New Developments in Galway City

there was some talk a few years ago about a highrise building being built in salthill, galway. i think that proposal is dead now though. check out http://www.salthillpark.com/tower.htm to see. i haven’t heard anybody mention it in quite some time.

It looks like a biscuit tin! Were they serious?

i don’t know too much about it. i just heard it mentioned on this website roughly 2-3 years ago. it does look very odd mind. surely they can come up with something better. i don’t know whether that project is dead or not. :confused:

Here is a classic example of where not to build a high rise building – it would stick out like a sore thumb and would have not context – it would be tied to none of the surrounding architecture. Now put this in Dublin’s docklands and we might be making a little progress. Again, this is an example – if it is for real – of the type of proposal that raises people’s heckles about high rises in Ireland.

Obviously the issue of coastal erosion and rising sea levels in the next 50 years have not been given too much consideration.

Doesn’t seem to be to much going on in galway. The new building beside the Spanish arch is looking good though. If one had the unfortunately totalitarian right to vacate the houses on the other side of the river from spanish arch and round towards salthill, some interesting things could be done. Walked along the road to salthill yesterday, some of the landscaping is abysmal and so unfortunate to have the road fronted with bland housing estates. That stretch, also the stretch bordering lough Atallia? could be fantastic, bland housing estates and bad landscaping all round though.

perhaps they did use a biscuit tin in the photo. lol.

@PDLL wrote:

Here is a classic example of where not to build a high rise building – it would stick out like a sore thumb and would have not context – it would be tied to none of the surrounding architecture. Now put this in Dublin’s docklands and we might be making a little progress. Again, this is an example – if it is for real – of the type of proposal that raises people’s heckles about high rises in Ireland.

I agree with you in that the particular building proposed would not have context, given it’s utter ugliness, but i do not agree with your opening statement, i would consider this as a prime location for a stand-alone landmark tower, given it’s iconic status, and if tastefully done could really define and complement the surrounds.
Anyway, im afraid my knowledge of new galway developments is limited so i’ll let ye guys at it..

That won’t be built anyway. It seems to be impossible to build anything tall in this country. There are far too many proposals that are approved yet where are they?

Time to resurrect this thread I think…

Heres a couple of pics of the nearly complete Galway City Museum by the OPW.

I’ll have to get more photos of it as it’s quite an interesting building and quite nicely detailed as you’d expect from OPW. I pass the site almost every day and I must admit that having hated the building at first it’s now beginning to grow on me.

I really wish however that they had handled the service enclosure on the roof of the building a bit more sensitively. It literally looks like a portacabin dumped up there and it definitely did not appear on the renderings or the scheme model… Even if they had clad the whole thing in metal louvres or something it would be an improvement…

I’ll try and get some more photos up here ASAP. There is lots going on in Galway and unfortunately most of it isn’t even close to the standard of the City Museum. A few notable examples are the hideous apartments going up at Ravens Terrace which are completely changing the character of the Claddagh Basin, the bizarre sheathing of the Bon Secours hospital on the dublin road with shiny golden panels – really vulgar although the rest of the redevelopment looks promising – and the Las Vegas-esque Bailey Point in Salthill – a towering wedding cake which has been plagued by construction problems.

I’d like to say I have some nice stuff to post as well but I can’t really think of any just now…

As promised heres a few of Galway’s recent developments…

First is one that’s been completed for a while now – Fairgreen House by OKM Architects, Galway. Habitat’s shop is great but the rest of the building isn’t so easy on the eye! What you don’t see here are the other two facades, one of which is plain rendered and the other a bizarre tartan grid of red and black terracotta tiles… The Site in the foreground is to be redeveloped into a new coach station, offices and some sort of High – tech business centre according to the approved plans.
Its by OKM also. And diagonally across the road from Fairgreen House is yet another OKM development in a similar glassy, curvey style…

Again apologies for the tiny tiny pictures!

