City in shoot-out with Athenry to be 1916 centenary setting

It could be a straight shoot-out between the city and Athenry for the hosting of the main 1916 Rising centenary event in Galway next Easter.

According to Councillor Padraig Conneely, the county could be poised to ‘steal a march’ on the city by having Athenry as the main focal point for the ‘Ireland 2016’ initiative.

“There’s a big push for Athenry to stage the main event. People like Cllr Peter Feeney are making a big play for this event – I would be disappointed if the city lost it,” said Cllr Conneely.

The Fine Gael councillor also took umbrage at the fact that no councillor from the city was represented at a major meeting in Dublin on plans for the centenary celebrations.

He said that while he accepted that the Mayor, Cllr Donal Lyons, wasn’t in a position to attend the meeting, either the Deputy Mayor or some other councillor should have been in attendance.

City Council Chief Executive, Brendan McGrath, told councillors that he was at the meeting in Dublin on behalf of the City Council.

Senior Executive Officer, Gary McMahon, told this week’s City Council meeting that an in-house steering committee had been set up in the City Council to get the ground work done for next year’s event. “Our focus will be on community participation,” said Mr McMahon.

Cllr Mairead Farrell (Sinn Féin) said that the event should honour fully the significant role that Galway played in the 1916 Rising while her party colleague Cathal Ó Conchúir asked for the Irish language to be given a fitting part in the celebrations.