Galway Advertiser 2004/2004_11_04/GA_0411_E1_022.pdf 

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LETTERS

November 4 2004

Prisoner appeals for wet hostel for Galway
Dear Editor, My name is Gary Sims and I am in prison, having been sentenced to six months, at Galway District Court on October 16 by Judge Mary Fahy. I will make my letter short, so bear with me. The charges that I got sentenced to were under the Public Order Section Four. Now you and I know that that covers a lot. My story is that I have a drink problem. I did not ask to be an alcoholic, it just happened. But as the years went on, my drinking got worse. However, I am not making excuses here. I am from Limerick city but have lived in Galway since 1995., so I have seen a lot of changes in the city. I have been homeless since 1996 in and out of hostels. The Fairgreen in Galway, the Simon in Cork, others in Dundalk and Newry, Brother Russie's in Limerick, and more in London. So I have seen a lot. It is only two weeks ago I found myself back in Limerick city with nowhere to go, so I went to a hostel in John Square in Limerick. It is a wet house where homeless street drinkers have their own bed, but you can drink. It's the first wet hostel in Ireland. The reason for this letter is that I have been in Galway for over 10 years and I have tried to stop drinking many times and tried to get on top of it, but it's very hard. Because I live rough, not many pubs will let me in and being on social security of 134.80 a week, I drink cans. Where is a man to go if he has a drink problem? The Fairgreen will not let me in because I drink, so it's the street or Spanish Arch or Eyre Square. Then the gardai arrest me. You see the street drinkers every day on your way to work. They are people like me? They get arrested because they have no place to drink. If there was a wet hostel in Galway I would not be in prison now. I know you might say "why don't I get help", but I have tried, but it does not work like that. In court Judge Mary Fahy would not let me say what I had to say. It seems that many people, including the judge don't understand where myself and people like me are coming from. I am writing to the Advertiser because it is the best way of getting this point across. If there was a wet house, then the number of public order offences would fall dramatically. What about the young people coming out of clubs at night, they cause even more trouble than myself or people like me who are not even up the town at that hour of the night. I know you might think I am a nut but if you met me sober you would understand what I am talking about, as I am not good at getting my point across on paper. But you are my only hope of letting people know what's going on. The jails in Ireland are full of people like me. OK, I admit prison has to be here, there are bad people about, but I am not one of them. I hope I have made sense and that your newspaper will take up this issue. Yours, Gary Sims, Castlerea Prison, Castlerea, Co Roscommon.

Old man racially abused me in Galway, claims US student
Dear Editor, When people look at me, they don't see an American; they see a foreigner with African skin and Asian eyes. I'm a Californian and I've been studying in Galway for the last year and a half now. In that time and in my travels throughout this beautiful island, I've been called everything from 'Nigger' to 'Chink.' Just the other day a teenager called me a "Paki" -- that was a first. Growing up in th e US, racism isn't new to me. America, after all, is the breeding ground of racist groups like the Ku Klux Klan, black separatists and Christian Identity (it's funny how hate groups tend to invoke religion as justification for their hate). However, coming to Ireland, I assume "naively" that this country was some how different. Many Americans have an image of Ireland very much like the one peddled by the Irish tourism industry: A blue ocean surrounding lush fields populated by fluffy sheep and dotted with pubs full of friendly people drinking pints of Guinness. In other words, heaven. It is this version of heaven that lures tens of thousands of foreigners like me to this country each year. So imagine my surprise when, while waiting at the bus depot, an old man sitting next to me looked over and yelled, "Get the f**k out of here -- go back to China!" That wasn't mentioned in any of my travel brochures. The deepening of racist sentiments in Ireland is something I've become very aware of in my short time here. It bears a striking and, sadly, ironic resemblance to the shameful history of racism in America. There was a time when hate groups under the guise of political parties like the "Know Nothing Party" sponsored unjust and cruel acts against immigrants, particularly the millions of Irish who sought asylum in cities like Boston, New York, and Philadelphia. The American "nativist" movement turned on the Irish because they were poor and used up strained social services. They turned on the Irish because they worked for far less money than a "native" and therefore started "taking" badly needed jobs. They turned on the Irish because their religion was so different from Protestantism. To this day, hate groups in America use the same tired excuses -- only the names have changed. So it saddens me to witness the seeds of racial discrimination germinate in, of all places, Ireland. In pubs and on the streets of Ireland there are a growing number of voices repeating the same mantra: Immigrants are a drain to our society, immigrants are taking over our jobs, immigrants are too different to fit in. I've overheard people saying these things about asylum-seekers. The old man who accosted me at the bus stop said these things to my face. These people seem to forget the thousands of Iris h men and women who go abroad every year in search of jobs and a better life on foreign soils. They seem to forget that at one point the Irish desperately needed asylum also. But most importantly, they don't seem to realize the priceless contributions foreigners can make to their adopted countries. Immigrants can make a huge positive impact on the economy and society of Ireland. In economic terms, foreigners already contribute much. In 2002 foreigners in the form of tourists came to Ireland and contributed over 3.98 billion to the Irish economy. These are just earnings gained from people who came to visit for a few days or weeks in one year only. Imagine how much more the Irish economy would gain if these foreigners stayed all year, every year. Consider also that up until recently, Ireland experienced a population net loss due to emigration and only experienced a net gain in population due to immigration in the mid-1990s when the Irish economy became the Celtic Tiger. A positive flow of immigrants is necessary to maintain this economic growth. There are those who say Irish jobs will be lost to foreigners. Do they mean the jobs created by foreign corporations like Pfizer, Intel, HP, and Google? Do they mean the menial jobs like cleaning toilets and washing dishes that many Irish aren't willing to take? The truth is a positive influx of immigrants will create more jobs. Ireland is a prosperous and beautiful country. As such people from less fortunate countries will continue to strive for a chance at a better life here. The Irish have reached a point in their storied history where they must decide whether to truly accep t these immigrants or to marginalize them as an unwanted "other" on the fringes of society. I firmly believe that embracing those who are different from us can lead only to good things, while hating them can never lead to anything good. After visiting Ireland, many Americans go home with an idealized representation of Ireland still in their minds. Unfortunately, for many immigrants, this is far from reality. I hope that someday soon, tourists and immigrants alike can share the same image of this amazi ng country: blue ocean, green fields, fluffy sheep, and most importantly, the loving people. Yours, Rico Santiago, PhD geography student, NUI, Galway.