Is it just me or is it really worrying that a whole quarter of Galway is being developed in this way – One architect, one overriding style that could be categorized as being blandly commercial at best. Maybe it’ll look great when all the buildings are finished but it’s not looking great at the moment!

Here is the Bailey Point building in Salthill by Douglas Wallace (designed many many years ago I believe!). It should have opened about 3 years ago but has been beset by problems from the start. It will eventually accommodate a multi screen cinema in the basement, bar, restaurant, nightclub and lots and lots of apartments. I’d say the view from those penthouses is pretty amazing!

and the old Burren Mount hotel beside it is looking a little worn – whoever owns it is sitting on a fortune but obviously prefers to maintain this old relic of seaside holidays in the 50s.

Here is the redevelopment of the Atlanta Hotel by Roddy mannion & Associates. Owing to the incredibly poor quality of the construction and detailing I can only assume (hope) that the architect was dropped by the developer after the planning permission was granted.

View from Claddagh

View From WolfeTone Bridge (Quay St)

And the award for “Most Tokenistic Use Of Copper Cladding” goes to…

There was real potential on this site for a high quality landmark building addressing the river, the Claddagh Basin and the approach from Salthill. I don’t think that this meets that challenge. The detailing is unbelievable – There’s a dark grey felt roof folding over onto black PVC vertical cladding which meets the white aluminium windows, theres the copper clad lift shaft topped off with a black PVC fascia and gutter, theres countless poorly resolved junctions of render/cladding/timber and to top it all off the token timber cladding on one elevation swops from vertical joints to horizontal from one bay to another… Nasty…

I know these photos show the building under construction and it’s a bit of a mess of scaffolding etc, but I’m really worried about the end result from what can be seen emerging underneath.

bth..the image for the bus station you have is wrong. i don’t know where you got that but kindly stop using it. in fact i don’t know where you got any of your images. please tell

@BTH wrote:

Here is the Bailey Point building in Salthill by Douglas Wallace (designed many many years ago I believe!). It should have opened about 3 years ago but has been beset by problems from the start. It will eventually accommodate a multi screen cinema in the basement, bar, restaurant, nightclub and lots and lots of apartments. I’d say the view from those penthouses is pretty amazing!

God that’s hideous. Most of what get’s built in Galway is pure shlock!

Apologies for the Bus Station pic – it was actually used to illustrate the proposal a couple of years ago in the City Tribune or one of the local papers – I just noticed last week that the image is actually of a recently completed development in the Liosban Industrial Estate…
And as for where I get my pictures, why, I take them myself – except for the images that I find on Google! Is there a problem with that??

TBH it looks good in those photo’s. It’s like a minor Eastern European dictator’s retreat house, All it needs is the large bronze statute out front. Pity, becuase the complex itself sounds great.

From what I can see in the photos the new OPW-designed Galway City Museum seems like a well-considered addition, appears a bit busy though, however it’s scale & massing seem appropriately to its context. Reminds me of a Richard Meier beach house; neither an insult nor compliment, just an observation.

On the other hand the Fairgreen House development is shocking, it’s one of the worst looking schemes I’ve seen in recent years. By comparison it makes the new heap o’ crap on Dublin’s Capel Street look decent (well maybe not, but you see where I’m going with this).

What’s going on in Galway? It was once a decent-looking city. Dublin by-and-large, disregarding a lot of what was thrown up in the 60’s, 70’s & 80’s, has put most of it’s recent vomit-inducing monstrosities outside of the city-proper, however in Galway they’re plonked right in the city centre, and there are so many of them. Also Dublin because of it’s size can absorb more crappy developments and remain relatively unscathed, however Galway, being a small city, developments like this are having an immense impact on it’s general perception from a built environment point of view.

Are cities such as Galway & Limerick making the same mistakes now that were committed a generation ago & subsequently learned from in Dublin? Is there an attitude of any development is good development?

