Country Living with Francis Farragher

It’s that time of year again for the alphabetical wish list for 2025 – the usual mix of the serious, not so serious and the downright silly. I could take the easy way out and copy last year’s list if I was sure that some eagle-eyed reader might spot what could be described as self-plagiarism. Sone once more, an effort has to be made to start off from scratch. The world awaits!

A is for All those people that come into my contact span who seem to know everything about everything. From vaccines that are destined to wipe out the human race to cancer cures that have been suppressed for decades, they have all the answers, and yes the proof is there – they’ve read it on Facebook. We have enough problems on this planet without imagining ones that don’t exist in the first place.

B is for all the Bananas in the world which are my ‘go-to’ snack when hunger strikes in between meal times. As a planet we produce and consume an estimated 100 million tonnes of bananas each year with India alone producing 30 million tonnes of this magic fruit. Like the humble apple, one or two every days fills a lot of those hunger gaps.

C is for City and also for Choked, in terms of the traffic nightmare that is now what most people mention first when they talk about Galway. For a start let’s build the bypass which will take traffic out of the city that doesn’t need to be there in the first place, as well as giving the people of Conamara fair play in terms of  travelling east-west and vice-verse, without that sense of being trapped on the wrong side of the Corrib. The bypass won’t solve all our traffic woes but it would be a good start.

D is for the Dream that some Day the world will find itself at peace. It is beyond comprehension that an estimated 15,000 to 17,000 children have been killed in Gaza since the conflict began out there. Just imagine the heartbreak of losing one child and then multiply that figure by thousands. History sadly does repeat itself – genocide and extermination.

E is for the Energy to rise from our slumbers each morning and try to face the day with a renewed sense of hope and optimism even when things don’t seem to be going our way. It’s not always to stay positive but if things are going reasonably well or even okay, then  the day can be face with that other great E – Enthusiasm.