Dear Editor,
May I take this opportunity, through the medium of your valued letters page, to congratulate the incoming Mayor of Galway, Cllr Padraig Conneely on his election, and to extend our best wishes for the stressful mayoral year ahead of him.

As chairman of An Taisce's Galway Association (branch) - there are 27 others around the country - I wish to mention just a few areas where environmental and heritage issues need his urgent attention. I know, having worked with Cllr Conneely for the past four years on the Economic Development & Planning SPC, where he has lived up to his 'outspoken' image, that he has often oozed common sense on many of the sensitive issues which came before us in that time.

His concerns for the growing costs of the Eyre Square refurbishment debacle are well known. An Taisce are also awaiting the outcome of the legal minefield which has grown up around the conclusion of this scheme. The Local Government Auditor has promised to inform us of the final cost outcome when all legal issues are resolved.

He might also find time to turn his gaze on the state of the roadways and pavements passing throughout the heart of our town, where cobbles are broken and loose and where frequent repairs do not seem to last. He might also look at the intersection at Cross Street, High Street and Quay Street, where tarmac has recently replaced the stone setts that were so carefully laid as a feature when those streets were refurbished as part of the pedestrianisation of our city in the late 1990s.

We are also aware of Cllr Conneely's recent call for a 'Clean Up' of the city for next year's Ocean Race. An Taisce have for years been calling for the face of this historic city to be wiped. By this we mean a clean up of the deteriorating state of Shop Street and other retail areas. Many of our shopfronts and building facades have become tacky and have been overtaken by the use of cheap uPVC and plastic signage. Some buildings could do with a coat of paint and the replacement of broken guttering and downpipes where appropriate (see the rear of Eyre Square shopping centre on Merchants Road), where rust stains streak down the walls and where you could be drowned in a rain storm. Ireland West appear to be more interested in the Ocean Yacht Race than in living up to their promise, made last December, to meet with us to discuss this problem. It shouldn't need a major event to stimulate anyone in authority to look after their city

There are so many other areas of concern to us that will demand the deft touch of his Civic Sword (not to forget his Mace). But we know that he will be most ably assisted in his mayoral year by his Deputy, Cllr Collete Connolly, to whom we also send our congratulations.

Yours faithfully,
Derrick Hambleton,
Chairman,
An Taisce - Galway Association,
Kingston,
Galway

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