‘Venice’ canal plan may fail over red tape

Plans to transform Galway into the ‘Venice of the West’ are sinking under the weight of bureaucracy.

Galway City Deputy Mayor, Cllr Niall McNelis says the potential of the city’s canal network is not being tapped because nobody knows who has responsibility for waterways.

The Labour Party Councillor says there are four or five organisations that could be responsible for the city’s canals but there is no clarity as to where ‘the buck stops’.

“Is the Office of Public Works responsible? Or is it Galway City Council, Inland Fisheries, or the Corrib Navigation Trust? Do these organisations even know themselves whether they are responsible for the canals, and if not who does?

“I have sought clarification on this because for all the talk about the potential of Galway to become the Venice of the West, we cannot do that until we know who is responsible,” said Cllr McNelis.

The businessman pointed out that the canal between Raven’s Terrace and Fisheries Tower, which was dry this week, was full of broken alcohol bottles and pint glasses. “Whose responsibility is it to clean it up,” he asked.

“Last week, we had a situation where Galway City was criticised in the IBAL litter league for the state of the canal at Millennium Children’s Park near the Cathedral.

“The inspectors noted that ducks and swans had to dodge shopping trolleys and other debris that was dumped into the water. We need to tackle this problem but we can only tackle it once we know who is responsible for the waterways.

“It is the same with all of the canals in the city. Who, for example, is responsible for the railings along the canals; who is responsible for the grass cutting along the canal walkways; who is responsible for taking litter out of the canals and waterways? I have sought clarity on this.”

Cllr McNelis said Galway’s canals were a huge asset in terms of recreation, amenity and tourism but they are not reaching their potential.