@Craig Davis wrote:

Are cities such as Galway & Limerick making the same mistakes now that were committed a generation ago & subsequently learned from in Dublin? Is there an attitude of any development is good development?

I think Limerick has put in a relatively good show along its southern bank quaysides. Bishops Quay and Steamboat Quay spring to mind. Approaching along the northern quays from Shannon, the docklands area looks so much better than the once did not so long ago.

Does anybody have a picture of the new cinema development that was much acclaimed or the NUIG building with the large copper panon the outside. Saw a picture of it once and it looked very nice.

The cinema development – Eye Cinema – is yet another scheme commissioned by Gerry Barrett’s Edward Holdings from Douglas Wallace. Beats the other offer hands down. These two companies seem to be able to dish out some pretty nice stuff, their track record in Galway is pretty good, unlike some of the monstrosities above!

I have posted images in another earlier post called Galway Cinema!

Found these other images of the scheme too….

@PTB wrote:

Does anybody have a picture of the new cinema development that was much acclaimed or the NUIG building with the large copper panon the outside. Saw a picture of it once and it looked very nice.

This? It is nice.

And The Eye.

Good to see some of the nice stuff happening in Galway on here! Both buildings are excellent with a few minor concerns – for one thing copper is being really overused in Galway! And the cinema has one really dodgy facade that is unfortunately very visible when coming in from the Dublin Road – its a pity the design didn’t carry through… It’s forgiveable though when the rest of the building, inside and out, has such flair…

Ah yes, just the ones. The college development ( GMITor is it NUIG?) is a quite stunning building, one of the most contempary and dramatic looking buildings in the country. I’m quite surprised that it was’nt mentioned before, then again this thread has a very downbeat focus and seems to only concern the negative aspects of developments in the city. Is there any other buildings that recieve positive comments in the city?

That’s the GMIT. Yeah it’s a classy building. The only problem is like most of Galway it’s located on a highway out from the city centre. Most of Galway seems to be developing like this strung out along dual carriageways

Aparently that Douglas Wallace building was modelled after the Thunder Cats Lair:D

Any of you familiar with Galway and its environs must know the Miesian house located roughly half way between Oranmore and Galway city, it’s raised up on what I think are I-beam pilotis and has a completely glazed facade (albeit protected with several acres of curtains.) I’ve only ever caught glimpses of this gem from the window of one of Bus Eireann’s finest but it would be great if any of ye could organise a few sneaky snaps of it for the thread since, ironically, its modernist (perhaps anti-contextual) approach leaves it hovering very nicely on the marshy banks of the bay.

The new building on the canal at the Claddagh end is such a wasted oppurtunity, it looks like they’ve lumped together the blandest aspects of any number of apartment blocks.

Jammyd,
Along with Dunnes Stores they are mooted to be anchoring the city west development on the Western Distributor road(near Monkey Business).

RMJM to Design Major Engineering School in Galway
Archiseek / Ireland / News / 2006 / January 11

RMJM is to design the National University of Ireland, Galway’s new

@Jammyd wrote:

yeah i know the house your talking about wasn’t too impressed to be honoust, Does anyone have any plans of the new ballybrit shopping centre anchored by dunnes stores or the recently approved 6 storey hotel near the race course, was also wondering if anyone knew what there developing on the tuam road it seems quite a high rise development for galway havent heard anything about it in the local press. the picture of the finished product leaves alot to be desired.

Did you get any plans for the new hotel by the racecourse? I was hoping to find out who the developers are.

Developer is a chap called Connolly – not sure of the company name but of the GAA family of the same name. He’s poached the former GM from the City West to act as operations man. It seems a real ‘mate and two veg’ sunday dinner hotel is planned. More of the usual……….so wouldn’t hold out for innovative design concepts….

@shiloh wrote:

It seems a real ‘mate and two veg’ sunday dinner hotel is planned….

