CITY TRIBUNE
‘Mindless thugs’ risked people’s lives in Galway by dumping 15 lifebuoys
From the Galway City Tribune – The ‘mindless thuggery’ behind the theft of 15 lifebuoys in the city risked the lives of countless people.
According to Arthur Carr, founder of Claddagh Watch – the organisation which carries out nightly patrols of the city’s waterways – the theft of lifebuoys was an ongoing issue, but the loss of 15 in the space of two nights just after Christmas was unprecedented.
CCTV footage captured between O’Brien’s and Wolfe Tone Bridges shows a number of male youths travelling by e-scooter throw several of the lifebuoys into the water, the Galway City Tribune understands. Mr Carr said Claddagh Watch volunteers had been left shocked and dispirited by this “senseless” behaviour.
“Thankfully, [City Council Warden] Cora Kelly was really quick to respond and we were able to get the 15 replaced,” he said.
“But I just don’t understand the mindset of the people doing this. Our volunteers are constantly aware of the neared lifebuoy to them and if an emergency situation arises, you only have seconds to react.
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“It’s a simple tool, but the most important and if you go to get a lifebuoy and it’s not there, it could cost someone their life,” continued Mr Carr. He said Claddagh Watch’s volunteers had been out all over Christmas and had “de-escalated a number of situations” over the New Year’s weekend – and even then, they discovered that the ropes had been stolen from some of the lifebuoys at Spanish Arch.
“If something were to happen and you had to rush around to find a lifebuoy because the nearest one is gone, lives would be lost,” added Mr Carr.
Cllr Níall McNelis, who is Chairperson of Claddagh Watch and of the City Joint Policing Committee, said Gardaí were investigating the theft of the lifebuoys over Christmas.
“This is mindless thuggery and those who did it need to be held to account. The problem at the moment is the legislation to punish this type of crime isn’t strong enough, but there is a Bill going through the Oireachtas to make it a more serious offence,” said Cllr McNelis.
“I just cannot understand why anyone would do this. These are young people who have been educated in the importance of lifebuoys. It’s written on each one of them that ‘a stolen lifebuoy is a stolen life’.
“If an accident happens and someone falls into the Corrib – the fastest flowing river in Europe – you only have seconds to react,” he continued.
Praising the Council warden and Claddagh Watch volunteers for their swift action to replace the stolen equipment, he said members of the public had also reported the thefts.
“When people see this happening, they need to follow the instructions on the lifebuoy boxes and report it without delay. Three of the stolen buoys washed up on Dead Man’s Beach and they have been taken in to be used if any more are to go missing.
“I would appeal to anybody who has information on this to come forward to the gardaí because the people who are doing this need to be taught a lesson,” said Cllr McNelis.
“Maybe they need to be brought on a patrol of the rivers. If they knew how terrifying a situation it is when someone enters the water, they might think twice about their actions.”
(Photo by Andrew Downes, xposure.ie: Claddagh Watch Patrol’s Paul Gibney, Cllr Niall McNelis and Arthur Carr on the banks of the Corrib).
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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