Things that annoy you about Galway

Tawny

dafunk wrote: »

10) The fact that there are virtually no amenities outside of the city centre, there is no sense of community or anywhere to go in the burbs unless you fancy hanging out in B&Q or a hotel bar.
16) There isn't enough 'local' shops, and by local I mean individually owned non-chains.

I do see your point on this, but I think it has something to do with the speed with which Galway Surburbia was developed.

I lived in a small city in the UK, and the city centre was about the same size as Galway. But it didnt really have surburbs. Instead, it was surrounded by villages which had gradually become part of the city, so each little area had its own distinct feel, own pubs, local corner shops, bakerys, post office etc.

There isn't a pub within walking distance of where I live in Galway I would be bothered going to at all.

Mrs OBumble

manukahoney wrote: »

I will say that some parts of Co.Galway really are beautiful...Kinvara for example; and there are valid points in the above; however:

The Townhall theatre is a bit of a kip and with their exorbitant rental hike this year ticket prices are not exactly cheap anymore.....it aint a recession friendly place.......The Good Friday thing is epic tho

Silver strand ain't much of a beach, sure it's pretty, but it doesn't have the wow/expanse factor of it's Kerry/Mayo/Sligo counterparts.....in fact it's pretty pathetic by comparison.

Ditto Barna woods..... It's really rather tiny...

Keeping fish/yoga classes/choir costs more money here than anywhere else in the country, and I'd wager I could safely include Dublin in that.

Greyhounds.....are greyhounds....but some people like that sort of thing...

Leisureland??

*shudder*

Yeah, I never said any of those things was perfect. But there's amply proof that there's not "nothing to do except go to the pub". Yes, some of the classes etc are expensive - but is Galway really that much more expensive than the rest of the country? And anyway, how many pints do you get for E10 anyway?

banshee_bones

depending on where you go two or just the one!

brianthebard

manukahoney wrote: »

I will say that some parts of Co.Galway really are beautiful...Kinvara for example; and there are valid points in the above; however:

The Townhall theatre is a bit of a kip and with their exorbitant rental hike this year ticket prices are not exactly cheap anymore.....it aint a recession friendly place.......The Good Friday thing is epic tho

I can't argue about the kip element cause I haven't been in it yet, but there's plenty scheduled for the threatre this spring, lots of shakespeare and beckett for 15 quid, hardly expensive. Also there's an international literature festival in the coming months.

Things I dislike about Galway; renting.

Fionn MacCool

19. The fact that some of the residents are miserable gits.

Webbs

Fionn MacCool wrote: »

19. The fact that some of the residents are miserable gits.

+1

Am not really sure what people expect, the way some of ye go on you want everything that Dublin or London offers in a city the size of Galway. Galway is for example a diverse city with excellent cultural events for somewhere of its size.

The people who live in the likes of Rochdale, Darlington, Basingstoke etc in the Uk (all around the size of Galway), would be shaking their head in amazement at a thread like this.

Everyone would be delighted to have more opportunities and improvements in things such as arts, museums etc and an improvement in the road system, which as a non native is bad but is understandable to a certain extent due to expansion rate of city, its geography and and age of the city.

Some peoples positives will always be others negatives. Maybe some of those who are offering negatives and complain about lack of things happening in Galway actually get out and contribute to the running of organisations festivals etc or get involved in politics and get their voice heard!! Its so easy to sit and complain and expect others to improve their lot!!

galwayrush

An Taisce:mad:

galwayrush

Webbs wrote: »

+1

Am not really sure what people expect, the way some of ye go on you want everything that Dublin or London offers in a city the size of Galway. Galway is for example a diverse city with excellent cultural events for somewhere of its size.

The people who live in the likes of Rochdale, Darlington, Basingstoke etc in the Uk (all around the size of Galway), would be shaking their head in amazement at a thread like this.

Everyone would be delighted to have more opportunities and improvements in things such as arts, museums etc and an improvement in the road system, which as a non native is bad but is understandable to a certain extent due to expansion rate of city, its geography and and age of the city.

Some peoples positives will always be others negatives. Maybe some of those who are offering negatives and complain about lack of things happening in Galway actually get out and contribute to the running of organisations festivals etc or get involved in politics and get their voice heard!! Its so easy to sit and complain and expect others to improve their lot!!

Well said, last year, i had quite a few people over from the UK, almost all of them in Ireland for the first time and they were amazed at what Galway had to offer. They all loved it, even some wishing they could move over here.

Bass Cadet

No Fcuking POST CODES!! :pac:

banshee_bones

Bass Cadet wrote: »

No Fcuking POST CODES!! :pac:

hmmmm you must live in the country

the-island-man

banshee_bones wrote: »

The Huntsman
Milanos
Thai garden
Gemelles
Da Robertas

How can you say we lack good restaurants!