😀 😀

Douglas Wallace were not the architects responsible for the Bailey Point development in Galway. The architect responsible was actually Architectural Design Technology. Douglas Wallace were employed in the latter stages of the project by the developer and then, following the developer going into receivership, by the receiver KPMG. Douglas Wallace’s brief in both instances was to resolve both planning compliance and legal ownership/certification issues.

@BTH wrote:

Here is the Bailey Point building in Salthill by Douglas Wallace (designed many many years ago I believe!). It should have opened about 3 years ago but has been beset by problems from the start. It will eventually accommodate a multi screen cinema in the basement, bar, restaurant, nightclub and lots and lots of apartments. I’d say the view from those penthouses is pretty amazing!

My apologies. I’ve heard Douglas Wallace’s name mentioned in regard to the development on numerous occasions so I assumed that they designed it. However, finding out that they are just clearing up the problems with the building makes a lot more sense!
Would it be possible to edit my original post to remove reference to Douglas Wallace?

PLANNING application has been lodged for a €400m development of commercial and residential properties together with civic amenities on the Crown Control site in Galway city. The developers, Stephen Harris, Walter King and Bernard McKeown, plan to include 26,425 sq m of retail space, mainly of the retail warehousing type. The anchor is expected to be a DIY store with a garden centre.

In addition there will also be 11,563 sq m of residential accommodation consisting of 140 residential units. Other buildings will contain 9,378 sq m of office accommodation plus 9,286 sq m of additional accommodation which will consist of a 100 bedroom hotel, a creche and leisure facilities.

Located in a high profile position between the Monivea Road and Tuam Road and approximately 2km from Eyre Square, the 12.5 acre site is close to the bus services to the city centre. It is designed around a civic square which will accommodate cultural and community events and will be larger than the former central green area of Eyre Square.

DTZ Sherry FitzGerald statistics reveal that the Galway market witnessed a significant recovery in activity levels during 2005 with the total quantity of accommodation taken up reaching 25,700 sq m, almost double the level recorded in 2004.

The supply of accommodation in the city centre market was significantly limited with the vacancy rate at only 1.7% at the end of December.

Donal Buckley
Irish Independent

Couple of interesting announcements lately:

The scheme on the former Crown site at Mervue looks huge. Unfortunately it also looks fairly bog – standard. Massive slabs of buildings with ridiculous looking “features” such as a huge red cylinder plonked on top. Must dig out the images and post them…
It amazes me that the architects of this scheme continue to get such major commissions as their recent track record with commercial buildings is pretty dire – all flash and no substance.

The application for the rebuilding of the horrific Galway Shopping Centre has been re-submitted. This €450 million scheme aims to quadruple the size of the shopping centre, create a network of streets around it with apartment buildings and ground floor cafe/retail uses and to create a landmark civic building at the Terryland roundabout to house a small theatre, a municipal gallery and other cultural uses. M&S and Debenhams are the mentioned anchors who will join Tesco and Penneys in the redevelopment. I hope this goes ahead sooner than later as the current centre is a disgrace.

Most excitingly it’s been reported that an application for €750 million redevelopment of the CIE lands behind Eyre Sq and Ceannt Station is to be submitted in the coming months. Sean O’Laoire of Murray O’Laoire Architects is said to be heading a multi-disciplinary team who are working up a masterplan for the huge site which has the potential to significantly increase the scope of Galway’s city centre retail and business core. The scheme is also set to include a new Bus station with 25 bays, a completely renovated and expanded train station with 3 platforms (currently just 1) to accommodate Limerick and commuter services. It remains to be seen whether the scheme includes land currently occupied by the oil tanks at the docks which, when cleared, will offer fantastic waterside development opportunities.
I have high hopes for this site as it’s an opportunity for a whole new urban quarter for Galway which could potentially absorb a lot of the pressure that the historic core is coming under from high st. multiples etc. It’s just off Eyre Sq. so couldn’t be more central and forms a major gateway into the city by rail, which will be an increasingly important approach in the near future. I’ll post any further info when I get it!

