Tuam committee proposal labelled “an insult”

Date Published: 17-Jan-2008

A COMMITTEE is being established to look into why Tuam has not benefited from its designation as a hub town.

However, the committee has no funding, no agenda, no power or no influence on any Government department. It has been described as ‘a smokescreen’ to cover up the lack of investment in Tuam over the past five years.

Back in late 2002, Tuam was designated a hub town under the National Spatial Strategy. At the time it was stated that the North Galway town would be given priority when it came to education, infrastructure, employment and health facilities.

But more than five years on, the town has not been bypassed and nor does it have a rail service as was promised under Transport 21. There are proposals to build two new secondary schools in the town as part of an amalgamation process but this has barely got off the ground.

And the contentious issue of providing a replacement hospital in Tuam has been on every single agenda of the local Town Council for the past five years and yet no health facilities have been provided.

Now the Department of the Environment want Galway County Council to establish a Hub Development Committee for the town of Tuam. The committee is being established to…..