Bish school move set to go ahead

A move by St Joseph’s College (The Bish) from its city centre location to a greenfield site on NUIG lands in Dangan, took a step closer when councillors voted to accept the Council Chief Executive’s recommendations in the draft City Development Plan.

It was a very different atmosphere in the chambers of Galway City Council to the one that witnessed the same debate back in 2005, when a casting vote by the then mayor, Cllr Catherine Connolly, scuppered plans.

At the time, she was supported by other Labour Party colleagues, along with Green Party and Sinn Fein members, and Cllr Padraig Conneely (FG) in opposing the vote; John Connolly (FF) had abstained.

This time around, however, Cllr Padraig Conneely was the only one to vote against the Council Chief Executive’s recommendations, while Cllr Frank Fahy and Cllr Colette Connolly both abstained; 15 members were in favour.

In fact, Cllr Billy Cameron, who had voted ‘no’ 11 years ago, said that it was a decision that he had regretted.

There were eight submissions in support of the City Development Plan’s objective in this regard, but 69 against – these mainly related to the suitability of the location, the loss of amenity lands, and traffic congestion.

The response by the Chief Executive, Brendan McGrath, to most of these objections was: “A planning application will assess the suitability of the site, relative to the scale of school and ancillary requirement such as parking and sports facilities.”

Cllr Mike Crowe proposed the adoption of the CEO’s recommendations, this was seconded by Declan McDonnell, but the move received the support of almost the entire Council.

“I honestly believe what happened before the last Council was unfortunate,” Cllr Crowe, a past pupil, said.

“St Joseph’s College has been on the backfoot since that . . . now it is land-locked; there are no facilities . . . it is haemorrhaging with students and staff in regards to the conditions.”

Cllr Ollie Crowe echoed his brother’s sentiments, but he also acknowledged the concerns of Newcastle/Dangan residents, whom he said felt like they were being “beaten by two brushes” – this and the threat of the outer City bypass, and that the Bish move to NUIG lands was a “step too far.”

“60% of the students – which is north of 500 – come from the Bushypark/Newcastle/Dangan area, so the traffic won’t be what their concerns are,” he said.

Cllr Declan McDonnell, another past pupil, said that the site had long been unsuitable for the needs of students, and that sports and training were – and still are – played off-site.

“Now they are crossing town to play soccer in Mervue – people don’t think that this is creating a problem for traffic in the city . . . the fears raised (traffic) will be addressed in the planning process,” he said.

“All of the other secondary schools are on the outskirts of the city centre, and this should never have been delayed. NUIG has agreed that it will share facilities, which would be a huge benefit to the wellbeing of all students.”

Cllr Cathal Ó Conchuir lamented the wasted years that the students of the Bish could have enjoyed in a new school since the 2005 vote.

Cllr Donal Lyons described the 2005 vote as “a travesty.”

“It was regrettable that it became so divisive the last time,” he said. “This is a great opportunity to give excellent facilities to the students.”

As a former ‘Jes boy’, Cllr Peter Keane said that the lack of playing pitches had not thwarted the school’s success on the playing fields.

“They caused me hardship in the Jes over the years,” he remarked.

However, he acknowledged that the need went beyond sporting facilities,

“Ciaran Doyle [Principal of the Bish] told us that the school cannot put on the subject choices that it wants to – they can’t put on labs and additional things. I have no hesitation in supporting what they are trying to do.”

Cllr Cameron said that in his time as a student of the Bish, Gaelic football and soccer had to be played in The Swamp, and after school games were in the empty Cathedral carpark – where great players like Chick Deacy learned their skills.

“There is not an inch to get (to play on) now,” he added.

He was sorry to have voted against the move on the last occasion. “In hindsight, I regretted it,” he said.

“Regarding the community I represent, a lot of them are clients and have made submissions, I will have to face them. But we have to recognise that we have a traffic problem.”

Cllr Mike Cubbard was another member who was preparing for a backlash.

“Some of the calls we have got were not nice, there was a lot of pressure on us,” he said.

“We are not here to canvass, we are here to make a decision about Galway City. This will be one of the biggest factors to help with traffic problems.”

Cllr Colette Connolly said it was lamentable that other members were showing a lack of respect for the democratic process that took place in 2005.

“Decisions were made, historically, to increase the numbers in the school without providing the necessary facilities first,” she pointed out.

She stressed that the site size did not meet Department of Education guidelines, that the agreement to use NUIG’s sporting facilities was only in principle, and that there was no guarantee that the university would apply for planning permission to build a school on its grounds.

However, she was a lone voice, as the majority were in favour of the move.

Mayor Noel Larkin said that moving ‘The Bish’ from the City Centre would be great for Galway as a whole and for the local area.

The proposal to accept the CEO’s recommendations in regards to all submissions received on this matter had 15 votes in favour, one against (Padraig Conneely), and two abstentions (Colette Connolly and Frank Fahy).