Galway Advertiser 1980/1980_01_10/GA_10011980_E1_004.pdf 

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Paul Hcaly of 55 Cooke's Terrace gave us this photo graph of a class in St. Brendan's National School, Woodquay taken about 40 years ago. They are, back row, left to right: Johnny Ward, Tommy Duffy, Pa Dolan, Paddy Monaghan, E. Folan, Pete Rabbitte, Mc Cormack, W. Walsh, M. Keely and Mr. Flynn. Third row: Tommy Kelly, Brendan Connell, -- Flem ing, -- Courtney, Paul Healy, Christy Philbin, Tom Melvin, Eamonn Connell, Jimmy Rea Johnny Melvin, Andrew Brennan, Ted Timmons, Paddy Mc Donagh. Second row: Paul Dooley, Willy Mulvey, Johnny Fennell, Eamonn Philbin, Jackie Morton, Robbie Delargy, Paddy Mulveen, Josie Dooley, --, M. J. McKeown, , Frank Brennan. Front row: Martin Cullinane, , Raymond Niland, Michael Mulqueen, Tony Regan, Jimmy Elwood Mickey Laffey, Eamonn Keogh, Miko Kelly and Buddy Smith.

St. Brendan's School has gone now, but happily has been replaced by an attrac tive development which fits very well into the local environment. There was a smaller entry than usual for the Old Galway Quiz this year. The photographs did not fool many people. They were (A) Bartley Connolly's of Mainguard Street. (B) The i n t e r i o r of the P r o Cathedral in Middle Street. (C) Tom Rcilly's Galway Cleaners in Cross Street. The Tribes of Galway were: Athy, Blake, Bodkin, Browne, D'Arcy, Deane, Ffont, Ffrench, Joyce, Kirwan, Lynch, Martin, Morris, Skerrett. The first correct entry out of the hat was that of Miss Maeve Murray, 1 Nile Lodge, Lower Salthill. Congratula tions Maeve--your book token is on the way. And finally, we have just received a calendar for 1980 from Hygeia Limited of Nun's Island. It contains six colour reproductions of Galway scenes, all of them

contemporary, but captur ing the unique old flavour and atmosphere of the city.

The paintings were origin ally done by Charles McNeill. The whole

production is tastefully done, and apart from its aesthetic and practical

values, it is an interesting addition to any Galwegian's library. --T.K.

galway

Agus athbhliain faoi mhaise to you too! We have gat oar specific orders from ' old boss Editor for 1980, so I that there is no point in reflecting on New Year resolutions. For if you are told to concentrate on political matters, to be severe on those in the public ' eye, cut back on the handI outs, get rid of the plugs for your own pet causes and I take a broad and compre hensive look at evolving I international events, then you will realise that this spot I WOUld rhangr- out of all recognition--if we took any ' notice of what we are told. I Who is writing this column in any case? And how can I you compile a regular and interesting and hard-hitting I piece when he then runs off . and decides to get editorials ' on Afghanistan and Udaras I na Gaeltaenia--those two burning topics in Galway | life this week! THE HOT POTATO As usual all you can do is | one's best and compromise is all in journalism as in ) puswki. We owe a longterm apology to that gentle I member of the Labour Party who suggested long I time ago--before the Papal . visit in fact--that very real ' hardship was going to come | to some married couples in the West because the | Haughey Family Planning .Act--Charlie was then 'Minister Cor Health, re--as passed, would 'close down those clinics in | places like Galway which 'were outside the influence I of the ordinary medical
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services, and which were, we were assured, doing a roaring trade at the moment. The point was made that a very large number of those who come to Galway for such services come from what is frequently termed "outlying areas"--that is areas which are even more "rural" than Galway itself (if that is possible?) and who seem to be afraid to face their own medical author ities in their own areas. What they have to "fear" is not exactly clear, but it is true, of course, that people in communities of smaller population do not have the same choice of very many services and not only doctors. But one rarely hears complaints about this type of "discrimination'' in connection with anything other than the provision of artificial contraceptives. That does not mean that there are not real problems and some hard cases, and if some of these still wish to put their case to a wider public they are welcome to do so. The real question for many others at present however, is if Mr. Haughey ever brought the arrange ments for his Family Planning Services into force under the new law before he went on to greater things? Or are there some contro versial hot potatoes still lying around for the new man, Dr. Michael Woods? NO HUSH SANCTION Good for the Irish Government for having made a protest to the Soviet Embassy in Dublin about