I'd have to disagree about the Huntsman being a good restaurant well at least not anymore, it was a good one some years ago though.
Last time i went in there i downed a bit of food only to discover a long strand of hair extending from down my throat up to my mouth!
This is not the only reason i think its gone down hill though! The same thing has happened the place IMO that has happened a lot of restaurants in the city!
Instead of giving you a nice big dinner they throw out this new age meal that wouldn't feed a baby and a new age fancy lookin plate that would look more at home in an art exhibition!

Mrs OBumble

Bass Cadet wrote: »

No Fcuking POST CODES!! :pac:

KP7 = the central city and inner suburbs.
http://www.irishpostcodes.ie/ponc/poncmqmap.php?pc=kp7&heading=Area%20for%20kp7&lat=53.278256913857064&lng=-9.060125216784963&zoom=11

http://www.irishpostcodes.ie/ will give you more detailed codes, and also ones for other parts of the city/county/country.

Sure, they're a private company, and not officially sanctioned by An Post etc. But they've at least started doing something about the problem. If we all adopt their codes, An Post's hand will be forced.

Fracture

Ahh Paul Hannon Paul Hannon, if you didnt use your real name on boards, like everyone else, Id never have known it was you lol.
So have they got you keeping and eye on boards.ie now too :P
How is the meetings without me?

Back on topic,
- The amount of scumbag hoodies that sit around the square all the time.
- The price of drink
- The music in the clubs
- I know i said this already, dumbass students (not all of them)

paulhannon

Fracture wrote: »

Ahh Paul Hannon Paul Hannon, if you didnt use your real name on boards, like everyone else, Id never have known it was you lol.
So have they got you keeping and eye on boards.ie now too :P
How is the meetings without me?

Nah, I just like coming here to bitch using my made up guise!

Meetings are far better now ya gone! we sit naked and laugh at Byrno! ho ho
Meetings rock! ya...up with more meetings!!!!!

sgthighway

Car Park in NUIG
&
City Planners

leninbenjamin

sgthighway wrote: »

Car Park in NUIG

make that people who drive to NUIG despite living less than 20 minutes away.

sgthighway

I use to work on the road and had to call in there a lot to do Maintenance calls. I'd be longer parking that doing a job. Then I might have to call back to another Dept a few hours later.

zero19

Most drivers are useless once on a roundabout, indicating at the wrong time or not at all, the traffic too. Other than that i like the place!

dmcg90

Imaging having a roundabout with traffic lights on it, what bright spark dreamt that one up. Its hell to cross on foot, even worse on bike.

Tirabaralla

As a tourist first and now a foreigner in Ireland who was living in Co. Galway for some months...Galway is too full of "alternative" people, wannabe hippies, italians (like me...lol), spanish...even if I do like the town and the county...I don't get an "irish" feeling out of it...dunno why exactly.
Still...I miss something now that I moved (for example people speaking irish, darn).

KevR

JustMary wrote: »

KP7 = the central city and inner suburbs.
http://www.irishpostcodes.ie/ponc/poncmqmap.php?pc=kp7&heading=Area%20for%20kp7&lat=53.278256913857064&lng=-9.060125216784963&zoom=11

http://www.irishpostcodes.ie/ will give you more detailed codes, and also ones for other parts of the city/county/country.

Sure, they're a private company, and not officially sanctioned by An Post etc. But they've at least started doing something about the problem. If we all adopt their codes, An Post's hand will be forced.

Going a bit off-topic here but that's really cool. Just checked mine and I'm KP7 (inner suburbs) :cool:

brianthebard

Tirabaralla wrote: »

As a tourist first and now a foreigner in Ireland who was living in Co. Galway for some months...Galway is too full of "alternative" people, wannabe hippies, italians (like me...lol), spanish...even if I do like the town and the county...I don't get an "irish" feeling out of it...dunno why exactly.
Still...I miss something now that I moved (for example people speaking irish, darn).

I read that Galway has the highest percentage of foreign nationals in the country-you've only yourself to blame for following the trend lol!

homerjay540

- Lack of city planning.
- Stupid cycle 'facilities' which actually increase the risk to cyclists.
- Difficulty in getting reasonable all day breckfast (Galway arms is best)
- Lack of affordable pubs
- Lack of a sports bar. it is very difficult to watch sporting events in pubs.

Re. getting round 'magic roundabout' on bicycle, your best bet is to use the roundabout like motor vehicals. don't try to use those 'bike paths' unless you want to kill yourself without any of the shame.

Re. the bridge that connects newcastle to the 'magic roundabout', it actually has a third name, the name by which most people in galway refer to it - the 'new bridge'.

swimgal08

Galway People who are cranky

i.e. everyone who posted on this thread

JohnCleary

swimgal08 wrote: »

Galway People who are cranky

i.e. everyone who posted on this thread

I can see you lasting a long time here

dmcg90

Cranky? Maybe... Constructive criticism? Yes

KevR

homerjay540 wrote: »

Re. the bridge that connects newcastle to the 'magic roundabout', it actually has a third name, the name by which most people in galway refer to it - the 'new bridge'.

