WHAT is it about Galway? The same question gets asked every year. It’s a difficult one to answer without resorting to the usual: “Ah it’s just Galway, I don’t know what it is, it’s just Galway.”

It’s an institution, is what it is. It’s like going back to your favourite restaurant and ordering your favourite meal, and being as content as the first time. There is something gloriously simple about it. Going back to the same place you’ve been to year on year and having that same feeling as before, the same one you got when you walked into the Galway races as a child.