Bid launched to bring Tall Ships to Galway

A former Mayor of the city is hoping that it won’t turn out to be a tall tale . . . as he embarks on a campaign to get the Tall Ships sailing race into Galway Harbour during the summer of 2019.

The 2019 tack for the Tall Ships race is now up for grabs and according to some sources if Galway did manage to get on the port list for the event, it could be worth in the region of €50m to the region.

Cllr Padraig Conneely said yesterday that given the city’s success in hosting the Volvo Ocean Race in 2009 and 2013, Galway would be able to put up a very strong case for the Tall Ships event.

“It is estimated that the Tall Ships race brought over one million visitors to Dublin in 2012 and over half a million people to Waterford in 2011 – it was also a huge success in Belfast earlier this year,” said Cllr. Conneely.

The Chairperson of the City Council Special Economic, Development and Tourism Committee, said that the event would bring in 3,000 crew members alone and up to 100 ships from all over the world.

“Galway has a great track record in hosting maritime events and the city has proven itself to be a great host for such events. I think that this is something we should really go for – it could be worth between €30m and €50m for the city,” said Cllr. Conneely.

It emerged this that Dublin City Council has opted not to apply for the 2019 event on the basis of cost – the bid to host the festival reportedly costs in the region of €3m.

A spokesman for Galway City Council said that they already had preliminary discussions with the Galway Harbour Company on the possibility of getting the Tall Ships race to the city.

“This is a hugely popular world event and we will be exploring the possibility of putting in a bid to host part of it. It is hugely popular, not only for tourists and visitors, but also for the people of Galway,” he said.