Forgot about that! Used to call it that but stopped a few years ago..

A Bridge with 3 names :rolleyes:

Tirabaralla

brianthebard wrote: »

I read that Galway has the highest percentage of foreign nationals in the country-you've only yourself to blame for following the trend lol!

If u noticed I wrote I was living in Co Galway, I can assure there weren't many foreigners were I was living...lol. When then it came to choose a city or town I choosed a different place for this reason :P

The sheer infestation of scummy chavs with their socks tucked into their tracksuit pants. Where did all these absolute **** appear out of all of a sudden?

Climate Expert

Full of boggers who prefer their burgers from Supermacs over Burger King.
120 miles from Dublin.

cornbb

Climate Expert wrote: »

120 miles from Dublin.

This calls for a celebration.

Climate Expert

cornbb wrote: »

This calls for a celebration.

Not if you are civilised.

cornbb

Climate Expert wrote: »

Not if you are civilised.

Not if you are from civilised Dublin, either, I'm sure. Your jealousy is showing

Karl Hungus

Climate Expert banned for 2 weeks for trolling.

poshie

Is it the Quincentenary Bridge? Wow, I lived in Galway most of my life and thought it was Quincentenial.
Galway pros: Charcoal Grill, La Salsa, Freeneys, Dew Drop Inn, the gigs in Roisins getting better and better, seeing the family.
Cons: Rain, Eyre Square Redux being very bland, seeming really small when i come home to visit, ballinfoyle park.
God bless you G-ville

redarmyblues

For a weekend visitor there is not lot to do in the daytime. You walk up and down Shop St a couple of times then go to the pub.

I remember visiting for the first time with my now wife a few years ago we had a leaflet listing local attractions, the first we visited was The Claddagh,it turned out to be 1930's local authority estate, the next Spainish Arch reminded me of of Phil and Grant's garage in Eastenders, when we peered into it we half expected to see the hapless Ricky struggling with an oil change.

Galway suffers like tourist towns everywhere from a feeling of Inauthenticity, but that said it is ahead of the vast majority of provincial Irish towns.

Altar_Ego_Boy

redarmyblues wrote: »

For a weekend visitor there is not lot to do in the daytime. You walk up and down Shop St a couple of times then go to the pub.

I remember visiting for the first time with my now wife a few years ago we had a leaflet listing local attractions, the first we visited was The Claddagh,it turned out to be 1930's local authority estate, the next Spainish Arch reminded me of of Phil and Grant's garage in Eastenders, when we peered into it we half expected to see the hapless Ricky struggling with an oil change.

Galway suffers like tourist towns everywhere from a feeling of Inauthenticity, but that said it is ahead of the vast majority of provincial Irish towns.

Id say the big towns and cities of ireland have little or nothing to offer the visitor.

What you need to enjoy ireland is a car to visit countryside and nice villages, some good weather and to be drunk

Weidii

The small and hence incestuous gay scene.

Other'n that Galway is great

star.chaser

parking is definately a rip off

Mrs OBumble

redarmyblues wrote: »

For a weekend visitor there is not lot to do in the daytime. You walk up and down Shop St a couple of times then go to the pub.

Yeah, right. Try any of these:

• Aquarium
• Museum (ok, it's not flash, but better than nothing on a wet day)
• Crystal factory
• Very good trad session in the Crane on Sunday early-afternoon
• Walk the prom (don't forget to kick the wall)
• Walk up the Corrib, and to Menlo castle
• Greyhounds (Friday pm)

Get a local friend to take you for a walk around the city - sights they could show you include the following, and if they've got any sense of the place there's a good story to be told for each one (and in some cases the story is on a plaque on the wall).

• Eyre Square (Browne door, fountain, last gallows site)
• The city wall fragments inside the shopping centre and in back gardens around
• The pro cathedral building
• Lynch's castle / memorial window
• King's Head
• The market
• St Nicholas's church
• Druid's lane
• Claddagh ring musuem
• Nora Barnacle's house (sure it's closed in the off-season, but you can tell the story from outside)
• Nun's Island
• The cathedral (former jail site ... some would say how appropriate!
• Salmon weir
• The canals and former mill buildings (in Mill St, oddly enough)
• Dominic St - Lady Gregory's family townhouse, the Arts centre
• The Claddagh (focus on the basin and statues/memorials there, not the council houses!!!)
• Spanish Arch (insignificant in itself, but it's the start of the Forthill story)
• Blake's Castle
• Forthill Cemetery

And don't get me started on the various festivals, many of which have daytime as well as evening events. As does the Town Hall theatre at the weekend. And there are a few art galleries that are open too.

