Eibhlin O'Neill's blog

A 435 million-year-old starfish fossil discovered in Connemara, Co Galway by an Irish geologist, Dr Eamon Doyle, in the late 1980's, has now been confirmed as a new species and the oldest of its type in Ireland. Dr Doyle has been given the the honour of it being named after him. According to the latest issue of the Irish Journal of Earth Sciences, published by the Royal Irish Academy, it has been given the Latin name Crepidosoma Doyleii by international palaeontologists. 

Construction work being undertaken in Quay Street, Galway (Irish: Gaillimh) in the West of Ireland  has revealed the remains of a castle. Archaeologists believe it to be part of the oldest-known stone building in Galway city and that the two metre thick stone walls formed part of Dún na Gaillimhe, a castle built by the De Burgo family in 1232. The fortification was built along the then shoreline of the river Corrib. It was preceded by a wooden structure on the same site, which is mentioned in the annals of 1124.

Gaelscoil Mhic Ahmlaigh was established in 1993 with just 20 pupils. Since then the Irish language school has continued to grow. Their increased numbers had to be catered for by the building of  additional Portacabins. Now the pupils have moved to new premises on the west side of the city of Galway (Irish: Gaillimh). The building on Millars Lane in Knocknacarra now has 24 classrooms, offices, support rooms and sports facilities and can accommodate 720 pupils.

The "thirty-year rule" is the informal name given to laws in the Republic of Ireland, that under the 1986 National Archives Act, allows certain government documents to be released to the public each December, thirty years after they were created. The latest release of Irish State Papers relate to 1987. Included in the papers is further information on the murky involvement of British security agencies in Irish politics. Part of which includes their close relationship with the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF), which is an Ulster loyalist paramilitary group in the north-east of Ireland.

Recently Tourism Ireland announced that 2017 has been the “best year ever” for overseas tourism to Ireland. The country attracted around 10.65 million visitors generating roughly €5.78 billion in revenue. Ireland has been innovative in exploiting its rich cultural history and great natural beauty over the years. 

Thousands of acres of blanket bog are to be restored across the island of Ireland and Scotland. European Union funding is going towards the five-year Co-operation Across Borders for Biodiversity (CABB) project, which is worth 4.9 million euro (£4.3 million) and is managed by the SEUPB (Special EU Programmes Body).

The Aran Islands (Irish: Oileáin Árann) are a group of three islands, Inishmore (Árainn Mhór/Inis Mór), Inishmaan (Inis Meáin/Inis Meadhóin) and Inisheer (Inis Thiar/Inis Oírr/Inis Oirthir), located at the mouth of Galway Bay, on the west coast of Ireland. Residents on the Aran Islands have raised concerns over recent years about the provision of transport services to and from the islands, with some services even facing threatened suspension. Now a new five year contract will guarantee daily ferry services to each of the three islands. 

A bronze replica of a statue of Irish writer and journalist Pádraic Ó Conaire (28 February 1882 – 6 October 1928)  has been unveiled in Eyre Square, Galway (Irish: An Fhaiche Mhór, Gaillimh) in the west of Ireland.  Irish President Michael D Higgins performed the ceremony. The original statue, by sculptor Albert Power, was removed for preservation eleven years ago and the replica was made using original drawings by the sculptor and a caste from a mould of the existing statue, which is now located in Galway City Museum (Irish: Músaem Cathrach na Gaillimhe).

Its been a good year for the reappearance of beaches on Achill Island (Irish: Acaill, Oileán Acla). It is an island off the coast of County Mayo (Irish: Contae Mhaigh Eo) in the West of Ireland. Earlier this year, after an absence of 33 years, sand returned to a beach near Dooagh. The sand had been washed away during storms in 1984, and then this year high tides deposited the sand back. 

Gerry Adams announced at the Sinn Féin Ard Fheis (annual conference) this weekend that he is stepping down as president of Sinn Féin in 2018 and also confirmed that he will not seek re-election to the Irish parliament, the Dáil, in the next general election.  Gerry Adams has been the president of the Irish political party Sinn Féin since 1983. From 1983 to 1992 and from 1997 to 2011, he was an abstentionist Member of Parliament (MP) for the Belfast West constituency of the British parliament.