€500 – that’s what Green Leaf status has meant to Galway

Galway City Council has come under severe criticism for its ‘farcical’ management of the city’s designation as European Green Leaf City 2017 – with community groups hitting out at the delivery of just €500 to events under its umbrella.

The Council spent a total of €49,752.71 on the Green Leaf designation in the first six months of this year – that’s according to a breakdown of costs released to the Galway City Tribune under the Freedom of Information Act.

In the same period, the Council expended €502.46 on ‘community events’ related to the Green Leaf programme – a figure that Galway City Community Network member, Brendan Smith, dubbed “farcical”.

Mr Smith, who received this year’s Mayoral Award for Volunteer of the Year, said that the programme has been “nothing more than a green wash” and he slammed City Hall for the failure to make good on promises to communities.

“This is farcical and it’s so disappointing, but it doesn’t surprise me – that €500 was just for being part of the St Patrick’s Day Parade.

“If you look at the application made by the Council, citizen engagement, participation and public awareness were key in all of the areas from waste management to climate change – this is €50,000 wasted because nothing has happened,” he exclaimed.

Included in the total spend was €1,968 for advertising and travel expenses of €6,723.20.
For the rest of this story and a break-down of the figures, see this week’s Galway City Tribune. Buy a digital edition of this week’s paper here, or download the app for Android or iPhone.