Or the things further out in the county, but no more than a day trip away.

Wompa1

iradio

WooPeeA

What annoys me in Galway? Hmm... Probably no access to the things that I used to do before I moved to the city, like going for walk in local parks, riding go-carts, shooting at range with friends, going out on motocross races, 3D cinemas, and many many more. I don't drink much so clubs and pubs can entertain me only once in a month or so..

redarmyblues

JustMary wrote: »

Yeah, right. Try any of these:

• Aquarium
• Museum (ok, it's not flash, but better than nothing on a wet day)
• Crystal factory
• Very good trad session in the Crane on Sunday early-afternoon
• Walk the prom (don't forget to kick the wall)
• Walk up the Corrib, and to Menlo castle
• Greyhounds (Friday pm)

Get a local friend to take you for a walk around the city - sights they could show you include the following, and if they've got any sense of the place there's a good story to be told for each one (and in some cases the story is on a plaque on the wall).

• Eyre Square (Browne door, fountain, last gallows site)
• The city wall fragments inside the shopping centre and in back gardens around
• The pro cathedral building
• Lynch's castle / memorial window
• King's Head
• The market
• St Nicholas's church
• Druid's lane
• Claddagh ring musuem
• Nora Barnacle's house (sure it's closed in the off-season, but you can tell the story from outside)
• Nun's Island
• The cathedral (former jail site ... some would say how appropriate!
• Salmon weir
• The canals and former mill buildings (in Mill St, oddly enough)
• Dominic St - Lady Gregory's family townhouse, the Arts centre
• The Claddagh (focus on the basin and statues/memorials there, not the council houses!!!)
• Spanish Arch (insignificant in itself, but it's the start of the Forthill story)
• Blake's Castle
• Forthill Cemetery

And don't get me started on the various festivals, many of which have daytime as well as evening events. As does the Town Hall theatre at the weekend. And there are a few art galleries that are open too.

Or the things further out in the county, but no more than a day trip away.

Lets face it the main daytime attraction in Galway for a tourist is to walk around and soak up the atmosphere and most the activities listed above involve that and nothing wrong with it either ,it is what i enjoy . But on a rainy day...............with kids

The aquarium is an idea for next time, the museum is disappointing and the idea of visiting a factory is not for me but certainly an option for others. Galway could certainly do with something else to while away a damp day.

AMHRASACH

. . an architectural monstrosity . . Should have left the Galway jail there as a museum . .it had a punishment treadmill . . Pat Jennings (RIP) knew the last man who was sentenced to tread it!

happyoutscan

AMHRASACH wrote: »

. . an architectural monstrosity . . Should have left the Galway jail there as a museum . .it had a punishment treadmill . . Pat Jennings (RIP) knew the last man who was sentenced to tread it!

Agreed, it is one ugly building. It's like a bunch of large matchboxes stuck together.

Webbs

redarmyblues wrote: »

Lets face it the main daytime attraction in Galway for a tourist is to walk around and soak up the atmosphere and most the activities listed above involve that and nothing wrong with it either ,it is what i enjoy . But on a rainy day...............with kids

The aquarium is an idea for next time, the museum is disappointing and the idea of visiting a factory is not for me but certainly an option for others. Galway could certainly do with something else to while away a damp day.

Well I guess you could go bowling, there are a few kids places like Bonkers (I think thats what its called). You are coming to what is a large town/small city am not really sure what as a weekend visitor you would expect?

I think that people have unrealistic expectations of a city of less than 80k, not meant as a go at you, just something that crops up on the boards a few times about the lack of facilities etc, expecting what you would get in a large city like Dublin, Belfast etc

Chris_533976

The Nurses Home at the hospital. Everyone says its a classic art deco building and is really nice. Its not. Its an awful looking lump of concrete.

Psychobiker

For me, it's the Palestinian solidarity committee :

www.blog.liammartin.com

simongurnick

A rainy day with kids?
3 options:

1. go to salthill, bring them swimming in leisureland, the hit seapoint for video games and pool and finish in the aquarium.

2. go to the omniplex for a movie, mdonalds after then across the road for bowling and vid games.

3. go to city limits in oranmore and choose from cinema, bowling, vid games, laser tag, rock climbing, indoor go carts.

Hopefull all these places are still in operation. I havent been home for over a year!

Psychobiker

simongurnick wrote: »

A rainy day with kids?
3 options:

1. go to salthill, bring them swimming in leisureland, the hit seapoint for video games and pool and finish in the aquarium.

2. go to the omniplex for a movie, mdonalds after then across the road for bowling and vid games.

3. go to city limits in oranmore and choose from cinema, bowling, vid games, laser tag, rock climbing, indoor go carts.

Hopefull all these places are still in operation. I havent been home for over a year!

4. Open wallet and shake