Councillors to have no say in key merger plan

It has emerged that elected representatives will not be involved in the decision making process for the amalgamation of Galway’s two local authorities and the extension of  the city boundaries.

This will infuriate local councillors in particular – the vast majority of whom are totally opposed to the merger of Galway City Council and Galway County Council.

A four-person review group has been asked to examine the potential for a merger between Galway City and County Councils.

The independent statutory committee, headed by Galway native Trinity College Professor Eoin O’Sullivan, has also been asked to examine the possibility of including Barna, Oranmore and Moycullen as part of Galway city.

But it has been confirmed that while councillors can make individual submissions, they have no hand, act or part in the decision making process.

The review group will meet will officials from Galway City Council and Galway County Council over the coming weeks – but they will not be engaging with councillors.

The group is also made up of businessman John Coyle, former Tipperary County Manager Ned Gleeson and Hannah Kiely, who is a well known local financial advisor.

But a senior official with Galway County Council confirmed that the group have had one meeting and would be meeting with senior officials from both local authorities over the coming weeks.

The public are also being invited to make submissions on both matters and they will have until the end of March to do so.

Elected representatives will have no input into the decision-making apart from availing of the opportunity to make submissions like the rest of the public.

The committee is due to report back with recommendations to Environment Minister Alan Kelly within nine months. It will then be subject to a ministerial order.

His predecessor Phil Hogan had categorically ruled out a merger between the two local authorities earlier in the lifetime of this Coalition.

But recently, in a policy u-turn, Minister Kelly said the proposal to merge merited consideration again. “The ambition of this is to create a stronger Galway”, he remarked.

Councillors in both Galway city and the county have come out against any such suggestion. It could mean that a merged council would have 57 members which would be totally unmanageable.

At the moment works are taking place at county buildings in Prospect Hill to provide additional accommodation for an extra nine councillors following last May’s local election. It is a very expensive project.

If the two councils were merged, then they would have to extend again to accommodate the 18 city councillors.

However, there are other councillors who believe that the amalgamation would save a considerable amount of money that could go into the provision of vital services like roads and transportation.