Galway Advertiser 1998/1998_05_07/GA_07051998_E1_016.pdf 

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C o m m e n t & Letters

eil, maybe not exactly like the one that received the green light yesterday for Dublin. The fact that Galway is built on a series of low-lying islands might make the construction of a tunnel - unless it was to be something like the Channel Tunnel - problematic. No, we're talking about the concept of an up-to-date rail line that would link the outlying areas of Galway with what is rapidly becoming the western equivalent of Dublin, that is, Galway city. And before you shout 'Nonsense! Couldn't be done! Cost too much money! Look at how long it took to get Mutton Island started!", consider the problems it would solve instead of contemplating the problems it might - we stress might - cause. Galway is the most rapidly expanding city in Ireland. Each year more and more areas around the city are zoned for housing. Each year the steady encroachment of the city's outer reaches touches more and more areas that used to quite separate towns or villages. Oranmore, for all intents and purposes, is becoming a suburb of Galway, much as Salthill did thirty years ago.

Why not a Luas for Galway? W

Remembering Ruaidhri 6 Flaitheartaigh, 1629-1718
Dear Editor, A scholarly article in your paper a few weeks ago entitled 'Honouring Ruaidhri O Flaherty on the 280th anniversary of his death' described the life and times of this renowned chronologist a n d historian, and paid homage to the work he had accomplished throughout his lifetime. The article went on to describe the unveiling of an inscribed plaque at Pairc Lar on April 7, commissioned by the Galway Archaeological and Historical Society. Cumann Stake Ruaidhri Uf Flaitheartaigh Moycullen are finalising plans to celebrate the life and work of an

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outstanding scholar on Sunday June 14, beginning with" Mass at 12.00. After a lapse of 280 years it is time for all Moycullen people and admirers of O'Flaherty to give their support in financing a suitable monument to a great man. Treasa Mac Mahon, Chairperson, Cumann Staire Ruaihhrai Ui Fhlaitheartigh An Baile Doite, Moycullen, Co Galway.

Galway's satellite towns

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preading out, like an opened fan, around the city are Headford, Tuam, Athenry, Loughrea, Gort, Kinvara, and each one of these towns is a mini-focus for its own hinterland. As more and more young people leave the land for jobs in the city in this case, Galway city - so does the congestion throughout the day grow ever more serious, and the stress placed on the physical infastructure: roads, lighting, parking, etc. Galway has recently been pedestrianised, a development that is certain to make our city a much more attractive, user-friendly place for both visitors and the indigenous population. But the loss of these streets does have its downside; it adds further to the congestion, the wear-and-tear, the stress on the infastructure and people. The Galway Advertiser has several times in the past recommended the development of a bus transport service that would ferry people from car parks on the outskirts of the city into the centre. What is the Luas but an extension and re-imagination of such an idea? Why not consider the construction of a rail service that would extend outwards to some of all of the satellite towns we have mentioned? It would assist in decreasing the number of cars that fill up the roads and streets of Galway every day. It would help to reduce congestion on the roads. It would have as a spin-off a very positive effect on traffic accidents. It would be of benefit not only to those who work in the city, but in the tourist season it would be ideal for the visitor who would like to make a short jaunt to one of the the towns mentioned already, providing a potential economic benefit to areas that, at present, are overlooked by the visitor unless he or she rents a car. Of course the actual details of such an ambitious plan would need to be very carefully worked out, as would any detrimental effect on the environment. But with the right will it could certainly be done.

Dear Editor, I sincerely hope whatever plans are approved for Galway, that the sights on the Headford road are not repeated. Having spent a very happy three years living in Sandyvale Lawn in the early 8 0 s , w e return regularly to visit friends and relations. The ten foot high burger signs and illuminated

Nightmare on the Headford Road A likely story
cinema and shop signs resemble an American boulevard rather than Galway city. I urge the planners to reject this kind of scene and keep any developments in keeping with the rest of the city. Name and address with editor D e a r Editor, Some years a g o my mother told me of a story dating from the early 5s about a leprechaun which was found in the Phoenix Park in Dublin. The 'dead' but perfectly formed little man was reportedly found underneath a mushroom and was subsequently p u t on public display in a matchbox. So heavily publicised was the event that it was featured both in the local and national press of the day, causing people to flock from all over Ireland to view the indignant creature. Those wishing to see for themselves were charged sixpence for the pleasure, quite a sum at the time. Not being able to afford to view the leprechaun's mortal remains at first hand, m y mother and grandparents did see one of the souvenir photos that were for sale.

An imaginative proposal

Dear Editor, In response to your article on the withdrawal of the planning permission for the apartment complex in Salthill, I am delighted. I am Irish and lived in Galway and went to the RTC for a few years but now live in the United States. I was married in Ireland last June and my wife and I had our reception in the Banba Hotel in Salthill. My wife was very upset to hear of the sale of the Banba as she hoped to return there regularly to remember our wedding day. Needless to say, she was also delighted to hear of the withdrawal of the planning permission. We know that building will go ahead sometime but I think it would be a shame to lose part of Salthill's history to an apartment complex. We are hoping to return to Galway around the time of our first wedding anniversary in June and we hope that the area will not be changed by then.

Suii asg lhl tn h o

Do you have any information and or pictures that you could send to me about this incident as I would love to see what it was that fooled so many people. My mother swears that she is not making this up, and even my grandparents have corroborated the story.

Yours sincerely, Paul Watts
hogs watch @aol. com

THIS WEEK...

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ver 30 years ago a short-sighted decision was taken to tear up the rail lines ... the west of Ireland. The pity of it is. if the decision had been postponed by even a decade, when tourism began to expand rapidly, we could have had at no cost one of the most attractive sight-seeing systems in Europe (just imagine the trip to Clifden, or the trip to Lahinch on the old West Clare railway). With a bit of imagination and bit of hard thinking we could make good that loss, and give County Galway a naar tense of unity for the future.

Yours,
Brendan Cassidy