Council to honour epic rower

A civic reception is to be held in honour of trans-Atlantic rower Damian Browne.

At a meeting of Galway City Council last week, councillors gave their backing to hosting the ceremony in honour of the Renmore man who rowed from New York to Galway as part of a mammoth 122-day endurance challenge.

Mr Browne, a former Connacht Rugby star, returned to a hero’s welcome in the city in October and shortly afterwards, Mayor Clodagh Higgins said it was her intention to give one of the city’s highest honours to the 42-year-old extreme adventurer.

There was controversy at the time when, as revealed by the Galway City Tribune, the Mayor was asked to stay away from celebrations at the Docks following disappointment over funding from the local authority.

Project Empower, the organisation behind Browne’s expedition, applied for €30,000 in funding from the City Council’s Marketing Fund in September 2021 and was refused.

A spokesperson for the Council confirmed to the Tribune in October that the organisation did not meet the fund’s criteria.

“As project Empower could not demonstrate a major impact in relation to attracting significant bed nights, it was deemed ineligible for the fund,” stated the spokesperson at the time.

As a result, it’s understood that Mayor Higgins was told she should not attend the celebrations, and there was no official involvement in the event from any local councillors.