BTW, Eyre Sq is really taking shape – almost finished at last! It looks well, somewhat over-fussy in places and some ridiculous mistakes, such as the cladding of the public jacks in horizontal banded copper. I’ll give it 3 months before it’s so stained with footmarks, puke and worse that it’ll have to be painted over. When will people realize that pre patinated Copper should not be used at ground level – it cannot be cleaned effectively! A pub in Galway learned the hard way a few years back, the shopfront was clad in copper and looked great – for a few weeks. They tried cleaning it and the patination came off leaving the brown copper below. They ended up painting over it all…

jealousy is a terrible thing bth. it’s very easy to insult when not using your name. the reason we get these commisions is that contrary to you opunion we do good design, we are able to take it from concept to built reality within a reasonable proximity to the budget and we are such darn nice people. how is your practice doing???why don’t you talk about the projects you do and post some pictures ….

My apologies FIN for hurting your feelings… And no, jealousy does not come into the equation, just sadness and frustration at the standards that seem to pass for architecture in Galway… A scheme may come in on time and on budget but that does not mean that the end result adds anything positive to it’s surroundings as a good building should.

In my opinion the schemes on the Fairgreen are abysmal in terms of streetscape quality, handling of materials and in plain old human experience… There is nothing remotely pleasant about looking at or walking around/through these buildings and thats a real shame. A whole section of the city has been ruined by lowest common denominator, engineer driven design.

Im sorry if this seems insulting but I’m sure my opinions don’t make one bit of difference. As long as targets for square footage are met and it can be done reasonably cheaply, with a little bit of superficial flashyness (acres of curtain walling/brise soleil/strange red things on the roof) to keep the potential tenants and the planners happy – the commissions will just keep rolling in…

BTW, I don’t have a practice, but if and when I do I hope to god I don’t end up producing more of the dross that currently blights Galway. A couple of practices have the city fairly sewn up between them and it’d be an interesting excercise to post pictures of all the buildings they have done over the past 20 years to see what effect a real lack of architectural thought has had over a sustained period…

you didn’t hurt my feelings bth. their is always critism when one practice is obviously commisioned more by bigger clients and therefore in their eyes better than anyone else. it is part of a wider plan for the area which as you may be aware and remember was in a dire state for years. when the bus/train station is built ( by others by the way) then that whole area will have been transfored within only a few years which is exciting. i disagree, it is a functional area in galway providing areas for offices and in this regard in my view gives a pleasent working environment. coming in from the train it looks good.
with the state of architecture in general in galway it is a breath of fresh air. and an attempt to drag us into the 21st century rather than the often backwards looking attemtps at creating buildings to blend in which again in my opunion is nonsense.
at the end of the day, our job is to keep the clients and the planners happy. they pay the bills and that let us work. if you are to have your own practice that might be a lesson worth learning.
engineer driven design, first of all, that’s nonsense. it’s not a square box! 🙂 seriously though, obviously it has to be able to stand up so in effect every building is essentially engineer driven as there is no point showing a client a design that can’t work.
you don’t have a practice that much is obvious, but i was wondering who you worked for or at least post some of pics from the practice you work for and we will discuss them

Fin, can I just add myvoice to the claim that recent developments in Galway seem to be going out of their way to be ugly and unimpressive. GMIT wins an award for their “sails” and sudenly everything has to have copper cladding? There’s a difference between “dragging someone into the 21st century” and building ikea flat pack, fold away buildings.

