Environmental group has ‘no plans’ to appeal Galway City Ring Road decision

From this week’s Galway City Tribune – There has been no indication yet whether campaign groups or affected property owners are willing to appeal against the decision to grant permission for the Galway City Ring Road by lodging a judicial review.

Residents facing the loss of their homes and land were left reeling this week after they had not been informed of the decision before the news was posted on An Bord Pleanála’s site late on Tuesday.

It was just another example of how shoddily those most impacted by the development have been treated, exclaimed one man whose house on the east of the city is to be demolished.

Asking not to be identified due to the online abuse his family suffered after giving evidence at the oral hearing into the project, he told the Galway City Tribune that they were “absolutely devastated”.

“The whole thing has been a stitch up from the very beginning. They came up with this route long before and then added the other five to it to make it seem they had considered all alternatives fully. This is about opening up land in Bearna to developers – nothing about solving Galway’s traffic because a bypass will only add more cars,” he fumed.

“We’re here 42 years, we raised our kids here. What they offered us [in an initial house valuation] wouldn’t get us get a shed in town. We’re too old to get a mortgage. There’s nothing in that decision about the human beings being kicked out on the street.”

He and other residents would be unable to launch a judicial review into the approval due to cost, which he estimated to be in the region of €80,000. There is now eight weeks in which to lodge a judicial review to the High Court.

“There has to be a point of law that they missed. If we were to get a barrister to even read the decision it would cost €10,000 a day. The only thing stopping it would be if the Government had spent everything they had on Covid and there was no money for the road.”

Chairperson of An Taisce in Galway, Peter Butler, said the environmental and heritage group would also be unlikely to launch a judicial review.

“We will be discussing it with head office and they may send it for a legal opinion to see if there are grounds for an appeal but An Taisce do very few of them because they’re so expensive. I personally think if An Bord Pleanála made a decision, you leave it at that and move on.

“What’s important here is that this is a decision to approve the design, not to build it. That decision in the current climate is unlikely; I cannot see the political will to spend a billion euro of scare money with no real returns. There’s no real need for it – I don’t think it’s ever going to happen,” he said.

(Image: A photomontage of how the proposed fifth bridge over the River Corrib would look).

This is a shortened preview version of this article. For extensive coverage on the ring road decision, see this week’s Galway City Tribune. You can buy a digital edition HERE.