Galway Harbour Company is almost ready to sign off on a deal with the Land Development Agency (LDA) which would pave the way for housing on a six-acre city centre site.

Chief Executive of the Port of Galway, Conor O’Dowd, told councillors in an update on the port’s activities that the deal consisted of a transfer of one-third of harbour lands to the State-run development agency.

“The LDA has been engaging with us and we are at the final stages of due diligence for the opening of some land.

“It is fair to say that by the end of quarter one of 2024, we will have a transfer concluded with the LDA,” said Mr O’Dowd.

It would be the LDA that would carry out detailed design for the site, he said, in consultation with the Harbour Company.

The lands in question are located adjacent to existing sheds on the site and would provide for partial development of the area for which there is broader regeneration plans once the long-mooted Outer Harbour is complete.

A planning application for a deepwater port capable of taking larger vessels was lodged with An Bord Pleanála in January 2014, and despite almost 10 years having passed, no decision has been forthcoming.

Mr O’Dowd said he believed the application was advancing and the Board would make a decision “within 12 to 15 months”, adding that the current port could not keep up with demand.
This is a shortened preview version of this story. To read the rest of the article, see the November 17 edition of the Galway City Tribune. You can support our journalism and buy a digital edition HERE.