By Avril Horan

GALWAY City Council allowed parcels of public land throughout the city to sit in legal limbo for decades.

The issue arose this week because a major housing development in the Shantalla area cannot go ahead without a clear title.

The revelation triggered a sharp exchange in City Hall, where councillors warned that Shantalla was not an isolated case and that sections of Galway were effectively “No Man’s Land.”

Cllr Donal Lyons (Ind) told the chamber that the Shantalla oversight was one of several incidents where the Council “haven’t done what they should do”.

He said he was aware of multiple areas in the west of the city where title had never been taken over properly.

“The work was not completed,” he said, calling for the process to be prioritised.

“They didn’t go through the legal formality. There are other lands that have never taken over title, and I want that to be expedited.

“I know at least three or four different areas where the Council has not done what they should do.”

Around 1989, public land in Shantalla was offered to T O’Higgins & Co in exchange for a piece of land at the front of their site that the Council needed for road widening.

But according to official documents released to councillors, Galway City Council never completed the legal registration of the land.

The O’Higgins family “took possession of the pieces of land and fenced them off,” the correspondence stated. However, it was unregistered for 36 years.

Cllr Declan McDonnell (Ind) confirmed that the Shantalla transfer of land happened “almost 40 years ago” and argued that the fixed asset register was “not fully compliant with what we own.”

The register is an official record of land and property owned by the local authority.

“At least five years ago, we were told that the fixed asset register is not in compliance,” he said.

“This is an important piece of infrastructure and corporate governance for this body. It should have happened by now.”

Cllr Terry O’Flaherty (Ind) warned that the city had stretches of “No Man’s Land” where ownership is unclear.

Officials confirmed that historic mistakes were made and accepted that the register was still incomplete.

They said the process to rectify this was well under way and that three-quarters of previously unregistered sites were now registered.

No timeline was provided for when the remaining quarter will be secured, and the matter has been ongoing for over a decade.

In 2013, a statutory audit of Galway City Council warned that the fixed asset register was inadequate.

“Since the 2009 audit report, I have continuously statutory highlighted my concerns in relation to the failure to complete the registration of title process for a number of Council assets,” the report said.

“I note that some progress had been made in relation to the registration of title of assets that were flagged in 2009. Little progress appears to have been made in relation to assets flagged since. This is not satisfactory.

“These failures could potentially result in the loss of an asset to the Council.”

Galway City Council approved the disposal of the area of land to Michael O’Higgins and Maeve Cassidy to formalise the title, which is necessary for the building of 74 houses approved by An Bord Pleanála in 2023.

■ Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.

Pictured: Cllr Donal Lyons (Ind)