Wandering horses on Headford Road ‘will cause death’

There was a stark warning this week that will take a fatality along the Headford Road before the scourge of wandering horses is addressed – because all of the main state agencies are refusing to take responsibility for the problem.

Neither Galway County Council, Galway City Council, Transport Infrastructure Ireland nor the Department of Agriculture will accept responsibility for the stray horses which have been blamed for at least 15 smashes along the road over the past year and a half.

An irate Cllr James Charity tabled a motion calling on Galway County Council to source funding for the erection of fencing along the main N84 at Carrowbrowne in order to prevent horses accessing the road.

However, he has been informed by Galway County Council that they cannot allocate funding from their 2019 roads budget as it is a national road and therefore the responsibility of Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII).

But Cllr Charity said that when he brought the issue to the attention of TII, they told him that it was a matter for Galway County Council.

A response from the Department of Agriculture which was read out at the meeting of Athenry-Oranmore Municipal Council this week did not progress the situation with them saying, “This area is confusing to many” and they were anxious to hear about Galway County Council’s plan to address the problem.

The independent councillor said that in the recent past a young motorist crashed into one of the horses and his car was a write-off. As he had just third party insurance, this motorist is out of pocket to the tune of €3,500.

There was another incident in which a young mother bringing her sick child to hospital struck one of the stray horses and an ambulance and fire brigade were called to the scene. Serious damage was caused to the woman’s car.

“How long are we going to let this situation continue? We have to protect the welfare of the people who use this road but nobody seems to be taking any responsibility,” Cllr Charity added.

He said that it wouldn’t involve huge expenditure to erect up to 300 yards of fencing either side of the entrance to Carrowbrowne.

Director of Services Michael Owens said that the landowners along the Headford Road had been consulted and he explained that there was no requirement on them to erect fencing as they did not have any animals of their own on the properties.

He went on to say that the solution to the problem is not within the remit of Galway County Council.

According to Cllr Malachy Noone (FF), the Department of Agriculture will not get involved either and refuse to round up the stray horses because they are not part of the food chain.

“Nobody seems to want to take responsibility for this problem and it was take a fatality or a serious accident before there will be any action taken,” Cllr Noone said.

It was agreed that the six elected members of Athenry-Oranmore Municipal Council meet with Department of Agriculture officials within the next week to try and find a solution.

In the meantime Cllr Charity’s motion calling on Galway County Council to fund the fencing was unanimously passed.