Galway bypass thrown lifeline by Euro decision

Date Published: 30-Dec-2010

By Darragh McDonagh

The long-awaited Galway City Outer Bypass has been thrown a lifeline following a decision by the European Commission to approve a similar project in Germany which had also been stalled as a result of environmental concerns.

Campaigners believe the decision will set a precedent for the Galway project that could prove crucial in overcoming the latest obstacle to emerge in the city’s protracted bid to secure the bypass.

A delegation led by Frank Fahey TD, chairman of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Transport, is scheduled to meet with the European Commission in January to discuss the issue of the bypass in light of the recent decision.

Proposals for the Outer Bypass are currently before the Supreme Court following a challenge by environmentalists who claim the project is in violation of the EU Habitats Directive on the grounds that it poses a threat to bog cotton in certain areas of the route.

However, the European Commission considered a comparable case involving plans for a motorway in Germany through a 2,688-hectare site considered to be of environmental importance earlier this month.

It ruled that the construction of the motorway was justified notwithstanding environmental concerns on the basis that there were “imperative reasons of overriding public interest” in providing the infrastructure.

Welcoming the decision, Mr Fahey: “The German case is identical to our case here in Galway with the exact same barriers to construction,” he said. “But now the European Commission has found a way around it, which paves the way for our case.

“Our plans are overwhelmingly in the public interest. We need this road for economic and social development. After ten years of planning, barriers and delays, there is now a light at the end of the tunnel.”

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