Galway County Council has been accused of ‘mislaying’ 45 acres of picturesque coastal land by the man who had to engage in a seven-month battle – just to get them to admit their ownership of it.

Maree man Enda O’Rourke eventually had to take his case to the Ombudsman after the local authority ‘denied’ ownership of the land at Rinville in Oranmore – refusing to take action, despite being informed by him that this public amenity had been marked out as private and taken over by illegally placed livestock.

The publicly owned lands at The Saleen, which are in the joint ownership of the County and City Councils, were secured by the two public bodies in 1985.

Mr O’Rourke, having been one of the community activists who pursued the creation of a public amenity at Rinville 40 years ago, was “ignored”, though, when he tried to alert County Hall that this piece of public property had fallen by the wayside.

On foot of a compliant to the Ombudsman, action was eventually taken but Mr O’Rourke told the Connacht Tribune that he was “outraged” that the public body, charged with taking care of public property, would dismiss a member of the public’s genuine concerns.

“I was ignored. There was no response; no responsibility; no way to submit a genuine query.

“Only that I am as thick as I am – that I ground my teeth and said this had to go somewhere – nothing would have happened,” said the 75-year-old.

Caption: Enda O’Rourke with a map drawn of the Rinville lands, including The Saleen, in 1985 when they were brought into public ownership.

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