A long-established accounting firm in Galway city centre is joining forces with one of the leading professional service firms in Ireland.

FCC Chartered Accountants – part of Galway’s financial landscape since 1971 and previously part of CAG (Crescent Accountancy Group) Chartered Accountants – will be joining the expanding Irish team at Xeinadin,

The Galway company has enjoyed a period of significant growth with its client base doubling since 2021.

FCC Partners Dermot Callanan and Jonathan Colohan described joining Xeinadin as ‘a major step forward in the growth cycle for our firm’.

“We feel joining Xeinadin will greatly benefit our firm and our clients, who will now have access to a wider range of services and resources and an enhanced pool of experts from all over Ireland and the UK,” they said.

“It also gives our employees growth opportunities and access to highly experienced and motivated peers, which is a huge positive for their career path.

“We are delighted that the co-founder of FCC, Frank Fahy, will remain involved as we rebrand to Xeinadin.

“His drive and determination to constantly deliver high-quality client service is imprinted within the ethos of both of us, and our staff, and has given us the reputation that we have in the market; values that we will take into our exciting future with Xeinadin,” they added.

Sandra Clarke, Managing Partner of Xeinadin, saw FCC Chartered Accountants joining Xeinadin as ‘another step forward in our growth in Ireland and the west of the country’.

Xeinadin already has offices in Galway, and they believe that FCC’s addition will help to grow and expand Xeinadin’s presence and offering in Galway city centre and the surrounding counties.

Pictured: Dermot Callanan, Partner, FCC;  Sandra Clarke, Xeinadin Ireland Managing Partner; and Jonathan Colohan, Partner, FCC, pictured in Galway where Xeinadin has announced that Galway accountancy firm FCC Chartered Accountants will be joining its expanding Irish team.

One of the hit events of this year’s Arts Festival is an exhibition from members of Arts Alive, a group of people with intellectual disabilities, who worked with artist and educator Jane Cassidy to produce a show that’s colourful, musical and joyous. JUDY MURPHY hears how it developed.

For something that began with relatively modest ambitions, the show created by Arts Alive for this year’s Galway International Arts Festival is making serious waves. Thousands of people have already streamed through the doors of the Aula Maxima at the University of Galway to experience Tactile Tunes, a magical, immersive installation created by a group of adults with intellectual disabilities, who have been working on the project since January, with professional artist and educator Jane Cassidy.

Arts Alive Galway is a community-based, non-profit arts programme for adults with intellectual disabilities, run under the auspices of the Brothers of Charity.

Ten people with intellectual disabilities, including Down Syndrome and the less well-known William Syndrome, who are aged between 24 and 45, are involved. They are Amy Clarke, Aoife King, Natasha Lydon, Róisín de Búrca, Eilish Lee, Richard Hickey, James O’Connell, David McAnena, Alan Keady and Damien Graham.

The group’s initial idea had been to create a mural, Jane explains, but once they began exploring ideas there was an outpouring of creativity. The result is seven sculptural pieces, which are musical instruments as well as works of art. They are designed so that visitors to the space can play them in a way that is resonant and harmonious.

“It’s been really good so far,” observes Arts Alive member Alan Keady of the exhibition. “Coming up with ideas was tough and putting it all together was hard enough”, adds Alan from Doughiska in the city, who will be 39 next month. Enjoyable too.

“Once ideas came into our heads, we were flat out working together, getting it done. It was a great opportunity and it’s great to have it here.”

Having visited several potential venues earlier in the year with Arts Festival Director, Paul Fahy, it was April before Arts Alive settled on the Aula Maxima as the location for Tactile Tunes.

This 19th century space, with its gothic arches and high ceilings, set members’ imaginations on fire and led to them choosing the Aurora Borealis as the show’s overarching theme — entering the Aula, visitors are embraced by swirls of colours, courtesy of a piece called Cosmic CDJ that was inspired by the Northern Lights.

The diversity of work on display here reflects the various talents and personalities of the Arts Alive members, with creations ranging from Richard Hickey’s vividly coloured eight-foot-high triangle, titled Dancing Isosceles, to James O’Connell’s The Westend Rattle, a box that lights up and vibrates when you touch it. Cois Fharraige comprises a series of shells from Leitir Móir, where Róisín de Búrca is from, while Clocha an Cladaigh is a tribute to the group’s base in the city’s Westend. As with the shells, the stones in this piece are placed on a plinth in a curved shape. The Stone of Destiny is an impressive rock, which has been painted with conductive paint, as have the shells in Cois Fharraige and stones in Clocha an Cladaigh. Stone of Destiny stands majestic in the middle of the room, while over to the right is Harmonious Hearts, a colourful circular piece with two musical hearts that represent love.

