Barna finally joins the bypass battle

Barna is awakening to the realisation of the proposed new bypass and its implications for the Gaeltacht village on the city’s western edge.

Residents of Barna have finally joined together to form an official grouping to object to the N6 Transport Project, and a ‘monster meeting’ is planned for later this month.

Other areas of Galway affected by the six route options, including Menlo, Newcastle and Bushypark, were ‘quicker out of the blocks’ in calling public meetings and galvanising support to fight the bypass.

But this week Barna joined the ‘bypass battle’ as around 20 concerned residents formed a new lobby group, The Galway N6 Bypass Bearna Action Group.

Its first public meeting will take place in Bearna Golf Club on Wednesday, April 15 at 8pm and all residents including people affected by the bypass routes are asked to attend.

The meeting point is symbolic – the golf club is just up the road from Clochscoilte, a townland north of the village that will be ‘battered’ by the proposed routes. Several homes face the ‘wrecking ball’ in Clochscoilte, a tranquil, rural, area and many more will find themselves in close proximity to a motorway once the plan is finished.

All of the routes will impact heavily on Barna – the green, red and blue corridors all dissect Clochscoilte and head south coming out onto the Coast Road in the village.

“The realisation is finally dawning and the shock is beginning to wear off,” said a spokesperson for Bearna Action Group.

“Clochscoilte – that’s going to really get belted. But the entire village will be affected. Even if your home is not directly affected by the routes, people living in Barna should be concerned – your entire community will be devastated. A motorway through the community will change Barna forever. You will live in a different world after this.”

For more on this story, see this week’s Galway City Tribune