Date Published: 26-May-2011

BY FRANK FARRAGHER

A LEGAL crux that has arisen over recent weeks between the City Council and the private owner of lands along the route of the Seamus Quirke Road revamp project, now looks likely to be resolved over the next few days, the Galway City Tribune has learned.

Negotiations are at an ‘advanced stage’ between the City Council and the Dun Arus Management Company – the owners of the land at the centre of the legal wrangle.

A compensation figure – believed to be in the €60,000 to €80,000 region – is close to being agreed between the parties over the portion of land in question, at the front of the Dúnárás apartment complex near Fort Lorenzo roundabout.

In the past week, a sign has been placed on the property in front of the apartments that the Council ‘moved in on’, saying ‘private property, no entry’.

The City Council are adamant a verbal agreement had been reached between them and the owners of the property, pending legal formalisation of the arrangement.

However, the owners of the land sought a six figure compensation amount from the City Council when the contractors on the project moved in on the lands a number of weeks back, before the legal agreement had been signed off upon.

The Galway City Tribune learned last evening that a compromise is now close to being reached between the two parties, involving a compensation payment.

No work has taken place on this section of the road revamp over recent weeks and there have been strong exchanges between some councillors and the City Council over the manner in which the transaction was handled.

A City Council spokesman however said yesterday that no deal had yet been done but that discussions were ongoing. “We are now very hopeful that agreement on this issue can be reached very soon,” said the spokesman.

Read more in today’s Galway City Tribune