioner Charlie McCreevy, said would be rejected by 95% of European citizens if they were given the right to vote on it.

Click here to see my article written immediately after the Irish electorate last year voted No to the Lisbon Treaty.

Economic Meltdown Could Led to Social Meltdown with the Return of Ghettoisation to Ireland

I recently had the following article printed in the Galway City Tribune newspaper

Community support cuts and the abolition of the Department of Communities, Gaeltacht and Rural Affairs will have devastating negative effects on urban neighbourhoods.

Due to EU directives there have been moves over the last decade by European governments to tackle high levels of social exclusion particularly in urban areas caused by decades of bad planning and developer-driven economics. The aim was to promote sustainability, integration and inclusivity. These policies are now threatened by An Bord Snip Nua which recommends huge cuts in community support programmes that defy all logic to those working with grassroots organisations and will promote rather than end ghettoisation, anti-social behaviour and social alienation.

Now that Ireland is experiencing the cold winds of mass unemployment caused by the economic meltdown, we need more rather than less policies designed to engage with people suffering from social disadvantage.

Providing young people in particular with meaningful state-supported jobs designed to help their neighbourhoods is a more productive alternative than the disillusionment of the dole both for the individual and for society.

It is interesting to note that the only government department recommended in the report for abolition is the Department of Communities, Gaeltacht and Rural Affairs. This stance betrays the moral and economic philosophy of the author and is sadly reminiscent of Margaret Thatcher when she famously said, “There is no such thing as society, there are individual men and women and there are families.”

The establishment of this government department a few years back was a belated recognition by the state that measures to combat endemic poverty and social exclusion for both rural and urban communities needed to be coordinated by a one-stop-shop central agency if we were to counter the negative impact of urban sprawl, the destruction of rural society caused by the collapse in the family farm infrastructure and if Ireland was to avoid the huge urban ghettoes and deep social divisions of other European countries such as Britain and France. The department’s Minister, Éamon Ó Cuív, is one of the few politicians in Dáil Éireann that has a strong ideological and practical understanding of the concept of ‘community’ in Ireland. While the department’s programmes such as RAPID are painfully slow in securing their objectives, nevertheless they are starting to made a difference in terms of regenerating areas by integrating the planning, investment and development available for local communities. Now years of hardwork by activists and officials could all go up in smoke.

Famous Irish Quotes & Sayings - Part 12

What is Irish diplomacy?
It is the ability to tell a man to go to Hell,
so that he will look forward
to making the trip!

Enjoying the Beautiful Green Rural Landscapes of Galway City

Recently I co-organised, on behalf of Galway City Council and the Galway City Community Forum, a cycle tour of the stunning beautiful rural countryside of Galway City as part of Ireland's first National Cycle Week.Entitled 'Off the Beaten Path' the event was actually a journey of discovery for many of its participants. For in spite of urban sprawl, construction of major busy four lane road systems, destruction of wildlife habitats, growing pollution and the economic collapse of Irish agriculture over the last few decades, there are still some very awe-inspiring lowly populated green landscapes lying within the boundaries of Galway city.We ignored the hustle and bustle of housing estates, shopping centres and highways.Instead we travelled along secondary roads to enjoy the sights and sounds of an increasingly threatened but none-the-less vibrant countryside dominated by small farms and natural features such as lakes and bogs.Commencing on Bóthar na Choiste (Irish = Coach Road), I brought participants through townlands whose ancient names reflect the respect that Irish people once had for Nature -Ballinfoile (Town of the ridge), Ballindooley (Town of the black lake), Killoughter (High Wood), Menlo (Small Lake), Coolough (Hollow at the base of the cliff)...
We travelled over hills, along botharins, past abandoned farms, ruined castles, karst outcrops, bogs, lakes, dykes, turloughs and meadows.
The trip included a picnic in the grounds of Menlo Castle.
To liven the journey up, I recounted tales of headless horsemen, ancient battles, haunted ruins, tragic drownings, lost gardens and of the great forests and the once proud wolves that once characterised the area.

Though I can have ongoing battles with City Hall over a myriad of community and environmental issues, nevertheless I can only heap praise on the city officials who contributed to the success of this event, namely Therese Carroll, Michael Forde and Cathy Joyce.

I enjoyed leading the trip so much that I am organising a similar excursion again on Sunday August 30th as part of Ireland's Heritage Week. But more importantly, the event has only made me even more determined to increase my efforts with local communities to protect the vestiges of our once glorious natural environment, with its rich native flora and fauna, from greedy developers so that future generations can enjoy Ireland's green beauty.

