Galway can be one of best urban centres in world to live in

A SIX-year plan has been presented to the City Council to help Galway be one of the best urban centres in world to live and work in.
The Local Economic and Community Plan (LECP) was officially presented to councillors last Monday and charts the way forward for the city from this year onto 2021.
Liam Hanrahan, Senior Executive Officer with the City Council, gave details of the plan that covers such areas as economic advancement, the growth of arts and culture, social inclusiveness and the health of people living and working in the city.
His report stated that Galway was a young and vibrant city having a population of 75,529 with a further 62,238 people living within a 30-minute drive of the city, while there were 40,000 children and young adults in primary, secondary and third level education.
“Galway’s population of 20 to 24 year-olds is more than twice the national average. Education and learning is part of the past, the present and the future of the city,” the report states.
One of the most striking aspects in the development of the city over recent years, according to the report, is the diversity of cultures and peoples.
The city enjoys the highest rate of Irish speakers in a city area (44.2%) with Polish the most common foreign language spoken in a community of just over 4,000 people.
The report drew unanimous praise from councillors and officials at last Monday’s City Council meeting with Chief Executive, Brendan McGrath, describing it as a ‘fabulous piece of work representing all that’s best in Local Government’. Cllr. Declan McDonnell said that the fact the plan would be reviewed every year would be a big help in ensuring that the goals were achieved.
“The city does have a lot going for it and it is very encouraging to see in the report that nine out of the top 10 medical technology firms in the world are in Galway,” said Cllr. McDonnell.
Cllr. Billy Cameron said that the diversity of the city could be gauged from one statistic in the report, namely that almost 20% of the population of the city were of non-Irish nationality.

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