Galway in Days Gone By
Galway In Days Gone By
1921
A welcome return
The railwaymen of Ireland have given the Irish people the New Year gift of a restored railway service. It now rests with the directors to do their part by restoring normal service with the least possible delay, and making a genuine effort to aid in an economic revival throughout the country.
The decision of the railwaymen to return to work was by no means so simple as some would have us believe; for it entailed on their part a complete reversal of a policy undertaken with the assent and support of a considerable section of their countrymen, and the circumstances of the time made such reversal difficult.
Nevertheless, when the railwaymen found that their policy was only resulting in serious injury to Irish trade and commercial interests, they had the strength of character to recognise its weakness, and to take steps to restore normal working conditions. In this they showed courage and wisdom, and revealed the truth of the statement that when democracy perceives its responsibilities, it is always ready to carry them out. It may make mistakes for a time, but it comes right in the end.
In the circumstances, it is discouraging in the extreme to learn that a hitch has occurred in the carrying out of the agreement come to as between the men and the Midland Great Western Railway. One would have thought that the Midland directors would put forward every effort to make up for lost time, and this appears to be the policy pursued by other companies.
But the Midland has not yet composed the trouble with its boilermakers, and the general manager states that until they have work for the men to do, they cannot undertake to provide all those who were suspended with employment. The matter has been referred by the National Union of Railwaymen to the Ministry of Transport, and we trust a satisfactory settlement will be arrived at without undue delay.
Behind bars
Locked behind prison bars, placed in surroundings that are sombre and monotonous in the extreme, debarred from beholding any of the beautiful works of the Creator except “that little tint of blue that prisoners call the sky,” cut away from everything that tends to brighten and enliven the festive season to Christmas, it was well night impossible for Irishmen interned in the various places of confinement throughout the country to enjoy the festival to any degree.
Still, it would appear that matters were by no means as dull or as morose as the situation would suggest. Many persons, irrespective of politics, sent numerous parcels suitable to the occasion to the prisoners in Galway, and did their upmost to brighten the lot of the captives.
Friends and relatives also sent fowl in abundance, and it is stated that as a result of unbounded generosity, the prisoners have a supply of food to take them over another week.
On the whole, it is stated that the prisoners enjoyed the occasion as well as, if not better than could be expected under the circumstances.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
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1923
Gloom after war
The special correspondent of the “Independent”, who has been writing of the aftermath of civil war in the West, notes that a feeling of apathy, due to the uncertainty of events, exists amongst the sorely-tried people of Connemara; that politics are referred to only with disgust and that not more than fifty per cent. of the people would vote at a general election; that poverty and unemployment are rife, and there is a growing tendency towards emigration; and that there are bitter complaints of the huge impost of rates and taxes.
It is only too true that there is enough of material for the pessimist to brood over, and that a feeling of gloom permeates country towns. But it is a poor tribute to patriotism that has survived such horrors to encourage this gloom.
It is the duty of all of us to get this pessimism out of the national body and to rid ourselves of the notion that we have not enough Christianity and moral sense left to restore our people to cheerful and ordered progress and industry.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
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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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1923
Peace negotiations
As we go to press, An Dáil is discussing the Peace negotiations between the Government and Mr. de Valera. It was announced on Wednesday for the first time that such negotiations were begun following Mr. de Valera’s “cease fire” proclamation of April 27, and that by the 30th of the month Senators Andrew Jameson and James Douglas were asked by him to discuss proposals.
They said it was for the Government to discuss; they could only confer. Into the ensuring conferences the Government declined to enter personally, but on May 3 the senators placed before Mr. de Valera the Cabinet’s terms, which were that future issues should be decided by the majority vote of the elected representatives of the people, and that as a corollary and a preliminary to the release of prisoners, all lethal weapons should be in the custody and control of the Executive Government.
Mr. de Valera relied to this on May 7 with a document in which he agreed to majority rule and control of arms, but added that arms should be stored in a suitable building in each province under armed Republican guard until after the elections in September, that the oath should not be made a test in the councils of the nation, and that all political prisoners should be released immediately on the signing of this agreement.
“You have brought back to us,” wrote President Cosgrave, “not an acceptance of our conditions, but a long and wordy document inviting debate where none is possible”.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
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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.
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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.
1923
State of the parties
Speculation as to parties after the next Irish elections is exceedingly interesting, especially in view of the enlarged franchise.
In Dublin, the view appears to be held by a number of people that Labour will make a great bid for power.
Dublin, however, has a curiously insular habit of thought where matters that concern all Ireland and in which Ireland has a say are concerned. We hope this insularity will rapidly disappear under the new conditions.
The country as a whole is backing the Farmers’ Party, and has not the smallest doubt that it will be the strongest combination in the next Dáil, and that it will oust the purely political parties, the one because it has resorted to force, the other because it has been compelled to use force to supress force, and the Labour Party because Ireland feels that at the back of its policy lurks the danger of Communism.
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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