Pictured: Artists  James O’Connell and Alan Keady with The Stone of Destiny, which was made musical by the use of conductive paint.

World of Politics with Harry McGee

I heard several TDs, mainly from the Opposition side, complain that this has been the ‘do nothing’ Dáil — and it is true that, when the summer break was reached, there was a dearth of legislation to show for the first half of the year.

Only nine new Bills (from the Government side) made it into the Dáil between January and July and only three new Bills were actually enacted before business concluded for the summer last week.

There were extenuating circumstances behind that.

There was the huge row over speaking rights for the Lowry group which delayed the start of ‘normal’ proceedings in the new Dáil.

It took an age for the new committees to be established. That could be partly attributed to the row, but the Government did not seem in a particular hurry to get it all up and running. That’s hardly a good sign of an administration that wants to lay down a signal of intent in the early period of its term.

The purgatorial stretch that it took to form the committees left the Oireachtas in a bit of limbo, certainly until Easter.

Committees play an important part in scrutinising legislation and budgets, as well as highlighting topical issues that are of concern to the public.

Looking through the Dáil schedules for April, and even into May, I was struck by the amount of time that was given over to statements — essentially debates on national and international issues.

Some of these are, of course, important, but at least some of them looked suspiciously like time-fillers.

Back in 2002, when Fianna Fáil looked like it was heading to a majority by itself, the Progressive Democrats ran a highly effective negative campaign in the final week of the general election campaign. The slogan of its posters was: “Single Party Government, No Thanks!”.

Labour did much the same in 2011 when it looked like Fine Gael, under Enda Kenny, was going in the same direction of governing by itself. It produced a parody of a ‘Tesco’ ad, which played on its slogan of ‘Every Little Helps’. The Labour advert had a slogan that said ‘Every Little Hurts’ and had a pictogram that showed about a dozen things that would cost more under Fine Gael.

For both the PDs, in 2002, and Labour, nine years later, the tactic worked. Both ensured that the bigger party did not go into government by itself.

The message to the voter was if the big party is allowed unfettered power, it won’t be really held accountable.

Pictured: Minister Jennifer Carroll MacNeill…has hit the ground running.

Country Living with Francis Farragher

It’s one of the notable landmarks of each passing year taking its place in those diary dates of our mind like Christmas [I know, shocking to  mention that word in July], Easter and Halloween . . . yes, The Races represent the peak of the midsummer in Galway minds, and the next phrase that tends to crop is: ‘back to school’.

For a lot of people across the land, and indeed from foreign shores as well, it’s something akin to an annual pilgrimage when the hotel prices shoot up for the week and even if you  have that excess cash to splash out, many of the inn websites will have ‘No Availability’ labels on their websites from July 28 into the early days of August.

The history of the ‘summer madness’ that we associate with the Galway Races didn’t happen today or yesterday with the first meeting at Ballybrit taking place on the Tuesday of August 17, 1869, all of 158-years ago with the Galway Plate the big attraction having a purse of 100 sovereigns for the winner. By the way, while a gold sovereign only had a nominal value of one pound sterling, today they are worth around €1,000 apiece.

However, according to historical sources, the racing of horses can be traced back to the mid-1700 with meetings of sorts taking place in places like Tuam [Bermingham House], Kilconnell, Ballymoe and Carraroe. Back in October 21, 1754, a horse called Prim won the £20 first prize at Tuam Races for ‘freeholders and inhabitants’.

In a short historical piece penned by that all-round man of books, words and the arts, Tom Kenny, he recounts a major milestone in the development of the Galway Races when they were first broadcast on radio in 1929, before featuring in a number of Lord Haw Haw’s [William Joyce of Galway-Mayo origins] German propaganda on-air rants [‘Germany Calling’] during World War 11.

According to Tom Kenny’s little historical dip back into the war years, in one of Lord Haw Haw’s broadcasts, he suggested that the Galway Race Committee might ‘spruce up the place [Ballybrit racecourse] as there was a good chance that one Adolf Hitler could attend the next meeting. Like a lot of other tips around The Races, this was one ‘long shot’ that was never destined to materialise!