recent events in Afghanis proved the basic Fianna Fail tan. But where are all those thesis of that time--as Mr. huge protest marches from Haughey should be remind people who used to set on ed again. Dr. Cathal Daly the U.S. Embassy in the old was in fine form over the Vietnam days? Not even the Christmas period as well. Russians themselves believe He is obviously disappoint that their invasion of that ed with the response to the country is a friendly act of a Pope's appeal in Drogheda friendly neighbour. Mind and rightly so. But his own you some people find it line of argument begins to difficult to distinguish wear thin when he trots out between military interven the old suggestion that there tion of a recent nature and has been a radical Marxist one which may have its take-over of the Northern roots in the deep and misty Republican mentality in past and may have gone on recent times. Especially in some form for centuries. when he knows, as -does We did not have to wait for anybody with half an eye on James Connolly or Pearse or the situation, that one of the the 1916 Proclamation to causes of the Republican remind us that the presence split in 1969-'70 was an of British troops in Ireland attempt by Marxists ele was never sanctioned by the ments to take over tradi Irish people, that they never tional Republican groups had a moral right in this and railroad them into a country or any part of it, and course which those of the never could have. Thus ground, whatever about when Margaret Thatcher leadership elements, found paid her pre-Christmas visit to be unacceptable. Hence to Co. Armagh the general Dr. Daly's suggestion that impression given by the those who organised a Irish media was that of the revival of Republicanactivfaithful lady visiting her ity in the North in 1969 troops engaged in the were quite different from difficult task of keeping the those m charge 10 years natives on the other island later. A time there was when from each others throats! he and other bishops were at There was scant mention, pain to suggest that the men except in a few honourable of 1969-'70 were entirely exceptions, of the fact that different from those of a her brave boys have been former generation, includ the single most conspicious ing those who led the 1919contributors to violence, '21 struggle. Dr. Daly did and to resentment amont not spell out whom he had the population of that Irish in mind when he spoke county, and that as far back about those who laid the as August 1969, that foundations of the revival at anything but extreme then the end of the 1960s. He Taoiseach of ours in those should do so, not only to days stressed they were enable us to see if his version known and generally recog of the events of that period nised to be no solution. stands up to what historical JUST PLAIN facts have been established, MURDERERS but also to see where those They could, therefore, as people are to-day. Mr. Lynch recognised at U D A R A S AFLOAT the time, only lead to an To suggest that Mrs. intensification of the prob Maire Geogbegan-Quinn, lem, and he called for their our new Minister for the quick replacement by a Gaeltacht, is a very fast U.N. peace-keeping force mover may be open to or some such international misinterpretation unless it body which could command is immediately stressed that the confidence of all sides. her performance since Nothing that has happened taking over the office from in the meantime has dis Denis Gallagher has been

marked by a clear enthus iasm to get things done and in particular to get the longawaited Udaras na Gaeltachta off the ground. There are those who suggested that she might have waited until January 21st, in view of the historical significance of that date, and certainly the decision to hold the first meeting of the Udaras on a Friday must have created headaches for what used to be Gaeltarra publicity staff--as well as making the event difficult to handle by the provincial press. It appears that RTE did not succeed in getting a camera to the occasion--thus lead ing to a situation where there will be no film record of the event for posterity. It was, nevertheless, a happy and hopeful event for a great many Gaeltacht people. Of course there were reservations and even a picket mounted by Cearta Gael from Donegal (where have all the Cearta Sibhialta spawned at Teach Fur bo across the road from the Udaras H.Q., in the Spring of 1969 gone?). But at least there is a visible body now charged with responsibility for Gaeltacht affairs, and run by a slim but neverthe less definite majority of people elected democratic ally. One of the main objections to the develop ment was the fact that large numbers of those who voted in the Udaras election do not belong to genuine Gaeltacht communities anymore. A point which was made in real if indirect fashion in her speech by the Minister. Mrs. Quinn's speech did not provide any very dramatic new turns but it was blunt and realistic and, no doubt, we will hear more about the issues raised in the future. The same can generally be said of the remarks of the new Udaras Chairman, Micheal O Maille, Mayo Co. Manager, and Cathal Mac Gabhann, former Gaeltarra Chief Executive now Udaras Top Dog. But on one small point

the new Minister had a stern message. Gaeltarra's annual reports and their financial accounts had in recent years, she suggested, been so late in being published as to be of little value. She accepted that there were technical and printing reasons for this but saw no reason why a rough outline of performance could not be available, not necessarily in a printed report, but in typewritten form, a lot earlier. Consequently she requested that the Gaeltarra report for the final year of operation, up to 31st December, 1979 be made available before the end of February. Anois teacht an earraign . . . SKILFUL TRANSLATION The Gaeltacht Minister's speech was written largely in an official form of the Munster dialect and it was interesting to note the great ease with which the Connemara woman was able to re phrase where necessary into her own dialect. Those who used to marvel at the ability of some recent Ministers for the Gaeltacht to read their scripts with ease will have been further impressed by this ability of Mrs. Maire Geoghegan-Quinn to read and to impose her own personal stamp on what comes up to her desk through the script-writing process. Thus tuairimi meaite "ina dtaobh" be came "futhu," "on ni" became "rud ar bith," "tig liom a ra" became "is feidir liom a ra" and "Chun an criche sin" became "Le sin a dheanamh" with no trouble at all. What an impressive performance on a big occasion. Almost as good as the verse of Buachaill on Eirne which the new Minister sang for Donncha O Dulaing on his Christmas show on RTE. The real guessing game will now centre on the identity of the hand which wrote the original official script. Nollaig O Gadhra