Elections 2009 Galway city - Part 5

It is very noticeable how politicians of all hues are targeting local 'Poles' during this election

Elections 2009 Galway city - Part 4

Sinn Féin 'Outpole' Labour in Galway!

Elections 2009 Galway city - Part 3

Political Election Candidates that are 'Poles Apart'!

Reform in the British Political System Should be Repeated in Ireland

The recent revelations about British MPs’ expense claims is both scandalous and heartening. Scandalous because it revealed the arrogant misuse of public funds by politicians to ostentatiously upgrade their private properties. Expenditures that included cleaning a castle moat, constructing a duck house in a garden lake and repairing water pipes under a tennis court were carried out, according to claimants, so that they could better serve their constituents!
These instances had been proceeded by media stories of ‘right honourable’ Labour members of House of Lords charging tens of thousands of pounds for submitting questions.
But the whole saga was heartening too because it represented a triumph of true investigative journalism. The British newspaper–led campaign into political greed shook Westminster to its foundations due to the resultant public outcry leading to ministerial suspensions, resignations from high political office and the first steps in the reform of parliament. It is worth noting that MPs had previously tried to scupper attempts to open up their income to scrutiny by the public i.e. those to whom they are suppose to serve. Now we know why!
The old adage that ‘power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely’ has sadly proven all too true in the case of British parliamentarians of all political persuasions.

On face value it looks likely that Irish national representatives are more morally upstanding than their British counterparts due to the fact that similar stories have not and are unlikely to surface here.
But could this be because Irish TDs do not have to submit receipts for their claims? While it is true that the vast majority of politicians and government ministers that I personally know seem to be honest, hard-working often idealistic civic-minded people who use their expenses to pay for legitimate costs related to staffing and renting local constituency offices, nevertheless it is unacceptable that in a democratic country such an unmonitored financial system operates. It defies logic that these unsubstantiated annual claims can exceed over 80,000Euro annually for some national politicians. Irish parliamentarians are amongst the highest paid in the world via a combination of wages, undocumented expenses, a Dáil Éireann daily attendance fee, an annual financial bonus given to those who serve 10 years or more and an additional income of up to 20,023Euro for those chairing/co-chairing Oireachtas committees .
It was only last month that as a result of public pressure 31 current TDs from 4 political parties, who are former ministers, stopped receiving annual pensions which varied in size from 6,100 to 110,000Euro. Now they are only allowed to receive these payments (on top of their TD pensions) when they retire from politics.
Furthermore it was recently too that some TDs that were listed as teachers but who may not have had taught for decades finally gave up their sizable teaching pension rights. Yet even still, two present Ministers refuse to surrender these entitlements.
The proceedings of tribunals such as the Flood Tribunal and the jailing of Frank Dunlop provides ample evidence that certain prominent politicians, builders, landowners and developers worked together to corrupt the democratic process in this country.
Their greedy antics in cahoots with the other group in this ‘old boys network’, namely influential bankers, may have made them rich but brought the country to the brink of financial ruin. Little thought was given to long-term sustainable economic development shown by the fact that , during the Celtic Tiger epoch, only 4% of bank loans were provided towards the manufacturing sector while circa 80% were provided towards property transactions.
Even now, the government has failed to reveal the names of the infamous and immoral ‘Golden Circle of 10’ business people from the nationalised (i.e. citizens) Anglo Irish Bank.

Halla na Cathrach, Gaillimh (City Hall, Galway)

At local government level the abuse of expenses also occurs according to serving councillors. Trips overseas undertaken as part of their council remit should be listed online with a report detailing the work undertaken. Nine of our MEPs recently refused to give details of their very sizable expenses for 2008 when questioned to do so by the Irish media.
In a period of severe austerity with unemployment at record levels, such a situation cannot be allowed to continue. TDs of all political parties should now have the moral courage to come together to make strenuous efforts to implement political reform in order to regain the trust of the people and rekindle respect for the democratic institutions that our forefathers fought so hard to establish. These measures could include the regular provision of detailed documentation of their state incomes that should be overseen by an independent community-based overseers board; abolishing political quangos and agencies that duplicate the work of government departments; ensuring that promotion and bonuses for public service management is based on merit and performance; ending the over-reliance on expenses by councillors for financial remuneration with a corresponding implementation of a proper salaried wage structure; undertaking the long promised reform of local government where our political representatives have little power of note except in the area of zoning and planning which so many have abused by caving into vested interests and forgetting the national interest. It is time too to consider the abolition of the Seanad which seems to serve little purpose in modern Ireland except primarily as a home for failed or aspiring TDs as well as a reward for political kudos.

