CITY TRIBUNE
Galway City Council asked to shut Salthill Promenade and Eyre Square
A formal request has been submitted to Galway City Council this evening to close off Salthill Prom, Eyre Square and other areas where large crowds can gather, in an effort to combat the spread of Covid-19.
It comes after thousands of people took to the Prom, Silverstrand and other parts of the city today – after concerns had already been raised by Council officials.
The Fianna Fáil grouping on the City Council – Councillors Mike and Ollie Crowe, Peter Keane, John Connolly and Alan Cheevers – have written to Council Chief Executive Brendan McGrath asking that “any other area/amenities under its control where large crowds can gather” be closed.
“While a large percentage of the population are adhering to social distancing, many are not. Our group believes that we need to increase the measures already taken in Galway City, in the overall best interests of the people,” Cllr Mike Crowe told Mr McGrath.
Galway City Council this morning stencilled the Prom to remind walkers to keep two metres apart and issued the appeal “Please, please, please do not use [the weather] as a reason for crowding into public areas and amenities across Galway”.
Today, the Health Protection Surveillance Centre confirmed 121 new confirmed cases of Covid-19 in the Republic of Ireland. It was also confirmed that a fourth person has died, a male in the east of the country with an underlying health condition.
Meanwhile, the most up-to-date breakdown of the figures available (to midnight Friday), show there are 25 confirmed cases in Galway.
Today, members of the Irish Defence Forces and Naval Service began constructing a coronavirus testing facility at Galway Docks, alongside the L.É. W.B. Yeats, which docked there last week.