City Council legal gaffe means busking ‘ban’ has stalled

Galway City Tribune – A blooper by Galway City Council in drafting new bylaws to restrict busking in the city centre means the process has to start all over again.

Elected members of the Council are laying the blame for the mistake at the door of officials at City Hall, after it was confirmed at a meeting this week that the introduction of controversial busking bylaws would be delayed further.

In the absence of Chief Executive Brendan McGrath, Director of Services Tom Connell confirmed to councillors that the local authority would have to again go through the entire statutory process of drafting the bylaws, including putting them out on public display and inviting submissions. The mistake will be music to the ears of supporters of busking and street performances, as it delays the introduction of the new restrictive laws by months at least.

Last May, the Council voted in favour of introducing new bylaws to regulate busking, including a prohibition on the use of amplification before 6pm.

The introduction of the bylaws was delayed as Council management sought legal advice.

At the latest meeting, Mr Connell, acting Chief Executive, explained that the legal advice available to the Council now was that no commencement order (date from which the bylaws start) was included in the original draft.

The legal advice was that a commencement order could not be retrospectively inserted, and so the Council plans to re-start the entire process including going through the public consultation stage again.
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