Fisheries Tower gap to be bridged after six years

Date Published: 08-Mar-2013

 A NEAR six-year gap will be bridged later this month with the installation of the pedestrian link to the Fisheries Tower from Wolfe Tone Bridge.

The first phase of work to put the new bridge in place will take place this coming Tuesday from 8pm until 6am the following day, with the job to be completed on the following Tuesday, March 19, also from 8pm to 6am.

Cllr Catherine Connolly said that the installation of the new bridge would mean that the Fisheries Tower facility would once again be accessible to tourists and the people of Galway.

“The Fisheries Tower has been closed since 2007 and up until then it really was a wonderful location for artistic events such as art exhibitions, poetry readings and musical recitals.

“One good thing that did happen was that the budget for the restoration of the footbridge has come down considerably from the original estimate,” said Cllr Connolly.

Most of the funding for the €121,000 bridge revamp has come from the Inland Fisheries organisation while the Civic Trust will take over the running of the Fisheries Tower, once it has been ‘touched up’ before its official public reopening.

At one point it had been hoped to secure funding from Failte Ireland for the project, but that fell through because the scheme wasn’t part of an overall waterways walk plan.

“Once the bridge is in place and the tower itself is tidied up, we all look forward to once again attending artistic events on a regular basis there. It is one of the city’s most distinctive landmarks,” said Cllr Connolly.

Alternative traffic routes will be signposted during the closure times that have been scheduled for the night-time periods to minimise any traffic problems.