Fury as Eyre Square to stay fenced off for three more weeks

Tourists and locals are facing into another three weeks of a ‘fenced off’ Eyre Square with the green section set to remain a no-go area until July 1 next.

Sun-worshippers had no access to the lawns of Kennedy Park during the course of the recent heatwave as remedial works to the green area over-ran and now look set to go on for another three weeks.

The green area of the Square is normally ‘black with people’ during warm sunny weather, but visitors arrived to find it completely fenced off since early Summer.

A former Mayor of the city, Cllr Michael Crowe, has made a call to the City Council to ‘do everything possible’ to speed up the removal of the fence around the green area.

He said that while he fully understood the need for the remedial works being carried out, he described the fence as an eyesore for locals and visitors to the city.

“This is extremely disappointing. We have enjoyed our finest spell of weather for many, many months and yet people cannot access the green area of the Square.

“While I am loathe to criticise the local authority, given the necessity of the works being carried out, I would call on them to try and get the green area opened up as soon as possible.

“It is certainly not what we want – tourists arriving into our city and the first thing they see in Eyre Square is a green area that’s fenced off and not accessible. It is not a pretty sight,” said Cllr. Crowe.

He said that he didn’t want to see the Christmas Market made a scapegoat of for the condition of Eyre Square, adding that many of the market outlets were not located on the green areas.

“The fact of the matter is that this green area has been neglected over many years – we never want this type of a closure to happen again,” said Cllr. Crowe.

A spokesman for Galway City Council said that while they apologised for the green area being fenced off, it was all being done to ensure that the remedial works [ongoing over recent months] would be given a chance to settle in.

For more on the fencing off of Kennedy Park in the Square, see this week’s Galway City Tribune