Eyre Square: court ruling could save city millions

Date Published: 25-Mar-2010

by Frank Farragher

Galway City Council has won a Supreme Court appeal – overturning the findings of a previous High Court ruling on the revamp of Eyre Square – which could have cost the city several million euro.

The Supreme Court judgment has, according to the City Council, overturned previous rulings by an arbitrator and a High Court judge in favour of the original contractor appointed to carry out the Eyre Square revamp work.

On Thursday morning, the Supreme Court issued a 60 page judgment on the case, which ruled in favour of the City Council on all four grounds of its appeal.

City Manager, Joe MacGrath, said yesterday that the decision of the Supreme Court was a very positive one for the city.

“The appeal has been granted in Galway City Council’s favour. This is very good news for Galway City Council and for the city of Galway,” said Mr MacGrath.

The refurbishment of Eyre Square has been one of the most controversial issues in city politics since June 2005 when the Cork contractors appointed to carry out the work – Samuel Kingston Construction Ltd – ceased work on the site.

This followed a dispute between Kingston and the City Council over the rate of progress being made on the job and the payments which the construction firm claimed was owed to it by the local authority.

The issue initially went to conciliation before an arbitration hearing ruled in favour of the contractors. This was appealed to the High Court by the City Council and last April Mr Justice Bryan McMahon upheld the findings of the arbitrator, Geoffrey Hawker.

The City Manager, Joe MacGrath, on behalf of the City Council, then lodged a Supreme Court appeal on the four grounds of that ruling, all of which were upheld by this yesterday’s Supreme Court judgment.

A former Mayor of Galway, Cllr Padraig Conneely, had accused the City Council of “incompetence” in its handling of the Eyre Square enhancement project, claiming that the final cost of the project could rise as high as €20m. Initially the project had been costed at €1.27m.

This week, the Mayor of Galway, Cllr Declan McDonnell, described the Supreme Court decision as a vindication of the City Manager, the City Council and the councillors who had supported the appeal to the Supreme Court.

“This decision has undoubtedly saved the city a substantial amount of money – several million euro – but it also proves that we were right to appeal the earlier rulings of the arbitrator and the High Court. “Most of all, this is a very good day for the city and its citizens. It is time for us to move on and to enjoy the lovely showpiece facility that Eyre Square now is,” said Mayor McDonnell.

For more on this story, see the Galway City Tribune.