Galway Airport to house film and TV studios

The first steps were taken this week to set up a film, TV and audio-visual studio facility on part of the site of the former Galway Airport at Carnmore.

Galway City Council agreed in principle to lease the hangar buildings on the site – covering a total of 4.4 acres – to Danú Media Teoranta based in An Spidéal, for a 20-year period.

BY FRANCIS FARRAGHER and DARA BRADLEY

Now, Galway County Council – joint owners of the old airport site [115 acres] – must also give approval in principle to the development before Danú will formally proceed with a planning application.

However that might be a tougher battle than envisaged – after one group of County Councillors complained of being kept ‘in the dark’ over plans for the future use of Galway Airport.

A number of elected representatives of the Athenry/Oranmore Municipal District were highly critical of the City and County Council management team for not keeping them updated on proposals for the site in Carnmore.

They were responding after hearing of the report presented to last Monday’s meeting of Galway City Council, when Director of Services, Brian Barrett, said that in 2015 a feasibility study had recommended that expressions of interest be sought from the film industry as regards this site.

“Following the agreement of the Chief Executives, the Galway Local Authorities (County and City Councils) commenced a tendering process in 2017 in relation to the leasing of the hangars . . . Danú Media Teo came through the various phases of the procurement process,” he said.

Danú Media Teo, who were established in 2015 under award winning company directors, John Brady and Siobhán Ní Ghadhra, produce film and TV dramas for a host of production companies.

City councillors agreed to give the ‘approval in principle’ for the leasing deal which will be proceeded with under Section 183 of the Local Government Act, 2001.

However, a number of councillors cautioned that the leasing go-ahead would have to come back before them once the detail of the planning application had been finalised.

Former Mayor of Galway, Cllr. Noel Larkin (Ind.) said that the Council should carefully consider what was a long-term lease deal. “If we agree now in principle with the lease, it will be very hard to row back on it later on,” said Cllr. Larkin.

Fianna Fáil councillor, Michael Crowe, said that the two local authorities owned what was a very important site for Galway and it was important that the right decisions were made.

Former Mayor, Cllr. Mike Cubbard (Ind.) said that while it was a good news story, he was worried about any ‘piecemeal developments’ at the airport site. “We need an overall strategy to plan for the entire site,” he said.

City Council Chief Executive, Brendan McGrath, said that the two hangars were 15,000 square feet each and would involve a significant capital investment from the company [Danú] to bring them into use as film studios.

“All we are looking for is agreement in principle on the leasing deal with the caveat that this will be coming back before the Council when planning is finalised. As well as that, both Councils have to agree,” said Brendan McGrath.

Labour councillor, Niall McNelis and Independent, Donal Lyons, both said that the development had the potential to ‘put Galway on the map’ as a centre for film, TV and audio-visual productions.

But news of the City Council’s discussion angered County Cllr James Charity (Ind), who raised the matter at the latest Oranmore/Athenry meeting, said it was ‘disrespectful’ that elected representatives had to learn of that motion in local media.

He said that ‘as a basic courtesy’, elected members of Athenry/Oranmore MD – where Carnmore is based – should’ve been consulted first.

Ger Mullarkey, Director of Services for Finance at Galway County Council, said he was not aware of what City Council motion Cllr Charity was talking about. “I don’t read the local papers,” he said.

It’s understood a similar motion to the one debated at City Council level, was due to be debated at the County Council plenary meeting next week.

But members of the Oranmore/Athenry passed a motion stating that it should come before them for consideration first.

Cllr Shelly Herterich-Quinn (FF) said she was concerned about protocol and how the Council conducts its business. It was a matter of “manners and courtesy” that elected reps in the area would learn of future plans for the site through the proper channels.

Cllr Jim Cuddy (Ind) said that the site was purchased jointly by Galway’s two local authorities in 2013 from Galway Chamber. Some €1.1m was paid for 115 acres, and a ‘master plan’ for the site was to be drawn up.

He said it was ‘not good enough’ that Athenry/Oranmore County Councillors are not being kept informed about plans for the airport site; and they have not been presented with a master plan.

Cllr Gabe Cronnelly (Ind) said plans appeared to be ‘lost in translation’ and there was a lack of communication.

Cllr Cuddy said that ‘nothing should happen’ to the Carnmore site until the new County Development plan is completed. Cllr Liam Carroll (FG) said that it is unlikely that commercial flights will ever return to Carnmore, given how airports such as Knock, Kerry and Shannon are struggling currently during Covid restrictions.

But Cllr Charity said that an air link in Galway could be vital for attracting future Foreign Direct Investment, and it should be kept as aviation.