Volvo Boat Race- A Great Event that United All Galwegians! That is until The 'Red Arrows' were Invited

Everyone involved in organising Galway's participation in the Volvo Boat Race deserves a medal!
Not since the glory days of the Galway Arts Festival in the 1980s, when the city first gained the label of being Ireland's cultural capital thanks to such pioneering concepts as the Macnas street theatre and parade, has so much positive national and international exposure being secured for Galway.
The carnival atmosphere has been infectious. The weather glorious. The total transformation of the docklands from being an unattractive sterile backwater handling a few oil tanker ships and ignored by most Galwegians into a vibrant quarter of outdoor cafes, concert stages, exhibition halls, circus tents and a huge marina populated by hundreds of pleasure boats and yachts has been spectacular.
To see Galway Bay overflowing with racing boats of all shapes and sizes has lifted citizens out of the doldrums of depression caused by the country's recent recession (at least for 2 weeks!).
So many local people volunteered their time and efforts to help the Race become a huge success. I myself took part for 2 days in cleaning up the beaches of Galway in advance of the arrival of the participating boats. I also coordinated the involvement of 12 schools in a project designed to increase young people's awareness of the scientific, environmental, wildlife, pollution, angling, energy and recreational aspects of Ireland's seas, rivers and lakes.
The Race has fostered a sense of community, bonding and togetherness amongst the local population.The legacy of this inaugural boating race could be highly beneficial to the city. In particular, the event shows the potential for creating a marina in the docks area and turning the focus of the city's development, tourism, the economy and leisure back towards the sea for the first time since the early 20th century.

But sadly two things associated with the Boat Race Festival have left a bad taste in some of our mouths. First there was the even worse traffic jams than usual over the last few weeks. Galway City Council is overdependent on private cars as the primary mode of transport. It has failed to implement policies adopted in early 2002 designed to establish an integrated transport system by developing a walking, cycling and public transport infrastructure.
Secondly, the participation of the RAF Red Arrows in the event re-awakened old animosities from 2 years ago between the Salthill Air Show and supporters of the Galway Alliance Against War(GAAW) who publicly campaigned against the Iraqi War.
Why the organisers invited this RAF showpiece defies explanation. While I have participated in many events associated with the Volvo Boat Ace, I will also be involved in the GAAW protest this weekend against the Red Arrows

Elections 2009 Galway city - Part 2

Elections Galway: Two-faced Politicians
Another piece of creative ingenuity carried out on a political poster from the current elections to Galway City Council

Elections 2009 Galway city - Part 1

Faceless Politicians
Humourous amendments to political election posters for the European Parliament and Galway City Council!

Galway Suburbia Goes Wild!

Recently a series of unusual animal sculptures were constructed on rocks in a Galway housing estate in the Ballinfoile area.Cast in metal, these representations of Irish wildlife are located in green spaces across the estates of Baile na gCoiste and Ard na Choiste.
These sculptures are strikingly beautiful and powerfully realistic.
So well done to the Galway City Council and the local residents' association for this wonderful initiative that will become I believe an important tourist attraction..
More importantly, I earnestly hope that their presence will inspire increased awareness amongst local inhabitants of the importance of protecting the endangered real life versions of the rabbits, hares and foxes wildlife that live nearby in the Terryland Forest Park, which in itself in under threat from encroaching built development.

Galway NGOs To Lobby Irish Transport Minister On 'Smarter Travel' Funding for Galway City

Window of Opportunity Now Exists to Put in Place a Pedestrian, Cycling & Public Transport Infrastructure for Galway City & End Car-Centred Roads Nightmare

A shorter version of the following article (written in my capacity as a Galway City Community Forum representative) appeared recently on the front page of the Galway City Tribune...

In an attempt to help solve Galway City’s growing traffic congestion and secure major state funding for the construction of a sustainable transport infrastructure, the Galway City Community Forum requested direct talks with the Minister for Transport Noel Dempsey TD requesting on the issue.