Famous for having the longest bar in the world which dates back to the mid-1920s, The Races, over the past century or so, evolved into a real social occasion, even for people like myself who had a scant knowledge of the gee-gees. ‘Going racing’ turned into something of an annual social event.

Pictured: Connacht Tribune photographer, JOE O’SHAUGHNESSY, delved into the files of the paper and discovered this prize-winner [possibly The Plate or Hurdle] from the summer of 1962 with a huge crowd in the background. [Anyone with info/details on the picture can contact: frank@ctribune.ie].

The State’s foreign direct investment agency is committed to attracting 100 new investments into the West of Ireland by 2029 – despite the Trump tariff and other storm clouds on the horizon.

IDA Ireland has confirmed it plans to achieve 20 client investments in Galway, Mayo, and Roscommon every year for five years.

This represents 10% of its overall national target of 1,000 new client investments in this country between 2005-2029.

IDA Ireland released the information in reply to a Parliamentary Question submitted by Galway West TD Mairéad Farell (SF) last week as trade war negotiations between Europe and America were ongoing.

The IDA earlier this month declined to disclose the level of FDI in the West up to the end of June, following its mid-year review, and it also did not provide that information to Deputy Farrell. It did give statistics for the period 2021-2024, which showed outcomes in the West far exceeded its targets.

The IDA had predicted that there would be 76 investments by foreign client companies in the West over the four years to 2024, but the actual number turned out to be 91 – a 20% better performance than it had predicted.

Last year, IDA Ireland had 130 client companies in the West – including major US multinationals in Galway – and they employed a combined total of 31,334 workers.

Deputy Farrell welcomed the growth targets set out by the IDA Ireland, but she said it needed to do more for the regions, including the West.

“I’m glad to see that 59% of IDA supported FDI investments were outside Dublin. That is a trend I would like to not merely continue, but to grow,” said the Mervue TD.

“I would still like to see a lot more done for the wider Galway regional area. Our infrastructure continues to be a barrier to enterprise in my view, and the view of many others.

“The Government have indicated that they will be prioritising infrastructure in the forthcoming budget. But the proof is in the pudding.

“The people of the West of Ireland have heard this stuff before only to be left disappointed.

“Let’s see what October brings,” added Deputy Farrell.

Pictured: Question…Deputy Mairéad Farrell.

Ocean Drive is a famous street in Miami Beach, Florida, known for its vibrant atmosphere, Art Deco architecture, and proximity to the beach. This Ocean Drive is a lot closer to home.

It’s on the Coast Road near Oranmore, to be precise – but 15 Ocean Drive, a four-bed, five-path semi-detached home in an exclusive, secure development – could match anything Florida has to offer for luxury.

This Ocean Drive comprises just 16 semi-detached and 16 detached homes – and this quiet enclave is ideally situated on the Coast Road, placing you within walking distance of shops, restaurants, bars, schools, the GAA club, bus routes, and the train station.

Presented in pristine condition, that includes an impressive B3 energy rating, the property features a welcoming entrance porch and hallway, a spacious sitting room, and a bright kitchen/dining area ideal for family life and entertaining. A utility room complete the well-designed ground floor layout.

Upstairs, the first floor comprises four generously sized bedrooms, including a master suite with a private ensuite as well as a family bathroom.

The top floor adds even more flexibility with two additional rooms each with built-in storage and their own private bathrooms, perfect as guest rooms, home offices, or playrooms.

Coming with a guide price of €625,000, viewing can be arranged through the estate agents DNG Maxwell Heaslip & Leonard at 11 Francis Street, Galway – or phone (091) 565261.

Pictured: Ocean Drive…luxury living.

A Different View with Dave O’Connell

Revelling in the recent blanket coverage of the 40th anniversary of Live Aid was like being transported back in time, to the days of our relative youth.

It wasn’t just the mullets and brightly coloured, oversized suits – it was the soundtrack of our younger days, played out on Geldof’s global jukebox.

The BBC honoured this milestone anniversary superbly, with a three-part documentary examining the impact and legacy of Band Aid and Live Aid – and even Bob Geldof knew it wasn’t all good news because wheels had to be greased to keep the forward momentum – followed by the 16 hours of the day itself edited to about half its airtime.

That’s still a mammoth musical feast, starting in Wembley, alternating between London and Philadelphia as the other side of the world woke up, and then ending in the US with a stellar singalong in the early hours of the morning.

Apart from the fact that this was effectively the eighties musical playbook because everyone who was anyone took to the stage, there were a couple of things that hit home, 40 years on from the day itself.

