Galway Advertiser 1971/1971_05_27/GA_27051971_E1_009.pdf 

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The true spirit
For the last few weeks now the Henry Street Residents have been busy every evening, men, women and children with shovels, wheelbarrows and lots of humour are build ing a playground for the younger generation and genera tions to come. Who says now that Galway is lacking in Civic Spirit!

Letters to the Editor
PRO BONO DEMANDIO Dear Sir, An event that should cause the majority of wor thy citizens to rejoice with satisfaction, especially tho se, well aware of much grievous wrongs, is the re cent formation of a local Ratepayers Association to prevent further profligacy of hard earned money from ratepayers that now seems out of hand in the city of Galway. Of course it wont be po pular to the bosses and the ones behind the scenes, but I am sure, a desire by the group will flourish, to recognise and forgive inn ocent inevitable mistakes-- over those that look deli berate, causing much ex pense to the public. A re cently published enigmat ical question, asking "Who runs the Corporation" is indeed a "Hot Pants" of very high temperature, a bit too hot to handle, nev er mind to wear but when one gets accustomed to the burns, the answer is as simple as counting beads on the abacus, used by kids in the infant class. Now, referring to the terrible burden of paying for the now famous park at Eyre Square, many peo ple are aware of the fact, that the later and cheaper type of entertainment all owed there, was a "right bee in the bonnet" to a certain section of ratepay ers. But was this any ex cuse to destroy the finest Park in the province and leave in its place a useless substitude of what was taken, and then expect the people at large to pay a price three times the ori ginal estimate. A real pos er for me is, where the advocated ratepayers rep resentation will fit in the present council chamber? When I went there at the invitation of the Town Clerk, to present a framed copy of the glorious pro clamation which I believed was not lived up to, I fou nd it very hard to turn about to refresh the mayor on certain tenents concern ing the treatment of the minority, and the rights expected in our state, to make it one and complete, after many centuries of painful division, which ca used so much bloodshed down through the years. But despite all the ex pensive adology and super sonic big talk, contrary to that used in the holy Gos pels, the native citizens are not all pleased at the sell ing of our important His toric Church in Middle St. And we also honestly beli eve, that many on the pre sent Corporation, hold the same opinion, but are too cowardly to state so, and are helpless to stop the lashing about of public money on other unsuitable buildings, that leaves our city far behind the others. Let me now conclude by wishing the Association honest christian success, in the fight against unfair ad ministration that's causing much unhappiness. But above all, we must be pre pared to recognise the good, honestly, and bless and praise it whenever and wherever it's accomplished. Or could I put it, as did glorious St. Paul in his epistle to the Romans, "Put on the full armour of "God now" before all kinds of example gets as polluted as the present air and wa ter about us on this earth today. Sincerely, Martin J. Carr, New Road West.

THE RELIGIOUS AND EDUCATION Dear Sir, With reference to your 'Comment' (May 20th), on Community Schools, may I point out that on your own admission the religious or ders have done a tremen dous job for Irish educa tion in the past. Why then are they not equally cap able of doing a tremendous job in the future? Have they not the same qualifi cations, as the secular teachers? Does an Irish boy or girl, forfeit his rights as a citizen when he or she consecrates his life to the service of God and the Church? As far as I am aware the secular tea chers have never asked or desired to oust the religious from our schools. On the contrary they have worked in harmony with the relig ious. They have indeed as ked that opportunities sho uld be provided for satisfy ing their natural desire for advancement. This will be done as soon as the system of posts of responsibility now under consideration is implemented. In view of the questioning and criti cal attitude adopted by students in the upper cla sses in Secondary Schools, many secular teachers have felt a difficulty in teaching the programme of religious knowledge prescribed for Leaving Certificate classes and some have asked to be relieved of this heavy res ponsibility. All teaching orders have realised the necessity of providing fac ilities for their members to enable them to equip themselves for this most important work. In reference to the con tinued participation of rel igious in education, the words addressed by Pope Paul VI to a group of teaching religious in Syd ney on December 2nd, 1970 are pertinent: "The catholic school has a particular importance in a secularised world for the witness given therein is that of consecrated per sons, who while making a radical choice for the Kingdom of God, are able with competence to be of service to the world's pro gress and to satisfy the technical demands of the State." Yours faithfully, Br. J. F. Dowling, University Hostel, Lr. Salthill,

"The Cuckoo Mystery!" Dear Editor, The lazy habits of the Mother Cuckoos, who nev er bother to build a nest of their own but lay their eggs in other birds nests, are all known. But there is another fact about Cuc koos that is not as well known. That is the big migrating mystery. Cuck oos cannot stand an Irish winter, and in July the ad ult birds start to fly away, some to Europe, some to the North coast of Africa, but most of them to the southern regions of Africa. Later in the year the young birds also fly off to the same parts of the wor ld, they do not fly with other migrating birds but are usually alone or in pairs. They have never had any contact with their pa rents, their foster parents are often birds who never leave Ireland, yet months after the adult birds arrive in Africa, the young birds follow them. How do they find their way? How do they know the route? We do not know. "It's a great Cuckoo Mystery"? Edmund Roland, Kilchreest, Loughrea.

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