Galway In Days Gone By

Dirty old town

Galway on Sunday morning is a scandal that cannot and should not be tolerated any longer.

Insanitary refuse heaps disfigure the streets, and people going to the churches in what ought to be the proud capital of Connacht are accosted by mephitic odours and by the sweepings of the previous market day being blown in their faces.

Whatever the case, the fact is an outrage to decency and an aspersion on our civic pride. Just as the grace of God is in courtesy, so is cleanliness next to godliness, for it presupposes ordered conditions and a desire for that which is of good repute.

Dirty streets are a sign of decay, demoralisation and slovenliness; clean, well-kept streets are evidences of an intelligent civilisation operating for the health and happiness of the people.

In days gone by worshippers had the footpaths contiguous to the city churches swept and garnished before they approached their altars. This was as it should be. And if the Urban Council will not so far consult the wishes of the ratepayers as to bring about a return to ordinary cleanliness and decency, we think the sooner volunteers go out on Sunday morning and dump the unswept refuse in the council chamber, the better for the fair name of the city.

Pictured: Prize winners in crocheting at the Mountbellew Show on September 10, 1976.