According to Brendan Smith, a member of the Forum’s steering committee, “The quality of life in our city is being seriously eroded by the environmental, social, economic and health damage caused by over-reliance on private motorised vehicles as the primary mode of transport. Decades of bad planning in our developer-driven society has created a car dependency urban sprawl that will take at least a generation to rectify.
But there is now a window of opportunity being presented by the Government’s recent action plan entitled ‘ Smarter Travel – A Sustainable Transport Future’ which promises for the first time to put people rather than vehicles first with a firm commitment to invest in walking, cycling and public transport as primary modes of transport. The relevant government ministers have talked about giving funding priority to suitable applicant cities. So the onus is now on all local sectors of Galway society to lobby to ensure that it is our city that is a chosen urban location for this crucial state investment. Hence our decision to request an urgent meeting with the Minister for Transport Noel Dempsey on this issue to convince him of the suitability of Galway for this investment and the benefits that it would bring to its inhabitants. We will also be meeting with local politicians and local election candidates to discuss our sustainable transport policies. For since its inception in 2000, Galway City Community Forum has played a crucial part in transforming city transport policy though its active membership of relevant partnership committees and we were for instance amongst the earliest advocates of light rail and quality bus corridors. However we are very concerned that key elements of these policies are being ignored. In early 2002, Galway City Council was a signatory to the Galway City Development Strategy that promised to make Galway a Safe, Child-friendly, Disability-friendly, Pedestrian-friendly, Cyclist-friendly City by 2012. It was agreed by all partners that one way of achieving this core objective was by carrying out a feasibility study into the development of a sustainable Galway Integrated Transport Strategy where pedestrians would be given priority in roads infrastructure followed by cyclists, then public transport users with car-users being at the lowest end of the hierarchy.
Yet seven years on, City Hall as the lead partner has still not carried out this foundation blueprint. Whilst initiatives such as Walking to School programme are to be applauded, nevertheless they will ultimately fail if the roads infrastructure is not radically altered to accommodate the safe ‘free-flow’ of pedestrians and cyclists. Sadly, the latest published programme of works from the Galway Transportation Unit (GTU) seems to belong to a discredited era as it once again gives priority to the old outmoded system of more roads for more cars through its emphasis on prioritising the construction of an Outer Bypass. It talks too of ‘improving’ cycling infrastructure, when in fact there is no city-wide infrastructure to being with. Likewise it makes no significant mention of pedestrians.
So the Forum is now publicly calling on City Hall to honour its transport commitments as signed off in 2002 which are supposed to be completed by 2012.
One way for City Council to make up for lost time and lost ground would be by immediately requesting the Irish government to consider Galway as a pilot scheme for the government’s Smarter Travel Action Plan as well as applying for funding under the EU CIVITAS programme. Whilst our university city is at the opposite end of the spectrum in terms of providing a pedestrian-cycling infrastructure to that of comparable cities such as Oxford or Cambridge, nevertheless there is still a critical mass of local inhabitants that use transport alternatives to the private car and many others that could be enticed out of their cars should a safe suitable environment exist.

Dearth of Gaelic Culture in Galway's St. Patrick's Day Parade

Copy of my letter that was printed in the Galway Independent newspaper

This year's St Patrick's Day Parade was a great success at many different levels. The welcome return of the school bands, the pageantry, the huge friendly crowds and, of course, the fine weather made for an enjoyable afternoon.

So well done to the organisers!
But there was a surprising dearth of traditional Irish music, dance and drama in the event that was commented on by locals and tourists alike. Visitors were treated to a wonderful eclectic mix of African singers, Chinese dancers, Scottish pipers, American cops, Indian fashion, Hare Krishna chants and smiling flag wavers from new Christian groups that reached a finale in a fine display of Breton folk music in front of the official review stand.

But, in a Galway city/county that prides itself on being the cultural capital of Ireland, that is promoted as the custodian of so many aspects of Gaelic culture and is the birthplace of the sean-nos dancing Mulkerrin Brothers who won the 'All-Ireland Talent Competition' only two days previously, there is something seriously wrong when Gaelic culture finds so little expression in our annual national parade.

Promoting our membership of the 'Global Village' and the ethnic traditions of recent arrivals from other lands should, of course, be encouraged, commended and continued. But it would be wrong in the process to sideline a Gaelic culture that has for millennia been that of the majority of the Irish people.

The world has an appetite for traditional Irish Celtic music, drama and dance that has only increased over the last few decades. We in Galway should not ignore this and disappoint those who travel from distant parts to take part in what they expect to be a celebration of Ireland’s heritageHaving a St Patrick's Day Parade without this cultural input is akin to the Rio de Janeiro Carnival without its Samba Schools. For centuries the parade was nurtured by our Irish diaspora in order to keep the national identity alive in a time when the indigenous population was threatened by colonisation, war, oppression, famine and poverty. But participation from other ethnic groups with proud heritages is nothing new.

For instance, many Indians marched in the 1920 New York Parade that was reviewed by Eamon DeValera, some 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.'

I have sent a letter on this issue to the Mayor and Manager of Galway City. I also requested them to consider henceforth sending invitations to representatives of local schools, community and voluntary groups to fill the many empty seats noticeable in this year’s Review Stand as well as to lobby for the closure of the off-licences on 17 March. The public displays of urination, vomiting and verbal harassment, particularly from under-age drinkers on our streets and in our parks after the parade last Tuesday, was a frightening experience for families and others endeavouring to enjoy our national holiday.