Bradley Bytes: McNelis’ flag fetish means he’s full time up the pole!

Bradley Bytes – A sort of political column by Dara Bradley

Niall McNelis is up the pole. In fact, he’s up the pole more often than the old woman who lived in a shoe. Not just any old pole, but every old pole. There isn’t a pole about town that the Labour Party city councillor hasn’t climbed up to raise a flag, or a banner, or a bit of bunting.

He’s mad for climbing up poles. And he also appears to have a fetish for flags. Flags and poles, are what makes the jeweller tick.

To celebrate Galway Gay Pride, McNelis straddled nearly every pole in the city erecting rainbow flags.

During SeaFest he ensured the city centre was awash with promotional flags. It was the same for Galway 2020 – he was climbing poles raising flags to woo the City of Culture judges.

He was responsible for festooning World flags all over the Latin Quarter area of the city a while back, just to prove he’s an equal opportunities employer when it comes to flag waving.

Niall was keeping the locals happy, too, when he got the ladder out again earlier in the summer to put maroon and white flags and bunting on the city’s streets in support of the Galway senior hurlers and footballers.

He roped in Independent City Councillor, Mike ‘I’m not joining Fianna Fáil’ Cubbard, to climb the poles in Eyre Square during All-Ireland final weekend.

Niall is so obsessed with pole-climbing and flags, he even put up ones supporting Mayo. Last year, he was at it for Connacht Rugby putting up green flags out on the Prom in Salthill.

Even when he goes on holidays to places like the Antarctica for a marathon, he brings poles and flags with him, as our pic shows. Rumour has it that Niall sleeps in a bed of poles while wrapped in flags and bunting. Clearly, he was a pole-dancer in a previous-life.

For more, read this week’s Galway City Tribune.