Funding boost may rid city of ‘eyesore’ bridge

Date Published: 03-May-2012

By Katie Finnegan

The ongoing funding saga of the ‘eyesore’ Fisheries Tower footbridge took a positive turn this week when the Lough Corrib Board of Trustees agreed to allocate €50,000 towards the cost of replacing the bridge.

The future of the project was threatened after Failte Ireland refused to fund the footbridge linking Wolf Tone Bridge with Fisheries Tower following seven applications.

Chairman of the Lough Corrib Navigation Board of Trustees, City Councillor Pádraig Conneely has confirmed that the Trustees of the board have agreed to put money into the project. He said it is an eyesore at the moment and will be an embarrassment during the Volvo Ocean race in July.

The Fisheries Tower is owned by Inland Fisheries Ireland, which has pledged €60,000 towards the upgrade of the bridge. Galway City Council are also committed to supporting the project which is estimated to cost in the region of €160,000.

The tower is currently leased to the Galway Civic Trust for operation as a museum – however, the historic tower was closed to the public in 2007 because the access footbridge to the tower became unsafe.

According to Cllr Conneeley the new footbridge will be “contemporary in design, while sympathetic to the tower, adjacent to the boardwalk and surrounding architecture”.

“The Fisheries tower is one of Galway’s best known architectural landmarks and is a potential major tourist attraction,” added Cllr Conneely.

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