A high-level Galway City Council delegation met with Galway West TDs during government formation talks to advocate for massive investment in the city and region.
The Mayor of Galway, Peter Keane, and Galway City Council’s chief executive, Leonard Cleary, met with Galway’s two new super junior ministers, Noel Grealish (RIG ) and Hildegarde Naughton (FG ), alongside veteran TD Catherine Connolly (Ind ), and first timer John Connolly (FF ), who himself sat on the local authority before he was elected to the Dáil last November.
Local senators were not invited to the meeting last Friday week as their election was underway, while Mairéad Farrell TD (SF ) was unable to attend due to emergency meetings with constituents regarding Storm Éowyn.
Keane (FF ) and Cleary presented a list of 11 projects which require government funding to progress.
These are: the Galway City Ring Road; the Cross City Link and Dublin Road bus schemes; the Galway City Flood Defence Project; bumping Galway City to a Tier 4 local authority; piloting a tourist bed-night tax; a new waste water treatment plant; upgrading 18km of urban roads to multi-modal corridors; the Sandy Road and Dyke Road regeneration plans; the Clifden Railway pedestrian bridge; and funding to build the new Ardaun suburb, and progress national cultural infrastructure in Galway city.
By law, the mayor and chief executive of Galway City Council must meet local Oireachtas members once per year. One long-term observer told the Advertiser that new city manager, Cleary, had a different approach to previous officials.
“Normally, TDs and senators needle the Council to do things for their constituents, but this was different. The two [Cleary and Keane], presented to the parliamentarians what they need to do for the city. It’s definitely a new way of doing business.”
Watch this space.
