CITY TRIBUNE
Government confirms list of retailers allowed open from Monday
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has this afternoon approved plans to move to Phase 1 of the ‘roadmap to recovery’ next Monday, with the easing of some restrictions.
Among the recommendations from Government are that people wear face masks while on public transport and in busy enclosed areas such as supermarkets.
“I can confirm that it is safe to proceed with Phase 1 of our plan to ease the Covid-19 restrictions on Monday. This gives us reason to hope, but it is not a cause for celebration. We have a long way to go yet. There will be bumps in the road and we have to keep our guard up.
“As a country we have done a lot to suppress the spread of this virus. But extreme vigilance will be required until a vaccine, effective treatment or prophylaxis is found, and that might be some time away. The only thing that is inevitable is the spread of the virus unless we push it back every day. Coronavirus is a ‘fire in retreat’ but it is not defeated. We must extinguish every spark, quench every ember.
“If all goes well, we will enter a new phase of reopening our country every three weeks. The next review will take place on June 5th. To keep going forward, we need to keep following the guidelines. Everything is provisional and reversible, and our progress depends on us all continuing to do what we have been doing.
“As the restrictions ease and we come into contact with more people, the opportunity for the virus to spread increases. So, self-discipline and personal responsibility will become more important, not less.
“In three weeks’ time, on Friday 5 June, I fervently hope to be here to announce that we will move to Phase 2. A further relaxation of restrictions. This depends on the progress we make between now and then. Nothing is guaranteed. The only thing that is inevitable is the spread of the virus unless we push it back every day,” said the Taoiseach.
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As part of the plan to gradually reopen the economy and society, the following Phase 1 changes will come into effect from Monday, where social distancing can be maintained: construction workers, gardeners and other outdoor workers can return to work.
List of retailers that can open on Monday, May 18:
- hardware stores;
- builders’ merchants and those providing essential supplies and tools for gardening;
- farming and agriculture; garden centres and farmers markets;
- Opticians/Optometrists/Outlets providing hearing test services, selling hearing aids and appliances;
- retailers involved in the sale, supply and repair of motor vehicles, motorcycles and bicycles and related facilities (e.g. tyre sales and repairs);
- office products and services; electrical, IT and phone sales, repair and maintenance services for home. (Note this does NOT include homeware stores);
- Only stores providing homeware incidental to primary retail functions set out in the original Essential Services list are to repen in Phase 1. It is not intended that stores which might also classify themselves as homeware, but primarily sell items such as furniture, bedding, curtains, kitchenware, crockery or other such items etc. should open.
- outdoor public amenities and tourism sites, such as carparks, beaches and mountain walks may reopen;
- outdoor public sports amenities, like playing pitches, tennis courts and golf courses may reopen;
- outdoor sports and fitness activities in groups of no more than four are permitted within 5km of your home and providing there is no physical contact;
- school and college buildings may reopen for teachers and lecturers to facilitate remote learning;
“During Phase 1, it is intended that customers should restrict visits to such stores for essential supplies. All retailers are encouraged to continue to provide on-line services where that is possible and appropriate to minimise footfall,” a Department of Health statement reads.
The general advice from Government is that people should continue to stay at home, except for the following five reasons:
- to go to work, if your place of work is open and you cannot work from home
- to shop for items you need
- to exercise within 5km of your home
- for medical reasons or to care for others
- to meet friends or family outside, within 5km of your home, in groups of no more than four
Older people and those who are cocooning should continue to stay at home, except for brief outdoor exercise within 5km of their home.
From the Galway City Tribune – An impassioned plea for a ‘masterplan’ that would guide Galway City into the future has been made in the Dáil. Galway West TD Catherine Connolly stated this week that there needed to be an all-inclusive approach with “vision and leadership” in order to build a sustainable city.
Deputy Connolly spoke at length at the crisis surrounding traffic and housing in Galway city and said that not all of the blame could be laid at the door of the local authority.
She said that her preference would be the provision of light rail as the main form of public transport, but that this would have to be driven by the government.
“I sat on the local council for 17 years and despaired at all of the solutions going down one road, metaphorically and literally. In 2005 we put Park & Ride into the development plan, but that has not been rolled out. A 2016 transport strategy was outdated at the time and still has not been updated.
“Due to the housing crisis in the city, a task force was set up in 2019. Not a single report or analysis has been published on the cause of the crisis,” added Deputy Connolly.
She then referred to a report from the Land Development Agency (LDA) that identified lands suitable for the provision of housing. But she said that two-thirds of these had significant problems and a large portion was in Merlin Park University Hospital which, she said, would never have housing built on it.