i agree jammy…copper is being used way too much. wellpark has way too much of it,if they restricted it to the cinema it would have done, eyre square has a couple of toilets clad in copper….they don’t look too impressive at the moment but i am awaiting completion to see how they fit overall. …but even in the county towns they are going mad for copper. there is 2/3 in loughrea and now one in craughwell.i am sure oranmore isn’t too far away from getting one. i ‘m not too sure if ballinasloe has any yet or is likely to get. more than likely it’s in the pipeline. maybe one in a town is ok but people see what happened with gmit and copy it. it’s just some people take it too far. personally i think it’s lazy architecture just to put something that is in fashion at the time u are designing.shows a lack of iminagation.
the buildings that i was talking about do not have any copper…well not too sure on the new bus park as i haven’t seen the elevations in a while but the others don’t.
i will say this, i am not a fan of the ral colour that was picked for the blanking panels in the glazing. i can see where the cut-backs took effect when building.
i will admit that the use of copper is creeping in to some designs from okm but this is being kept to a minimum.
he doesn’t like our designs ( as a company ) but maybe he could get a job here and try to influence ‘better’ design 🙂 we are always looking for staff….

As i recall it’s used reasonably sparingly on that Prospect Hill design u mention JammyD, just for roof features and I think one strip running down the facade – for once it actually looked like the use of copper was quite well-considered in the renderings I saw, not just plastered on without any real thought (as on the Oranmore project you mentioned which is one of the worst schemes I’ve seen in a long time!).
Personally I love copper as a material and I really think that the patinated stuff really works well with the quality of light etc. in Galway in particular. Plus it has a reasonable precedent on old public buildings such as the University and the Cathedral. It’s the absolutely bitty, tokenistic use of it on buildings like the new development at the Claddagh basin that really pisses me off whereas on something like Wellpark, GMIT and even the new building in Loughrea it’s used with a little bit of flair… Give me copper roofing/cladding/detailing any day over PVC or cheap aluminium panels!
The Eyre Square jacks and Kiosk are a joke, I can’t believe they are being so stupid to use Copper in this way on buildings which are going to get so much wear/grafiti/abuse etc… I guarantee they will look disgusting within a month of the square opening just like what happened with the Living Room…

i agree there.
and may i say that it was the developers choice in oranmore for the copper. ( i forgot about that one ) it was not in the design.i like timber i must say..there is one in loughrea at the mement that looks quite interesting. and the 3d went back up in craughwell last week and it doesn’t look too bad.
i haen’t seen the new train station yet…any links?
that thing down on the claddagh is not very nice alright. i think it’s the windows that make it completely shite though…plus there is way too much copper

Well Galway seems to have been put on the cards this year with the Eye Cinema – Edward Holdings/Douglas Wallace scheme – which was named best commerical building of the year for 2006.

University unveils plan for €400m expansion (Irish Times)

Lorna Siggins, Western Correspondent

http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/ireland/2006/1204/1164823956522.html

NUI Galway has drawn up a €400 million expansion and development plan, involving 20 large infrastructural projects on its 260-acre campus.
The plan, which will be unveiled today, also aims to turn the campus towards the river Corrib and develop the riverside environment. Sale of existing university property on Nun’s Island in the city centre may be required to finance the ambitious scheme.
The university hopes to raise the target sum of €400 million through State funding, college resources and private, philanthropic donations.
NUI Galway (NUIG) president Dr Iognáid Ó Muircheartaigh says the plan responds to a 40 per cent growth in student numbers over the past six years, and to the university’s role in supporting indigenous, high-value industry.
“Already we are home to the National Centre for Biomedical Engineering Science and the Digital Enterprise Research Institute, which are world-class facilities,” Dr Ó Muircheartaigh says.
“We also have the Moore Institute, which is undertaking pioneering research in the humanities and social sciences.”
The university now has an international reputation for supporting “fourth-level” activity, as in postgraduate research, but similar “world-class facilities” are required for its undergraduate students, he says.
The college has grown from 11,000 students in 2000 to 15,000 students currently, and to this end the NUIG’s governing authority authorised a capital development programme in May of this year.
Work has already begun on some of the new projects, but the college wants to ensure that future development is integrated, rather than piecemeal. Flagship buildings will include a new €21 million sports centre, a cultural centre, and an engineering building due for completion in 2009 at a cost of over €50 million.
It will replace the existing engineering faculty accommodation spread across 13 buildings, most of which are off the main campus and which include valuable city centre property on Nun’s Island.
A new human biology building will combine the work of the departments of anatomy, physiology and pharmacology, while a new law school will include jury rooms and a court room which can be used by the Courts Service on campus.
The plan involves refurbishing the 19th century quadrangle, extending the existing arts millennium building and clinical sciences institute, expanding the James Hardiman library and replacing pitches at the sports grounds in Dangan.
An emphasis on “campus mobility” will include a new entrance on Newcastle Road and parking and transport initiatives such as “park and ride” to reduce pressure on the university’s existing carparking facilities.
The “campus of the future” programme aims to “harmonise the natural and built environments”, preserving existing walkways and open spaces where possible and “creating” a riverside “amenity” which can be used by the wider Galway community. The “student experience” will be a core principle of the development, which is all subject to planning approval, Dr Ó Muircheartaigh says.
A model of the proposed development will be on display at the Orbsen building, NUIG, from 10am to 4pm over the next fortnight, and local consultation will take place on a “project by project basis”.

