Galway Advertiser 2002/2002_03_14/GA_14032002_E1_022.pdf 

Extracted text

Letters

Well done, Grainne
Dear Editor, I loved Grainne Faller's article on her year in Tanzania, "The Forgotten Continent" (28.2.2). What an inspiration she is to us all. Aids, typhoid, leprosy, etc, would not deter this young woman. She felt if the Aids Education Programme reached even one person she would be happy. Grainne reached every person she met with her obvious love and compassion, and that beautiful smile.

No excuses for rape
Dear Editor, of the trial and he was allowed brownie points by the judge for this deed. The reality for a survivor of rape in not knowing whether he will plead guilty or or not, is very stressful as she is not aware until the last minute if she has to take the witness stand and be c r o s s - e x a m i n e d . In the instances where she is required to take the stand, many survivors feel that they are the ones on trial. Ironically the defendant has the luxu ry of not having to take the stand if| he so chooses. It is a message to women and men that rape is excusable and not seri ously "punishable". It is a crime against humanity, women and our community, and we at the Galway Rape Crisis Centre would ask the judiciary and the politicians in the run up to this election to get serious with handing down punishments before we all become disillusioned and apathetic to our system of jus tice. Yours, Carole McDonnell, on behalf of the Galway Rape Crisis Centre

Don't clog the prom
Dear Editor, Like many a native of Galway, I take great joy in being able to walk the prom regularly. It is one of the main attractions in Galway by my reckoning However, I have watched with growing frustration a continuous increase in the number of commercial vehicles being left parked/dropped on the prom. Besides being an eyesore and a real danger to traf fic (on what is a very fast road), these vehicles take away from the splendid view and joy of a ramble on the Prom. It started some years back when a driving school parked it vehicles there. I assume it's both a handy place for dropping them and its free advertising. Now, many other companies have followed suit. If everybody did this, you can imagine what the prom would look like -- a circus. These compa nies are just brass necked and must care little about he rights of others. As usual we are all powerless to do anything about this, but there is an election coming up, so if you are concerned about this issue, then let those looking for your vote know. A very easy solution would be to limit parking on the prom to to let's say two or three hours. This would allow the genuine users of the prom to park and have their walk. Someone in the corporation should take this on board with a view to restricting the amount of parking on the prom. Yours, Concerned Voter (Name and address withe editor)

Last week, we saw a rape case up IN the courts, and IT was a rape that took place IN Knocknacarra on a young foreign national by an even younger Irish man. The ordeal the young woman had T ensure was hor O RIFIC and violent, and bravely she managed to report the incident to the Yours, jSalthill gardai who did an excellent Mary Sampier, [job in gathering the forensic evi Whitestrand, dence and putting a file together for Galway. the DPP. The legal process is a tough, trau matic drawn out one. Along with the survivor, many people are involved in different agencies working hard to bring a case to court. There is a such Dear Editor, a disappointment for a lot of people when a judge passes a sentence to a I have been collecting printed picture postcards jconvicted perpetrator and suspends jfor the past year the majority of the sentence. particularly those with maps, flags and light In this case, we saw Judge Sullivan houses on but also general viewcards. allow excuses of alcohol to justify I do not have any from your area and I am hopsuspending four of the six years of ling that some kind reader the sentence. The young woman in will send me one in an envelope, for which I jquestion was prepared to give evi shall be most grateful. dence at the trial; she travelled back from her home in a foreign country Brian James, and assisted greatly in the prosecu PO Box 1492, tion of the perpetrator. The rapist Bournemouth, waited until the last possible moment Dorset, to acknowledge his guilt on the day BH7 6YB,

Card appeal

England.

Lack of loos
Dear Editor,

Desperately seeking Gilmores

P t ur old Irish u c i s to g o u on od s
Galiuay Advertiser

Am I right in believing that Galway, a city with a Dear Editor, huge stake in world-leading technology is now I am trying to find my ancestors who came from Ireland. Their names were without a public toilet. Would it have occurred to IJeremiah and Johanna Donovan from Tuam, Galway. anyone in the corporation or those involved in Their son John married an Ellen Gilmore in Ireland early in the 1800s. demolishing the old toilets in Eyre Square to put a iThey are my grandparents and they migrated to Australia in 1844 on the notice up in that area telling the public the location '"Herald" . of the nearest convenience, or am I expecting too I would like to make contact with any descendants to exchange histories ofj much. Perhaps someone in the Corporation will tell our families. us what one is supposed to do apart from spending My e-mail address is -- congojim@dingoblue.net.au money in a public house or restaurant. I am an aged pensioner and cannot afford to travel overseas to gain infor Whatever happened to that small toilet which mation for myself and hope if you can do this for me I can find out more used to exist at the bridge at the lower end of about my ancestors. Mainguard St. Yours, Yes, I know that we will soon have "pay as you Jim Congreve, go" toilets in the Square, but from my recollection PO Box 26, of the many types who used the old facilities. I can Howard 4659, not see many putting coins in. What then? Queensland, Would I be expecting too much in anticipating a Australia. constructive reply from the corporation.

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