In response, Minister Simon Harris spoke of the continuing job investment in the city and also in higher education, which is his portfolio.
But turning his attention to traffic congestion, he accepted that there were “real issues” when it came to transport, mobility and accessibility around Galway.
“We share the view that we need a Park & Ride facility and I understand there are also Bus Connects plans.
“I also suggest that the City Council reflect on her comments. I am proud to be in a Government that is providing unparalleled levels of investment to local authorities and unparalleled opportunities for local authorities to draw down,” he said.
Then Minister Harris referred to the controversial Galway City Outer Ring Road which he said was “struck down by An Bord Pleanála”, despite a lot of energy having been put into that project.
However, Deputy Connolly picked up on this and pointed out that An Bord Pleanála did not say ‘No’ to the ring road.
“The High Court said ‘No’ to the ring road because An Bord Pleanála acknowledged it failed utterly to consider climate change and our climate change obligations.
“That tells us something about An Bord Pleanála and the management that submitted such a plan.”
In the end, Minister Harris agreed that there needed to be a masterplan for Galway City.
“I suggest it is for the local authority to come up with a vision and then work with the Government to try to fund and implement that.”
The new Salmon Weir pedestrian and cycle bridge will be officially opened to the public next Friday, May 26.
Work on the €10 million bridge got underway in April 2022, before the main structure was hoisted into place in early December.
A lunchtime tape-cutting ceremony will take place on Friday, as the first pedestrians and cyclists traverse the as-yet-unnamed bridge.
The Chief Executive of Galway City Council, Brendan McGrath, previously said the bridge, once opened, would remove existing conflicts between pedestrians, cyclists and traffic “as well as facilitating the Cross-City Link public transport corridor over the existing 200-year-old bridge”.
The naming of the new bridge has been under discussion by the Council’s Civic Commemorations Committee since late last year.
One name that has been in the mix for some time is that of the first woman in Europe to graduate with an engineering degree – Alice Perry.
Ms Perry, who was from Wellpark, graduated from Queen’s College Galway (now University of Galway) in 1906. The university’s engineering building is named in her honour.
The bridge was built by Jons Civil Engineering firm in County Meath and was assembled off-site before being transported to Galway. Funding for the project was provided in full by the National Transport Authority and the European Regional Development Fund.
(Photo: Sheila Gallagher captured the city’s new pedestrian footbridge being raised on the south side of the Salmon Weir Bridge in December. It will officially open next Friday, May 26).
From the Galway City Tribune – Minister of State for Local Government and Planning, Kieran O’Donnell was labelled a “disgrace” for overturning councillors’ decisions to rezone land in the new City Development Plan.
Minister O’Donnell (pictured) confirmed in a letter to Council Chief Executive Brendan McGrath last week that he was reversing 25 material alternations made by councillors to the CDP 2023-29. He made the decision on the advice of Office of Planning Regulator (OPR).
Minister O’Donnell directed that 14 land parcels that were subject to land-use zoning changes by councillors as part of the Material Alterations to the Draft CDP should be reversed.
He directed that a further 11 land parcels in the city should become “unzoned”.
The Minister found that the CDP had not been made in a manner consistent with recommendations of the OPR, which required specific changes to the plan to ensure consistency with the national planning laws and guidelines.
At last week’s Council meeting Cllr Eddie Hoare (FG) asked for clarity on the process by which councillors could rezone the lands that had been changed by the Minister’s direction.
Cllr Declan McDonnell said, “What he [Minister O’Donnell] has done is an absolute disgrace”.
And he asked: “Do we have to have another development plan meeting to deal with it?”
Both Cllrs Hoare and McDonnell wondered what would become of the lands that were rezoned or unzoned by the ministerial direction.
Mr McGrath said the Council had put forward an argument in favour of retaining the material alterations in the plan, but ultimately the Minister sided with OPR.
He said if councillors want to make alterations to the new plan, they could go through the process of making a material alteration but this was lengthy.
The Save Roscam Peninsula campaign welcomed the Minister’s decision.
In a statement to the Galway City Tribune, it said the direction would mean the Roscam village area on the Roscam Peninsula will be unzoned and a number of land parcels would revert back to agriculture/high amenity.
A spokesperson for the campaign said: “the material alterations made by city councillors following lobbying by developers continued the long-standing practice of councillors facilitating a developer-led plan rather than an evidence- and policy-based plan that meets the needs of the city.
“The Minister’s direction is an important step in restoring confidence in the planning system. It is clear from the City Council’s own evidence on future housing projections that there was no requirement to zone these lands for residential purposes in order to meet the needs of the targeted population increase up to 2029,” the spokesperson added.
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