Campus Aerial View:

Campus Map: http://www.nuigalway.ie/about/maps/map.php

NUIG News & Events: http://www.nuigalway.ie/news/main_press.php?p_id=403

Image below Irish Times:

Finding its place on the waterfront

© 2007 The Irish Times Wed, Jan 10, 2007

Galway’s new museum has been dogged with difficulties, and seems to be still trying to establish its core identity, writes Lorna Siggins
“The museum will be part of what we call the ‘ring of pearls’ for Galway city.” Senator Fintan Coogan, Seanad Éireann, June 2nd, 1999
“A museum is a non-profit making, permanent institution in the service of society and of its development . . . which acquires, conserves, researches, communicates and exhibits, for purposes of study, education and enjoyment, material evidence of people and their environment.”

International Council of Museums
When Galway city councillors met before Christmas to discuss their new “pearl”, the philosophy of a museum may have been on the minds of some – a philosophy which has changed radically since the early exhibits of Renaissance collectors and “wunderkammer” or privately-owned “cabinets of curiosities”. Yet the main thrust of the debate focused on euro and cent, and whether the new cultural institution should have an admission charge.
Thankfully, city officials’ preference for a fee was voted down by elected councillors during the budget debate. Feeding into that debate, however, was a simmering sense of frustration on the part of several councillors in relation to progress since the museum opened earlier this year. “After an experience like Eyre Square, one is entitled to be a bit paranoid about anything that Galway City Council lays its hands on,” said one councillor who did not want to be identified. “One would hate to think that this paranoia might be well founded.”
Designed by Ciaran O’Connor and Ger Harvey of the Office of Public Works (OPW), the €9.6 million structure has been a long time in gestation since Ireland-West Tourism identified it as a priority in a study of the city’s cultural needs. “Our artefacts cannot be displayed there. It is embarrassing to show tourists the size,” Fine Gael senator Fintan Coogan said of the existing civic museum in Comerford House, Spanish Arch, during a June 1999 Seanad adjournment debate – although the white-washed house and its curator Bill Scanlan were, and are, still the subject of several warm reviews in international guidebooks.
A feasibility study was commissioned by the Heritage Council and the local authority in 2002, which stated that such a structure should be a flagship project with its “unique waterside location, its remarkable medieval heritage and the city’s own reputation as a cultural tourism destination”. The site next to the Spanish Arch and behind Comerford House was identified; it was agreed that costs would be shared by Galway City Council and the EU.
The building was completed by contractors John Sisk and Son Ltd within budget – to the considerable relief of officials still dealing with the Eyre Square debacle. However, like the square, the museum was behind schedule. Construction deadline was June 2005, and fit-out deadline was to have been October of the same year.
In September 2005, councillors were informed that building was continuing, but was “90 per cent” complete. Tom Connell, director of services for environment, recreation, amenity and culture, said that in spite of the delays it would be a “fantastic infrastructural asset to the city”. Fine Gael councillor Padraig Conneely accused the council of “pouring money down the drain” after he learned the position of curator would have to be re-advertised, because the chosen appointee had decided not to take it up. A panel of other suitable candidates had not been earmarked from applicants.
