Park & ride plan never made it out of first gear

Date Published: 30-Apr-2009

A BIG question mark hangs over the commitment to provide park and ride facilities in Galway when it emerged that an English based firm’s plans for such a service were largely ignored.

The owners of the company said this week that they were shocked by the many obstacles that were put in the way of their plans to provide park and ride on the four main approach roads to Galway city.

Those behind the project, including a Galway native, say that they spent a lot of time and money in preparing plans and meeting both Galway City Council and County Council officials to discuss their proposals.

“But in the end, it just seemed as if they weren’t interested as they put a whole heap of obstacles in our way”, remarked Mike de Courcey, who is originally from Cleggan in Connemara.

Mr. de Courcey is a director in a firm which provides park and ride facilities in Coventry and has a fleet of 82 busses specifically for this purpose. His company along with…