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GALWAY, Ireland, May 30, 2003 / FW/ --- After a huge Irish breakfast at Buswells I headed to Hueston Station to catch the train to Galway.

After an hour of rumbling through the countryside I began counting sheep, but it didn't put me to sleep.

There were hectares and hectares of rich green grassland divided by thick hand-built stone walls.

The sheep had been sheared and were watching over their lambs. Horses of stocky build were grazing along with their colts as well.

Every once in awhile there was a thatched cottage, however I was struck by all the new construction; contemporary office buildings and tracts of homes mirroring their next door neighbors in style.

Half way across the country we were transferred to a tourist bus as they were in the middle of replacing the train tracks.

An amazing amount of work on the infrastructure of the country has been going on.

When the tax rate for corporations was cut back to 10% it brought investments from companies such as Del, IBM, Microsoft, Gateway, ATT, Toyota, Mitsubishi, Seimens and multiple British companies.

Ireland with its focus on education was a natural for the dot.com corporations; they had a wealth of young minds ready and willing to work.

With the advent of the E.U. there was another boost to the economy and restructuring of their society.

My hotel in Galway did not have the charm of Buswells but its location was superb for a tourist on foot.

It was close to the Spanish Arch and stood at the mouth of the major cobblestone walk-street, Quay Street a stones throw from Shop Street which goes from Eyre Square to the Claddagh, as well as having a rushing salmon river, the Corrib outside my window.

It is always nice to have a Room with a View.

The Spanish Arch was known as a trading crossroads of Ireland and Spain. A major amount of commerce was wheeled and dealed between Galway and the ports of Northern Spain.

This was a mirror image of the Hanseatic League of the 13th to 15th century, a forerunner of the EU of today.

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