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Connacht Tribune

Bunny for whom the bell tolled

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Toy display in Glynn’s, Mainguard Street, on December 6, 1979, five years after this story is set.

Lifestyle – Writer Karl MacDermott who was reared in Salthill and now lives in Dublin draws on childhood memories of Glynn’s Shop on Galway City’s William Street for his humorous short story A CHRISTMAS BELL.

On a bus last week I overheard a young girl ask her mother would Santa need to show his Covid vaccine passport before climbing down the chimney.

Kids always get anxious about presents as Christmas approaches.

I know I always was.  One year, in particular, stands out.

I was ten. And well aware I should be existing in a post-fluffy toy world. But I had fallen in love with that sky-blue fluffy rabbit I had spotted in Glynn’s Toy shop in Galway City. And there were only eight shopping days ‘til Christmas.

Mother was understanding. Father was traumatised.

There was an additional problem. The fluffy rabbit had an internal bell. And anytime you picked up the fluffy rabbit in the shop,the bell rang. I didn’t like that. The bell reminded me that at my age I shouldn’t be even contemplating fraternising with this fluffy rabbit. That I should be acutely ashamed and embarrassed. That I should be requesting Scalextric or Lego as a present.

Or even Action Man.

That bell would have to be excised.

“No problem”, mother said. “Once we buy it, I can remove the bell from the bunny.”

Don’t call it a bunny. Just call it a rabbit.” I said.

Mother nodded and continued.

“I can open it up, remove the bell, sew it back up again with my needle and thread. Problem solved.”

I thought, ‘that’s all very well, Mother, but you are forgetting about your – legendary in family circles – inept sewing skills. I can’t let you go near that rabbit’.

Father’s sister, my auntie Cora, was a dab hand at embroidery and in former times a champion seamstress. She’d have to be approached. But there was a dilemma. Father did not want to publicise the fact, in front of his family, that his son who would turn eleven in February, wanted a sky blue fluffy rabbit for Christmas.

I made a suggestion: “Dad, just tell Auntie Cora, Horace is for Anne Marie.”

“Who? Oh. Jesus. Horace.”

Anne Marie was my younger sister. Seven years old. One problem. She was extremely precocious. Also, she happened to be in the room when I made the suggestion.

“No way, Dad. I wouldn’t be caught dead near that rabbit,” she announced while putting down her recent birthday present, a hardback edition of Crime and Punishment. “I don’t want you telling anybody I’d like a toy like that for Christmas! I would find that kind of behaviour hugely patronising and incredibly offensive!”

It was tough having Anne Marie as a sibling. So intellectually mature for her age, she was the one who told me there was no Santa Claus. (And she didn’t leave it there. In her explanatory speech the previous April she’d included another mythical figure who was an integral part of my childhood wellbeing. “Santa is a bit like God. A nice old fellow with a beard who doesn’t actually exist.”)

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.

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Connacht Tribune

West has lower cancer survival rates than rest

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Significant state investment is required to address ‘shocking’ inequalities that leave cancer patients in the West at greater risk of succumbing to the disease.

A meeting of Regional Health Forum West heard that survival rates for breast, lung and colorectal cancers than the national average, and with the most deprived quintile of the population, the West’s residents faced poorer outcomes from a cancer diagnosis.

For breast cancer patients, the five-year survival rate was 80% in the West versus 85% nationally; for lung cancer patients it was 16.7% in the west against a 19.5% national survival rate; and in the West’s colorectal cancer patients, there was a 62.6% survival rate where the national average was 63.1%.

These startling statistics were provided in answer to a question from Ballinasloe-based Cllr Evelyn Parsons (Ind) who said it was yet another reminder that cancer treatment infrastructure in the West was in dire need of improvement.

“The situation is pretty stark. In the Western Regional Health Forum area, we have the highest incidence of deprivation and the highest health inequalities because of that – we have the highest incidences of cancer nationally because of that,” said Cllr Parsons, who is also a general practitioner.

In details provided by CEO of Saolta Health Care Group, which operates Galway’s hospitals, it was stated that a number of factors were impacting on patient outcomes.

