Archive News
Shelving of giant CIE plan a ‘major blow’ to Galway
Date Published: 12-Jan-2012
BY ENDA CUNNINGHAM
The shelving of the €800 million plan to create a ‘New Galway’ at Ceannt Station – which was banked on to lift the city out of recession – has been described as a “huge disappointment”.
The National Transport Authority confirmed this week that the project – which would have created hundreds of construction jobs and around 3,000 permanent positions – has fallen victim to the economic downturn.
It’s understood that just two property investment funds in the world had the resources to carry out a project of its scale – one had no interest in the scheme, while the other could not raise funding.
As well as a new railway station, the plan for the 15 acre site was to include around 600,000 square feet of retail space, more than 200 residential units, bars, cafés, restaurants and cultural space.
Martin Whelan, spokesperson for the Construction Industry Federation in Galway said the shelving of the regeneration scheme was a huge disappointment.
“It’s a huge disappointment for Galway, and the entire region would have benefitted too. It would have created significant and good construction jobs for several years, and it’s a lost opportunity in terms of employment.
“This level of investment in Galway would have improved the region’s attractiveness and the country’s attractiveness for further investment. A project like this can very much provide the stimulus we need to create an investment environment,” said Mr Whelan.
Michael Coyle, Chief Executive of Galway Chamber of Commerce told the Galway City Tribune: “It’s extremely disappointing, although it may be understandable given the current state of Exchequer finances and in light of the difficulties in the construction and property development sector. It’s difficult to secure funding at this time.
“There were great hopes that this together with the Port development would lead to a fairly iconic development and establish the new waterfront area of the city. The adjacency of the two projects made it [Ceannt Station] a hugely exciting prospect for the city. It’s a major setback,” he said.
For more on this story, see the Galway City Tribune.
People’s living conditions less than 100 years ago were frightening. We have come a long way. We talk about water charges today, but back then the local District Councils were erecting pumps for local communities and the lovely town of Mountbellew, according to Council minutes, had open sewers,” says Galway County Council archivist Patria McWalter.
Patria believes we “need to take pride in our history, and we should take the same pride in our historical records as we do in our built heritage”. When you see the wealth of material in her care, this belief makes sense.
She is in charge of caring for the rich collection of administrative records owned by Galway County Council and says “these records are as much part of our history as the Rock of Cashel is. They document our lives and our ancestors’ lives. And nobody can plan for the future unless you learn from the past, what worked and what didn’t”.
Archivists and librarians are often unfairly regarded as being dry, academic types, but that’s certainly not true of Patria. Her enthusiasm is infectious as she turns the pages of several minute books from Galway’s Rural District Councils, all of them at least 100 years old.
Part of her role involved cataloguing all the records of the Councils – Ballinasloe, Clifden, Galway, Gort, Loughrea, Mountbellew, Portumna and Tuam. These records mostly consisted of minutes of various meetings.
When she was cataloguing them she realised their worth to local historians and researchers, so she decided to compile a guide to their content. The result is For the Record: The Archives of Galway’s Rural District Councils, which will be a valuable asset to anybody with an interest in history.
Many representatives on these Councils were local personalities and several were arrested during the political upheaval of the era, she explains.
And, ushering in a new era in history, women were allowed to sit on these Rural District Councils – at the time they were not allowed to sit on County Councils.
All of this information is included in Patria’s introductory essay to the attractively produced A4 size guide, which gives a glimpse into how these Rural Councils operated and the way political thinking changed in Ireland during a short 26-year period. In the early 1900s, these Councils supported Home Rule, but by 1920, they were calling for full independence and refusing to recognise the British administration.
“I love the tone,” says Patria of the minutes from meetings. “The language was very emotive.”
That was certainly true of the Gort Rural District Council. At a meeting in 1907, following riots in Dublin at the premiere of JM Synge’s play, The Playboy of the Western World the councillors’ response was vehement. They recorded their decision to “protest most emphatically against the libellous comedy, The Playboy of the Western World, that was belched forth during the past week in the Abbey Theatre, Dublin, under the fostering care of Lady Gregory and Mr Yeats. We congratulate the good people of Dublin in howling down the gross buffoonery and immoral suggestions that are scattered throughout this scandalous performance.
For more from the archives see this week’s Tribunes here
Date Published: 23-Jan-2013
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Date Published: 29-Jan-2013
Athenry FC 1
Kilbarrack United 2
(After extra time)
For the second year in succession Athenry were done in extra time in the FAI Junior Cup as last season’s beaten finalist’s came from behind to snatch an excellent game in Moanbawn on Sunday afternoon.
On a heavy pitch that was only playable following extensive groundwork by club officials all morning, the home side were by far the better side in the opening half, but failed to take advantage of a number of opportunities that came their way.
An Alan O’Donovan penalty gave them a merited advantage just after the restart, but thereafter were on the back foot as Kilbarrack took over, but for all their pressing, the home rearguard were dealing comfortably with their forays.
However they were struck a body blow just six minutes from time, as big striker Keith Kirwan was left all alone at the far post to head the equaliser and from that point on the Dubliners were the better side.
They started off the extra time in the ascendancy and enjoying all the momentum before striking for a good winning goal on 104 minutes. A strong bench allowed them to make some necessary changes and it was not a facility that was available to Athenry manager Gabriel Glavin.
With Gary Forde and Gary Delaney out through suspension following their sending off against OLBC in the previous round, and Seamie Crowe injured, it left their bench rather threadbare with just a number of young squad players available.
Playing with the aid of the slight incline and any wind advantage going, the home side had a Connor Cannon effort on target in the opening minute, while John Meleady was just over with a flick at the other end.
Meleady then tested Andrew Walsh who saved comfortably, before the goalkeeper pulled off a brilliant double save on 14 minutes.
Firstly he went full length to push away a Meleady shot and was then back on his feet to parry David Jackson’s close-range rebound.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Sentinel.
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Galway wrap up campaign with big victory in Mullingar
City seeks to annex Oranmore, Claregalway, Moycullen and Barna in boundary extension
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Man awarded €142,000 over unprovoked attack in toilet of County Galway pub
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Woman convicted of harassing social media guru