Newcastle traffic arrangements makes accidents inevitible
Dear Editor, I am calling on Galway City Council to address the worsening traffic problems in the Newcastle area. In every aspect the problem has been compounded by lack of planning and I have no doubt that the accident rate will accelerate in the near future, unless drastic action is taken. In recent years, both the university and the Regional Hospital have expanded and contin ue to do so at a rapid rate. I am all for progress and appreciate that both institutions need more space as the city of Galway grows, but surely some thought can be put into the increased traffic problem that is resulting from all of this development. Starting with the new entrance from the old Franciscan monastery now taken over by the University. We now have interminable traffic delays and local residents have to reverse their cars in at night-time to ensure that they are able to exit their own driveways in the morning. It can take ages to negotiate this manoeuvre and most people find that it could be 10pm before they can safely reverse into their own driveway without causing a traffic delay. Secondly there is no clear sign shown traffic travelling up the Newcastle Road, that there is no right turn on the bridge. This has led to many crashes over the years. Thirdly the Ccuncil seems to believe that the answer to all our traffic problems is to erect more traffic lights or, even worse another roundabout. It is bad enough that we probably have more roundabouts than any other city in Ireland, but now we must be chasing the record for traffic lights as well. Between the Westwood corner and Cookes' Corner, there are now six sets of traffic lights. Fourthly is the problem of buses. In Shantalla buses regularly park on both sides of the road, causing more hold-ups and making it even more dangerous for children crossing the road. Fifthly due to a lack of traffic policy whether parking tickets or clamping throughout the Newcastle area, there is indiscriminate parking everywhere. All of the housing estates in the area are having problems with people parking their cars for hours on end, on kerbs to such a level that the refuse lorries cannot get in to collect the bins, not to mention no space to park their own cars. Finally, the businesses in the area are suffering. Customers cannot get parking to nip in to the shops on Newcastle Road from Cahills up to G&L stores. Deliveries as well as loss of business are a big problem if all these shops are to continue in business. It is imperative that the council tackle this problem immediately, and while it is being solved I would ask everybody not to park for an excessive amount of time in front of shops, and to stay out of housing estates and leave them clear for the occupiers and access of refuse lorries, etc. I would also call on all those people affected by these traffic problems to make their feelings known to Galway City Council. After all the city belongs to us and we all deserve to be considered when major developments are given planning permission. Yours, Mike Geraghty, Newcastle Video Library, Galway

Rail is the answer to Claregalway's problem
Dear Editor, The reopening of the Western Rail Corridor and in particular the Tuam to Galway section of the line as a commuter service would almost immediately have an affect on traffic along the N17 through Claregalway. As the line is already there but only needs refurbishment, it could be opened at least six years earlier than the estimate for building a bypass and at a fraction of the cost. The 27,000 cars per day you quoted in the Galway Advertiser last week is a heck of a lot. Even if the railway only removed around 10 per cent of the daily vehicle numbers, that would still make a rapid and sizeable improvement to life in Claregalway and improve traffic conditions for those whose journeys meant that they were unable to use the train. If the entire WRC is reopened, it would also provide a freight artery from Sligo and Ballina to Limerick, Cork, and Waterford and make an even bigger impact on the quality of life by enabling freight currently conveyed by HGVs to transfer to rail. Think about it. The WRC rail line is a viable alternative that could be delivered six years quicker at a lesser cost. Yours sincerely, Tim Casterton, Bedfordshire, UK

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR:
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