From this week’s Galway City Tribune – The city will be without an ice-skating rink this Christmas after the operators announced they could not secure viable insurance.

Galway Skates has been a popular festive attraction in Leisureland in Salthill since 2016 but it will not proceed this year due to soaring insurance costs.  MacDara Hosty of Galway Skates confirmed to the Galway City Tribune that insurance premiums grew eightfold.

“We have an excellent insurance history. We have no claims. It’s just bananas, crazy. It went up by 800%. It was eight times more expensive than what we would’ve been paying previously. It was absolutely not viable,” Mr Hosty said.

The businessman said the excess per claim had also increased from €5,000 to €25,000 depending on the nature of a claim.

“What that effectively means is you’re self-insured because you would be paying out (on claims up to €25,000). God forbid if we had one, and thankfully we never had any, but if there was one, where do you find that money? You have to deal with it until it goes beyond that threshold. I couldn’t sleep at night,” he said.
This is a shortened preview version of this story. To read the rest of the article, and support our journalism, see the November 4 edition of the Galway City Tribune. You can buy a digital edition HERE.