Galway In Days Gone By

The enormity of murder

The craze for land and perhaps the poteen evil have been responsible for outrages which have shocked us all. There is a certain district where some people, at any rate, seem to have no regard for the sanctity of human life or the enormity of the crime of murder.

In that district, two young men were fired upon and the assailants had evidently the desire to kill. In another quarter, an innocent and unsuspecting Civic Guard was sent before his Maker without a moment’s time to breathe a prayer.

The men who engage in such dastardly and cowardly deeds are not Christians but savages. They ignore the law of God and the rights of their fellow men. It is to be hoped that the avenging arm of the law will soon be laid upon those who commit such crimes and that condign punishment will be meted out to them as an example to all who may be tempted to follow their footsteps.

1951

Prices killing industry

Low egg prices threaten to destroy the poultry industry. So said the Galway County Committee of Agriculture at a meeting last Saturday. In Dublin, on the other hand – and indeed in the towns generally – there is a certain amount of rejoicing over the fact that one food commodity, at least, has come within the means of most people.

Fresh meat, bacon and fish are too dear for many people, hence the welcome extended to the price reduction as far as eggs are concerned. It is appreciated, however, that the price of 2½ to 2¾ each will not last long. The farmers are unlikely to contribute for long to the betterment of the non-farming community.

Dublin people see an increasing number of what are known there as “boiling fowl” in the shops. These are laying poultry which the farmers are selling off at the height of the laying season because they are said not to be worth feeding at the present price of eggs.

Our Dublin correspondent writes: We can thank the British Minister for Food for the present situation regarding eggs – if it should be a cause for thanks. The farmers, I am sure, thank nobody, but blame Mr. Jas. Dillion, Minister for Agriculture.

Pictured: Seán Ó Fatharta, left, speaking to a customer outside his shop at Cross Street Upper in Galway City on January 27, 1992.