Council urged to get tough with Fáilte Ireland over site

A city councillor has warned that a legal crux could ‘have serious consequences’ for a new proposed tourist attraction in Salthill.

Now, Cllr Donal Lyons has urged City Hall to get tough with Fáilte Ireland to expedite the return of prime site along the Promenade to Galway City Council.

He has urged them to cancel the lease on the Tourist Office in Salthill to Fáilte Ireland so the location can be used by the proposed new attraction.

The Tourist Office has not been operated in recent years.

Councillor Lyons this week outlined his disappointed and frustration with the lack of progress and the content of the reply he received from Galway City Council on the return of the Salthill Tourist Office site to the ownership of Galway City Council.

He pointed out that it was three years since he requested, by way of a motion, that the City Manager arrange an urgent meeting with senior officials at Fáilte Ireland, seeking the immediate staffing of the Salthill Tourist Office for future holiday seasons.

He said the land was leased (for a nominal fee to the then Ireland West Tourism) to promote tourism in Salthill and should Failte Ireland not accede or agree to this staffing request, that Galway City Council should immediately cancel the land lease agreement, as the lease was not being honoured, and arrange for the immediate transfer of the land back to the ownership of Galway City Council.

“This motion was agreed by the members of the then Galway City Council at its meeting on the May 14, 2012. I put forward the motion because Fáilte Ireland was not honouring the terms of the lease to use the site in the summer months as a Tourist Office facility.

“I became aware that there was the possibility of an additional tourist attraction being located on the site which would add significantly to the existing tourist attractions in Salthill, but in order to progress this attraction, the site would have to revert to local authority ownership.

“Expressions of interest for the site were then sought by Galway City Council from interested parties for tourist related activities. I continued to make verbal representations requesting progress on the return of the site.”

In September last, Cllr Lyons submitted a motion requesting that Galway City Council explain why three years after the adoption of the Notice of Motion the Salthill Tourist Office continued to remain vacant.

He also asked what action Galway City Council had undertaken to cancel the land lease agreement .

Cllr Lyons revealed that last week he received a reply to his motion that said: “Fáilte Ireland engaged with the City Council regarding proposals for another tourist-related use for the site, and a call for expressions of interest yielded a proposal which we felt had considerable merit and could be recommended to the Council.

“However, despite considerable efforts on the part of the Council, agreement from Failte Ireland has not been forthcoming, and the Council has commenced the process of recovering full ownership and possession of the site.”

Cllr Lyons said he was now urging Galway City Council to expedite the legal proceedings in order to facilitate the transfer of the site to the council without further delay.

“I very much regret that there is a strong possibility that the delay in transferring the ownership of the site back to Galway City Council could have serious consequences for the proposed tourist attraction being located on the site.”