One was how many of these stars we have since lost – and of course that shouldn’t be a surprise at all because Live Aid is now ancient history, but you tend to think of them as still here because their music remains on the airwaves.

Freddie Mercury was in his pomp, holding the audience in the palm of his hand; Geroge Michael performed that unforgettable version of Don’t Let The Sun Go Down on Me with Elton (who is very much alive), and David Bowie got the cash rolling in by ending his rip-roaring set by introducing that iconic CBC video of the famine in Ethiopia to the soundtrack of the Cars’ Drive.

Tina Turner is gone, Tom Petty, Brian Wilson, Rick Parfitt from Status Quo, David Crosby and Graham Nash – and of course Geldof’s then-wife Paula Yates who was such a part of the day’s events.

Thanks perhaps to Bing Crosby and an Irish doctor called Arthur Colohan, it’s a view that needs no explanation no matter where you go in the world – and gazing out over Galway Bay could be your new reality if you snap up this two-bed apartment at Baily Point.

The iconic song – written by Leicester-based Irish man Dr. Arthur Colahan, who penned it in memory of his brother – peaked at number two in the US charts at the end of the forties, and it has been recorded by everyone from Josef Locke to Johnny Cash since.

Number 71 Baily Point isn’t quite going for a song, coming as it does with a guide price of €325,000 – but for that you get a third-floor apartment in the heart of Salthill, offering open plan living, a dining and kitchen area, and two double bedrooms with master ensuite.

Constructed in the early 2000’s, Baily Point has proved to be extremely popular given its prime location overlooking the Salthill Promenade.

Located just a stone’s throw from the iconic Blackrock diving tower in one direction and the village of Salthill in the other with its many shops, cafes, and bars and restaurants.

Availing of security and lift access, the property has been well maintained and offers well-proportioned living over one storey.

The communal courtyard space provides access to picnic tables, raised flower beds and has uninterrupted views of Galway Bay and the hills of Clare.

Below the complex on the ground and basement floors is the popular Omniplex Cinema, and there is a world of social and sporting locations all within walking distance.

No 71 Baily Point would be the ideal owner occupier residence, an investment property or holiday home.

Viewing can be arranged through the estate agents, O’Donnellan & Joyce on 091-564212 or via the website www.odj.ie.

Pictured: Baily Point…overlooking Galway Bay.

THE Health and Safety Authority [HSA] and the IFA have issued a joint appeal this week for farmers to put safety at the top of their priority list each morning as they prepare for another working day.

The campaign coincides with Farm Safety Week [July 21 to July 25] after confirmation that so far this year there have been 12 farming fatalities in the Republic of Ireland.

Of those 12 deaths, nine of them have occurred in the Western Seaboard counties of Donegal, Leitrim, Mayo, Galway, Clare, Cork and Kerry with Donegal having the highest number of fatalities [3].

According to the HSA, farming continues to account for a disproportionate number of workplace deaths many, if not all of them, being preventable, and often involving vehicles, machinery, livestock and falls from height.

This year’s 12 farm fatalities – with just under seven months of the year gone – equals the total number of ‘farm accident’ deaths that occurred during 2024. Five of this year’s deaths involved vehicles while in nine cases the deceased was over 65-years of age.

Ger Hartnett, Senior Inspector at the HSA, said that each life lost in farming was a devastating reminder that ‘safety must come first every day, on every farm’.

“We must remind ourselves that there are 12 families this year mourning the loss of a loved one and we must collectively renew our commitment to prevent further family tragedies. Farm Safety Week is an opportunity to reflect, to change behaviour, and to take proper action that can save lives,” said Ger Hartnett.

Galway IFA Chairman, Stephen Canavan, told the Farming Tribune that the simple and basic message for farmers to take on board they get up was ‘to mind yourself’.

“Too many accidents are occurring, too many farmers are losing their lives, and too many families are hearing the awful news that a loved one has been lost in a farming accident.

“Farmers need to know their own limitations as regards work commitments, and maybe, as we look forward to Race Week, to take a day or two off,” said Stephen Canavan.

The HSA asked this week for ‘a change in attitude’ as regards farm safety and to ensure that all vehicles and machinery were well maintained.

“Plan all work activity . . . rest when you feel tired . . . take a break when you need to  . . . and know your limitations,” the HSA has advised.

They are also asking all those involved in farming to engage in meaningful conversations within families and communities about risk, responsibility, and prevention.

Pictured: Galway IFA Chairman, Stephen Canavan