Get the full story in this week’s Connacht Tribune, on sale in shops now, or you can download the digital edition from www.connachttribune.ie. You can also download our Connacht Tribune App from Apple’s App Store or get the Android Version from Google Play.

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Galway minors continue to lay waste to all opponents

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Galway's Aaron Niland is chased by Cillian O'Callaghan of Cork during Saturday's All-Ireland Minor Hurling semi-final at Semple Stadium. Photo: Stephen Marken/Sportsfile.

Galway 3-18

Cork 1-10

NEW setting; new opposition; new challenge. It made no difference to the Galway minor hurlers as they chalked up a remarkable sixth consecutive double digits championship victory at Semple Stadium on Saturday.

The final scoreline in Thurles may have been a little harsh on Cork, but there was no doubting Galway’s overall superiority in setting up only a second-ever All-Ireland showdown against Clare at the same venue on Sunday week.

Having claimed an historic Leinster title the previous weekend, Galway took a while to get going against the Rebels and also endured their first period in a match in which they were heavily outscored, but still the boys in maroon roll on.

Beating a decent Cork outfit by 14 points sums up how formidable Galway are. No team has managed to lay a glove on them so far, and though Clare might ask them questions other challengers haven’t, they are going to have to find significant improvement on their semi-final win over 14-man Kilkenny to pull off a final upset.

Galway just aren’t winning their matches; they are overpowering the teams which have stood in their way. Their level of consistency is admirable for young players starting off on the inter-county journey, while the team’s temperament appears to be bombproof, no matter what is thrown at them.

Having romped through Leinster, Galway should have been a bit rattled by being only level (0-4 each) after 20 minutes and being a little fortunate not to have been behind; or when Cork stormed out of the blocks at the start of the second half by hitting 1-4 to just a solitary point in reply, but there was never any trace of panic in their ranks.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.

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The Connacht Tribune Live app is the home of everything that is happening in Galway City and county. It’s completely FREE and features all the latest news, sport and information on what’s on in your area. Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.

 

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Gardaí and IFA issue a joint appeal on summer road safety

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Galway IFA Farm Family and Social Affairs Chair Teresa Roche

GARDAÍ and the IFA have issued a joint appeal to all road users to take extra care as the silage season gets under way across the country.

Silage harvesting started in many parts of Galway last week – and over the coming month, the sight of tractors and trailers on rural roads will be getting far more frequent.

Inspector Conor Madden, who is in charge of Galway Roads Policing, told the Farming Tribune that a bit of extra care and common-sense from all road users would go a long way towards preventing serious collisions on roads this summer.

“One thing I would ask farmers and contractors to consider is to try and get more experienced drivers working for them.

“Tractors have got faster and bigger – and they are also towing heavy loads of silage – so care and experience are a great help in terms of accident prevention,” Inspector Madden told the Farming Tribune.

He said that tractor drivers should always be aware of traffic building up behind them and to pull in and let these vehicles pass, where it was safe to do so.

“By the same token, other road users should always exercise extra care; drive that bit slower; and ‘pull in’ that bit more, when meeting tractors and heavy machinery.

“We all want to see everyone enjoying a safe summer on our roads – that extra bit of care, and consideration for other roads users can make a huge difference,” said Conor Madden.

He also advised motorists and tractor drivers to be acutely aware of pedestrians and cyclists on the roads during the summer season when more people would be out walking and cycling on the roads.

The IFA has also joined in on the road safety appeal with Galway IFA Farm Family and Social Affairs Chair Teresa Roche asking all road users to exercise that extra bit of care and caution.

“We are renewing our annual appeal for motorists to be on the look out for tractors, trailers and other agricultural machinery exiting from fields and farmyards,” she said.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.

Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App

Download the Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App to access to Galway’s best-selling newspaper.

Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.

Or purchase the Digital Edition for PC, Mac or Laptop from Pagesuite  HERE.

Get the Connacht Tribune Live app
The Connacht Tribune Live app is the home of everything that is happening in Galway City and county. It’s completely FREE and features all the latest news, sport and information on what’s on in your area. Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.

 

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