Galway Bay fm newsroom – Galway City Council is to write to the Department of Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government rejecting a report which recommends the merging of the City and County Council.
It follows the publication of a long-awaited report on local government arrangements in Galway which recommends the unification of both local authorities into a ‘Greater Galway Authority’.
‘Ridiculous, amateur, counterproductive and even offensive’ – All words used at this week’s meeting of the City Council to describe the report which recommends that Galway’s local authorities be unified into a single body.
Councillor Padraig Conneely claimed that the report was a document ‘all about saving the county’ at the expense of the future prosperity of the city.
Councillor Niall McNelis argued that the report fails to take the city’s unique culture into account – and any unification would be detrimental to the city, the county, and wider western region.
Councillor Frank Fahy said such a move could see the city reduced to a municipal district, which he said would be cause for serious concern over future funding
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Not all were so quick to dismiss the report – Councillor Cathal O’Conchuir suggested that there is valid scope for introducing some shared services across Galway.
Councillor Colette Connolly argued that any decision should be postponed to allow a full evaluation of unifcations in other counties to be carried out.
CEO Brendan McGrath pledged to issue a report on the position of management if required – and a motion to write to the department rejecting the report was passed unanimously.
A final decision on whether or not to merge Galway City and County Council into a single authority is due to be made in mid-2017.