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City council approves next stage of converting Kirwan roundabout
Galway Bay fm newsroom – Galway city council has voted to move forward with the conversion of the Kirwan roundabout in the city into a traffic light junction.
The Part 8 application for the project came before councillors at a meeting of the local authority last evening. (5/3)
Senior Engineer with the council, Uinsinn Finn told members that doing nothing is not an option at the Kirwan roundabout near the Menlo Park Hotel.
He showed drone footage of pedestrians dangerously trying to navigate traffic to cross the road near Terryland.
Many councillors expressed concern about the impact of the new junction layout on local property owners, particularly one family, who councillors claim will effectively become ‘marooned’ by the new junction layout.
Sinn Féin Councillor Mark Lohan said he would oppose the Part 8 application as he feels the current design of the junction will create an ‘iron curtain’ around residents in Castlelawn and Tirellan.
Councillor Michael Crowe said that alternative access arrangements for the affected family should be considered.
Uinsinn Finn told councillors that around 40 thousand vehicles go through the Kirwan roundabout at peak times each day and it has to be made safer for all road users.
He said there would a a sensor for the property owners at the junction so that the lights will detect a vehicle about to exit the property and the lights sequence will adjust accordingly.
The next stage of the transformation of the roundabout was voted through by a majority of councillors, with 10 in favour and 8 against.
Councillor John Walsh proposed the next stage of converting the roundabout and says it’s badly needed in the city.
The death has occurred of the former Bishop of Galway, Kilmacduagh and Kilfenora Martin Drennan, six years after he announced his retirement on health grounds. He was aged 78.
The Galway Diocesan Office confirmed the death this (Saturday) afternoon of the Bishop and Apostolic Administrator Emeritus, who oversaw the Diocese for eleven years.
Born on January 2, 1944 in Piltown, County Kilkenny, he studied for the priesthood at Saint Patrick’s College, Maynooth, from where he was ordained to the priesthood in 1968. His brother Michael is also a priest.
Following his ordination, he continued his studies in Rome where he was awarded a Licentiate in both sacred theology and sacred scripture. He returned to Rome in 1980 to become spiritual director at the Pontifical Irish College for the next five years.
He became a lecturer in sacred scripture at Saint Patrick’s College, Maynooth, where he continued to teach until his appointment as Auxiliary Bishop of Dublin in 1997 with responsibility for East Wicklow and South Dublin.
Following the retirement of Bishop James McLoughlin, Bishop Drennan was appointed Bishop of Galway and Kilmacduagh and Apostolic Administrator of Kilfenora and he was installed on July 3, 2005 in Galway Cathedral.
Outgoing Cllr Terry O’Flaherty (Ind) is on course to retain her City Council seat – and top the poll in City East.
With 33% of the boxes tallied, Cllr O’Flaherty is polling strongly, particularly in Renmore.
Michael John Crowe is ahead of his running mate Alan Cheevers for the Fianna Fáil vote, according to the early figures, although that could change when Doughiska and Roscam boxes are opened.
The Green Party’s Claire Hillery is on about 7%, with Fine Gael on 10% and Sinn Fein on 5%.
The opening of boxes for the local elections began at 9am this morning in Leisureland when the tallymen (and women) kicked into gear.
As regards the Galway County Council elections, the smaller areas are being opened first which means that the four-seater Connemara North boxes will be first in the pecking order.
It will be followed by Gort-Kinvara (5 seats), Connemara South (5 seats), Athenry-Oranmore (7 seats), Ballinasloe (6 seats), Loughrea (5 seats) and finally Tuam (7 seats).
The boxes in these areas will be opened and tallied in that particular order before being transferred to the Galway Lawn Tennis Club on Threadneedle Road where the counting will commence around mid-morning.
That is when the fun will really begin – although the tallies should give a good indication as to where most of the seats are destined.
As regards the city, the Galway City East boxes were opened first, followed by Galway City Central and finally Galway City West. These votes will be transferred to the Westside Centre by around 11am for counting.
There are 39 seats on Galway County Council to be filled with 18 on Galway City Council. The City Council count is expected to conclude on Saturday night but the County Council count – with seven electoral areas to be filled – could well go into Monday.
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