CITY TRIBUNE
Businesses in Galway could benefit by €2 million from cruise passengers
From the Galway City Tribune – Businesses in Galway City could benefit to the tune of almost €2 million over the course of the summer months from passengers aboard cruise ships due to anchor off the bay.
A total of 22 cruise ships will arrive in Galway between May and the end of September and it is expected that those on board will provide a much needed boost for the local economy. Two of those will pay a visit to the Aran Islands as well.
Some of the ships will have up to 1,000 passengers on board – one of the bigger ships Nautica, which will have around 2,000 passengers on board, will visit Galway in the summer of 2024 and this is bound to be an attraction in itself.
The first cruise ship arrived off Galway Bay in the past fortnight and resulted in some 800 passengers being ferried into the city for the day.
They were transported by Glór na Farraige from Aran Island Ferries, which actually started operating its tourist service from Ros a’ Mhíl to the islands much earlier than normal due to the demand.
It was the first cruise ship to arrive off Galway Bay since the pandemic and the estimated 800 passengers who were transported into the Port of Galway provided something of an unexpected spending splurge.
Harbour Master Captain Brian Sheridan said that it was almost nostalgic to witness the return of the first cruise ship of the year and greeting the enthusiastic passengers who got off in the city.
Some of them went on day trips to Kylemore Abbey and Connemara which generated much needed income for some of the local bus companies.
It is estimated that cruise passengers spend, on average, €100 per person in the city alone which is worth almost €2 million for the local retail trade.
The first ship, Borealis, had set out from Liverpool with 1,400 passengers and 800 crew. She sailed to Cobh, stopped off in Galway Bay and went on to Belfast and then south to some warmer climes.
Capt Sheridan explained that, for the moment, the cruise ships are not taking in the Baltic Sea or some parts of the Mediterranean Sea because of the ongoing war in Ukraine.
“Still, it is great to have them back and we will have a busy schedule over the coming months, which is a vital part of the port’s activity,” he explained.
Meanwhile, Capt Sheridan is looking forward to the first phase of the port development which involves almost 70 acres of land being reclaimed from the sea to extend the harbour. It is part of a €126 million expansion.
Last year, a vision for the regeneration of the dockland area of the city, involving the creation of a new “urban quarter” adjacent to the city centre, was set out by the Galway Harbour Company.
(Photo by Joe O’Shaughnessy. The Borealis docked in Galway Bay off Salthill earlier this month).
Bradley Bytes – A sort of political column by Dara Bradley
Galway City Councillors will resume deliberations on the Draft City Development Plan in June, which means two things: long meetings and an even longer list of abbreviations.
The former is a given when rezoning of land is at play; the latter is also likely if the City Plan mirrors the recently-agreed County Development Plan which contained an alphabet soup of shortened phrases.
From ABTA (Area Based Transport Assessment) to MASP (Metropolitan Area Strategic Plan), NWSMP (National Wastewater Sludge Management Plan) to GCTPS (Galway County Transport and Planning Study), and GCMA (Galway County Metropolitan Area) to UFP (Urban Framework Plan) to name but a few, County Councillors were bombarded with shorthand as they compiled a new Development Plan.
And that’s before you mention the myriad of organisations OPR (Office of Planning Regulator), OPW (Office of Public Works), NTA (National Transport Authority), TII (Transport Infrastructure Ireland) who were making submissions about MAs (Material Alterations), WWTP (Waste Water Treatment Plants), LAPs (Local Area Plans), and LTP (Local Transport Plans) etcetera.
County Councillors needed qualifications in abbreviations and gobbledegook just to keep up with it all; many are now suffering a sort of PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) and the DTs (Delirium Tremens) or AWD (Alcohol Withdrawal Delirium) since they finalised the plan, but that’s all due to withdrawal from abbreviations rather than alcohol.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
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Legendary singer/songwriter Andy Irvine will play the Gig Room in the Kinvara Community Centre next Saturday, May 28, at 8pm.
With an impressive repertoire of Irish songs and Balkan dance tunes, he is renowned for his unique fusion of Irish and World music.
Andy’s musical career took off when he joined Sweeney’s Men in 1965, touring extensively with them before leaving in 1968 to pursue his own musical journey. That took him to Bulgaria, Romania and Yugoslavia, as he studied the music and traditions of these places.
During this time, he began playing the bouzouki professionally, as it allowed him to develop his own style while deepening his knowledge of Balkan music.
Back in Ireland Andy founded the now-legendary Planxty with Christy Moore, Donal Lunny and Liam O’ Flynn. When the group took a break in 1967, he recorded an album with Paul Brady, simply entitled Andy Irvine & Paul Brady, which became a classic.
For more, read this week’s Galway City Tribune.
Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App
Download the Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App to access to Galway’s best-selling newspaper.
Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
Or purchase the Digital Edition for PC, Mac or Laptop from Pagesuite HERE.
Get the Connacht Tribune Live app
The Connacht Tribune Live app is the home of everything that is happening in Galway City and county. It’s completely FREE and features all the latest news, sport and information on what’s on in your area. Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
The world premiere of E-Bow, a work for string quartet and electric guitar by composer Dave Flynn, will take place this Sunday, May 22, at 3pm at the O’Donoghue Theatre, NUIG. Admission is free and all are welcome.
E-Bow will be performed by Galway’s quartet in residence, ConTempo, and Dave Flynn himself. A work in three movements, it plays with the tradition of the guitar quintet, which dates back to the late 18th century, but brings it in new directions by using an electric guitar with the addition of an e-bow.
This is a hand-held electronic bow invented by Greg Heet in 1969 and patented in 1978, after which it became an essential tool for rock guitarists. Performers including Blondie, U2, Radiohead, Big Country, Genesis, Pink Floyd and R.E.M. have used them, but e-bows are less common in classical music because they don’t work on nylon-string classical guitars.
The work was co-commissioned by long-term commissioning partners Galway Music Residency (GMR) and Galway City Council and is being presented as part of Arts in Action, by GMR, in association with Dublin’s Contemporary Music Centre.
Sunday’s show will also include a performance of Philip Glass’ Mishima, arranged for string quartet and electric guitar, with special permission from the composer. Philip Glass composed this piece for the film Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters, about Japanese author Yukio Mishima who died in November 1970 after performing Seppuku (ritual suicide by disembowelment).
For more, read this week’s Galway City Tribune.
Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App
Download the Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App to access to Galway’s best-selling newspaper.
Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
Or purchase the Digital Edition for PC, Mac or Laptop from Pagesuite HERE.
Get the Connacht Tribune Live app
The Connacht Tribune Live app is the home of everything that is happening in Galway City and county. It’s completely FREE and features all the latest news, sport and information on what’s on in your area. Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
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