2010 – The Year in Review - section 2

MARCH APRIL IT was time to get frivolous as April came around and our paper was dated for the first of the month. A front page story by Tony Galvin that Tuam was soon to have not one, not two but three head shops caused quite a stir and it took quite a while for the penny to drop in some quarters. It wasn't so funny for elderly patients who were left without medical cards due to adminstrative bottlenecks within the HSE. All medical card applications for the over-70s are now processed in Dublin. Nor was it funny for the 30 workers who discovered when they turned up for work that the Costcutter store at the shopping centre at Abbeytrinity had closed overnight. There was good news in the opening of the section of the Western Rail Corridor from Ennis to Athenry, with a promise that Tuam would be next. In Abbeyknockmoy there was talk of putting the local bog under lock and key to prevent illegal dumping there. At Easter there were indications of improvements in the motor trade, with a significant recovery in March â€â€ 641 new cars sold this year, as against 296 for March 2009. And on Good Friday a historic first took place when parishioners from the Cathedral of the Assumption and St Mary's Cathedral took part in an ecumenical Way of the Cross between the two churches. In Glenamaddy they were preparing to stage the All-Ireland combined drama festival, and Galway's Cuirt international literary festival celebrated 25 years. The Tuam-based Galway Homeopathics became the first in Ireland to be granted a Veterinary Manufacturer's Licence by the Irish Medicines Board. Another business development was the granting of planning permission for a €130 million project in the centre of Tuam. Joe O'Toole of SuperValu planned to build a large new supermarket, underground car parking, shops, a hotel and a nursing home on the large site he spent years assembling. He told The Herald that his store was riding out the recession with an extra 2,000 customers a week. In other areas, rubbish was an increasing problem and business people along the N84 between Headford and Galway were threatening to withhold rates unless the County Council took steps to prevent dumping along the road. Farmers and their families were warned to be extra vigilant around cattle after several farmers sustained injuries, particularly from cows with young calves. One of the reasons is the changing patterns of work, with many part-time farmers not as familiar to their animals as they would have been in times past. The Icelandic volcano, Eyjafjallajokull, was still hissing out steam and ash, and local airports in the west were estimated to have lost €250,000 in a week because of cancelled flights. There were sad tales of local people being disrupted. The girls from the Tuam All-Stars Gymnastic Club who were due to fly with the Irish team to the World Cheerleading Championships in Florida were sorely disappointed when their flight was cancelled, as were three students from HRC, Mountbellew who were to speak at an EU conference on alcohol abuse in Brussels. Students in the Presentation, Tuam TY class stayed closer to home and were filmed by RTE's Nationwide as they refurbished a section of Bishop Street. It was a sign of the times when we reported that 'Half price houses pull in buyers'. Local auctioneers were selling houses for about half of what they would have fetched 12 months before â€â€ current prices were ranging between €95,000 and €180,000. There was sadness at the death of well-known Tuam publican Maureen Farragher, who was also a director of the Farragher building firm. She was in her late 70s. The town got a new Chamber of Commerce President in John Stapleton, the third generation of his family's electrical business.[/private]