With murder, death on our roads and mayhem in our hospitals preoccupying much of our brain space on a weekly basis, it's hard to see anything good about our city, especially at this time of year when we are being told that we are facing into tough economic times in the run-up to an expected tight budget. And then there are events that make you sit up and remember.

If John Gormley was on the other side of the Dáil Chamber these days he might be having a go at An Taoiseach Bertie Ahern about the merit of his recent €38,000 pay increase. If Deputy Gormley wasn't in bed with Mr Ahern, he might be pressing the man he once described as the 'L'Oreal Taoiseach' to admit that he gave himself a major pay increase at a time of alleged turmoil in the Irish economy 'because (he thinks) he's worth it'.

The Minister for Transport has succeeded in appeasing the thousands of provisional driving license holders by doing a U-turn on controversial new driving laws. However, whether he will succeed in reducing the number of road deaths in this country remains to be seen.

One in ten people living in Ireland now come from somewhere else and it's not hard to understand why. According to the latest edition of Lonely Planet Bluelist 2008, Ireland is the friendliest country in the world, with optimist citizens who think anything is possible. You gotta want a piece of that. Or do you?

One week on from the horrific murder of Swiss teenager Manuela Riedo in this city and Galway is still coming to terms with the fact that a determined killer could be walking amongst us.

It's spending more money and treating more patients than ever before, waiting lists have never been shorter and, apparently, more people are happier with the service they receive, so why is it that members of cabinet can not make 'head nor tail' of it and why are so many people giving out about the state of our health service, again?

When primary school pupils returned to school late last month, Galway parents busied themselves making sure that their offspring were kitted out as per school requirements. But, with revelations that pupils at one Galway school are taking classes in a cloakroom, one would be forgiven for asking whether the Department of Education does its homework before the bell chimes for the new school year.

The revelation in this paper last week that an elderly Galway couple have been waiting seven months for an NCT test will serve as a wake-up call to other drivers to ensure that they take up the NCT’s invitation to get cars tested in advance of their due date. However, with problems with the service bubbling up in the media from time to time, it will have others asking whether the NCT system itself is in need of an NCT.