Morley's Mouthfuls - This week on Galway Talks

Morley's Mouthfuls:

The ongoing humanitarian crisis in Gaza has yet again dominated much of the political discourse this week. The calls for Israeli war bonds to be moved from the Irish Central Bank seemed to have been heard by Israel, as they moved authorisation to another country in the EU, namely Luxembourg.

However, this act is a drop in the ocean compared to what needs to happen at a political level according to many campaigners, activists and human rights experts. One Galway woman who has very much throw herself into Palestinian solidarity and aid efforts is Salthill poet Sarah Clancy.

The flotilla aims to deliver aid to the population in Gaza, something which has not been allowed to happen on several occasions and is against international law.

We followed this story up later in the week with the Galway Palestine Solidarity Campaign who will hold The West’s Awake Rally for the cause this weekend. They want to see action and pressure brought to bear on Israel so that vital humanitarian aid can be delivered and a prevention of further loss of lives.

One Palestinian shared his horror story of escaping the war torn region, his gratitude to make it safely to Ireland for medical treatment of his family and the personal losses he has experienced along the way. It remains to be seen what if anything will trigger a dialogue between Israel and Hamas.

Meanwhile, while we are all used to complaining about the traffic in and around Galway City, one contributor to the show had a nightmare ordeal in a taxi. Maggie Regan and her friend got into a taxi, only for the driver to first go the wrong way and then verbally abuse them.

She recalled the night on Galway Talks to a huge reaction and former taxi man and Fine Gael Cllr. Frank Fahy gave some advice on best practice to prevent and or deal with a situation like this in the future. While Frank contested that incidents like these were rare we did get an avalanche of texts in venting similar bad experiences.

Cllr. Fahy also pointed out the fact that some taxi drivers are the subject to both verbal and physical abuse and that there are serious responsibilities and dangers with the profession, particularly those who drive night shifts.

Galway GAA announced that Padraic Joyce will get a two year extension as manager of the senior football team, meaning the Killererin man will be at the helm until the end of the 2028 season.

John Divilly has stepped away from the fray meaning there will be gaps to fill in the backroom team over the off season. With many high profile names in the mix it will be interesting to see will someone come through the ranks locally or will an outside name like Kieran Donaghy link in with the tribes.

Ultimately, that will be a decision for Padraic Joyce.

The housing situation was under the microscope again this week. Following on from the fact that homelessness figures reached another record high last week, we had the compounding effect of Galway being among the worst areas when it comes to dereliction and vacancy.

Cllr Niall McNeilis of the Labour Party said that while Government had committed funding to tackle vacant homes, it is a drop in the ocean compared to the investment needed.

We had a great day out in Kilnadeema Leitrim for our Community Matters programme from Finnerty’s Mills. Next up is Corr Na Mona next Friday. Join us again for Galway Talks on Monday where our Galway Great after 11am is Jarlath McDonagh of Turloughmore.