Galway in days gone by: 'Ticket to hell' encouraging young people to act like 'sexual animals'

1926

Tramps influx

The tramps of Ireland (the Six Counties included), would seem to be combining with a view to settling down in Co. Galway, judging from the following letter received from Doctor C. H. Foley, Athenry, and read at the monthly meeting of the County Galway Dispensaries Committee on Wednesday:

“I would ask you to bring before the Board of Health the following: The neighbourhood of Athenry is recently rarely or ever without a large weekend camp of vagrants who squat on the side of the public road. There is at present a camp of about 200 on the side of the trunk road within a few hundred yards of Athenry. They leave a litter of rags, straw and sewage behind them.

"I have been brought into contact with them from a medical side, and on inquiry I find that most of the tramps come from Munster and Leinster, many from Dublin City and especially Limerick. Their fondness of Connacht is due to the fact, in their own words, that they get no show in the big grazing counties where they cannot obtain food as easily as they do from the small farmers in Galway, whose humanity towards the poor but serves to attract more and more of a largely undeserving class.

" I will ask you to tackle this pest once and for all, and this is the way I would ask you to do so: First, if we have not under the Poor Law powers to remove them, then I would ask you to see such powers are obtained in the case of every tramp and vagrant who cannot furnish proof that he or she is a native of County Galway, born of County Galway parents in which he or she has been registered, or in which the parent has been baptized."

1951

Battle of the fairs

The battle of the fairs seems likely to burst into flames again if the plans of Mr. Mate Nestor and other farmers come to fruition.

From the first fair in Gort some hundreds of years ago down to last year, the farmers of South Galway had always penned their stock on fairs day on the malls or broad sidewalks of the town .

Last year the Gardai ordered them to discontinue this practice. The Gort Show Committee communicated with the Minister for Justice in an effort to find a solution of the problem or a compromise agreeable to all parties in the dispute.

Now Mr. Nestor is busy organising farmers of the locality to insist upon their ancient right. He and his supporters say that they agree that cattle should not be penned or "held" upon the sidewalk nor should carts of bonhams be "backed up" to sidewalks and the bargaining be conducted there.

They strongly insist, however, that the penning of sheep upon the sidewalk should be allowed as it is impossible to hold them quietly together on the open street.

1976

Litter win surprise

IN VIEW of continuing criticism about the extent of the city's litter problem there has been some surprise that Galway has won the current Bord Failte Tidy Town award for the population category 5,000 to 28,000 and the satisfaction at this success has been tempered by the low standard of the general entries.

While there has been mixed reaction to the recent description of Galway as the dirtiest city in Ireland there have also been expressions of serious concern at the lack of progress in tackling the litter problem which this year appears to have reached a new level, possibly because of the heatwave conditions which prevailed for so long.

It may come as a surprise to the public to learn that the Borough Council is spending £60,000 this year on its street cleaning operations and that this is given priority status. In other words if for any reason there is a reduction in the number of workers engaged on this job staff is transferred from other works to keep the force at full strength.

A Borough Council spokesman confirmed that the litter problem had worsened this year by stating that the amount of litter taken off the streets this summer was 50 per cent greater than any previous year and the amount of litter collected from Salthill and Eyre Square he described as incredible.

2001

Ticket to Hell!

Dear Sir: The 'Pack' to be issued to students this year is nothing short of a ticket to Hell. It is intimidating young people and encouraging them to live promiscuous lives. This leads to the destruction of their immortal souls, in other words they are being treated as sexual animals.

The promoters of the 'Packs' cannot give a guarantee that the users will not develop a venereal disease, or the dreaded Aids disease, or perhaps be faced with an unwanted pregnancy. It is common knowledge that such has happened not only throughout the world but also here in Ireland.

The young people who refuse to handle this 'Pack' are the sons and daughters of good parents who reared them to respect themselves and have decent moral values, those who accept the 'Pack' are those neglected by their parents in this regard.

For almost thirty years there has been a lack of proper preaching and teaching on sin and the Ten Commandments, which meant there was nothing to combat the onslaught of permissiveness, hence the reason why it got such a foothold on young people as they grew.

Many are now parents themselves – sadly they had nothing in faith or morals to transmit to their children, which, of course, was, and is, very much a part of the crisis in the Church.

With regard to the distribution of these 'Packs' parents should take issue with the Students Union, and with the Minister for Education, Michael Woods. They should also request their priests to preach and warn young people about this dangerous evil. Young people attend third level colleges for education to prepare them for positions in life, not for prostitution.

One can only appeal to parents rearing a young family now, to promote Christian values in the home and turn off the television for ten minutes after the evening meal for family prayer. This will be the best investment they can make for their children. Put a scapular or the Miraculous Medal on each child for their protection.