CITY TRIBUNE
Senator poses ‘awkward’ questions on 2020 spending
Galway’s year-long designation as Capital of Culture in 2020 could turn into another ‘arthouse cinema debacle’ without proper checks and balances being put in place, a senator has cautioned.
Trevor Ó Clochartaigh has again warned about a “lack of oversight and lack of transparency” with regard management of the project now and into the future.
The Sinn Féin politician has posed ‘awkward’ questions of Galway City Council this week in relation to a possible €800,000 overspend so far on the City of Culture and the proposed €230,000 annual salaries of two staff who are to be recruited.
The Connemara-based senator has also queried if the Council has followed proper tender procedures when choosing a company for recruitment, and questioned whether a finance and audit subcommittee of Galway 2020 has been established, as was promised.
The City Council has acknowledged his series of questions and has promised to revert with answers as soon as possible.
“It is important that public representatives ask tough questions now to ensure the success of this designation. I am worried now that there is a complete lack of transparency and a lack of oversight, which could lead to another arthouse cinema debacle,” said Senator Ó Clochartaigh, who fears the City of Culture could turn sour like the ill-fated and long-delayed cinema project.
There are four strands to his questioning, with the first two involving money.
He has asked Galway 2020 to publish a breakdown of the costs associated with the bid. The bid book said expenditure would amount to €1 million in 2016, “but we are told the bid process cost €1.8 million, so does that mean a budget overrun of €800,000 and where will that shortfall be funded from?”
The Council has acknowledged that €27 million from European, state and regional sources will not be available until 2019 or 2020. “The €1.4 million prize for winning the designation isn’t guaranteed either and is only paid if the city delivers on what it said it would in its bid book. Even then it won’t be paid until after 2020, so where is the money coming from in the meantime,” he said.
Senator Ó Clochartaigh has also questioned the advertised salaries of CEO and creative director of the project, which amount to €120,000 and €110,000.
“That’s the guts of a quarter of a million. It’s a lot of money, especially when the City and County Councils are totally strapped for cash. That type of money seems very high to me, especially when there are expenses on top of that.
“I’ve been speaking with artists in Galway who are very concerned that artists will see little financial benefit from the City of Culture because all the money will be spent on managers and administrators. How many more people do Galway 2020 plan to hire in addition to a CEO and creative director? And how does the advertised salaries compare to those of the Galway Arts Festival, Babaró, Cúirt and other cultural and artistic events, because what I’m hearing from people in the industry is close-on €250,000 is quite high?”
Derry company Connected Talent has been chosen to run the recruitment process and Senator Ó Clochartaigh has asked for clarification on whether this was a position that was advertised and given through a public tender process.
“I have also asked the project promoters to clarify what role Connected Talent, or its employees, played in the Derry City of Culture 2013 project, because it seems that this has been key to them securing the contract of recruiting the Galway 2020 team. The company, according to its own PR, was only set up two years ago, after the Derry project was finished.
“I would also like to know who the members of the finance and audit subcommittee of Galway 2020 are; when and how they were appointed; and details on who is carrying out the independent monitoring and evaluation that is outlined in the bid book,” he said.
Senator Ó Clochartaigh said his ‘unpopular’ questions are ones that must be asked if Galway 2020 is to be a success.
“There is a sense out there that Galway 2020 is going to be brilliant and great for the city, and it can be, but from speaking with local artists, there is also a very real fear that it could turn into a debacle, without proper oversight and transparency and monitoring. Now is the time to ask the questions, not when it’s over,” he added.
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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