THE MUSEUM EVENTUALLY opened in early summer with curator/director Sarah Gillespie, who previously worked with the National Museum of Ireland (NMI) and Tipperary South Riding museum in Clonmel. Shortly afterwards, it won a Bank of Ireland Opus architectural award for 2006. The judges noted that it raised the standard and design for the “city of the tribes”. “This small building does many things very well,” the Opus citation said. “A derelict site adjacent to the Spanish Arch has been positively transformed into a new civic space, defined by the new museum, the old city wall and the free-flowing river Corrib.
“Unlike most museums, it is outward- and not just inward-looking,” the citation continued. “It embraces the city vistas and could be a cultural metaphor for a dynamic Galway. We hope it will be an active cultural centre rather than an old-fashioned museum. We know that Galway has been waiting a long time . . . but this building was worth the wait.”
Two concurrent shows were opened to the public for the summer – a display of 55 pieces from the Bank of Ireland’s art collection, including work by Louis le Brocquy, Robert Ballagh, John Behan, Martin Gale, Tony O’Malley, Nano Reid, Patrick Scott and Camille Souter; and the museum’s first temporary exhibition, Conamar Cathrach/Fragments of a city, comprising some of the best medieval and post-medieval stone carvings from the city’s collections, which was curated by city heritage officer Jim Higgins.
During last year’s Galway Arts Festival, the new square backing on to Spanish Arch and the old city wall became the venue for a 20-foot fire-breathing body of a sculptor, entitled Hell Bent and mounted by Scottish visual artist David Mach. In November, the museum became an art gallery yet again for the Tulca Visual Arts Festival when artist-in-residence Louise Manifold hosted The Ghost Gaol, an animation project based on the old Galway jail building which closed in 1939.
Also, as part of Tulca, the museum hosted Omey, a collection of photographs of Omey island off Connemara by French-born Irish resident Nicolas Feve. It was hung in the museum’s “black box”, or climatically controlled room – the only such area in the entire two-storey building. However both Sarah Gillespie and her deputy, former city council Irish language officer and press officer Breandán Ó hEaghra, stress that the building has “met NMI criteria” and envisage no difficulty with this.
Under the Cultural Institutions Act, museums are only empowered to acquire and display archaeological objects on behalf of the State if they are so designated by the director of the NMI. This designation must also extend to the curator. A number of regional museums, including Kerry, Mayo County, Donegal and Tipperary South Riding, have already applied. Once recognised, costs of acquisitions can be shared under a scheme run by the Department of Arts, Sport and Tourism, but there is no department with overall responsibility for the entire museum sector.
Galway is working with the NMI on its application, according to the NMI, which denies reports within museum and conservation circles that it was not consulted adequately about the project. During the hot mid-year months of last year, the city council acknowledges that there were issues with over-heating due to its large windows which offer stunning views of the city and bay. These “issues are being addressed”, says Michael Burke, Galway City Council senior executive officer.
Burke stresses that the NMI consultations were initiated at a “very early stage”, and points out that the Office of Public Works had already designed the NMI’s new folklife building at Turlough Park in Castlebar, Co Mayo. Raghnall O’Floinn, NMI head of collections, confirms that his institution was consulted at “feasibility stage” about Galway’s plans, and says it will be working with it on loans of NMI material this year.
Mayor of Galway Niall Ó Brolcháin is concerned, however. He cites issues such as storage, and the state of existing city artefacts which have been kept in the previous premises at Comerford House. “City officials have told me that the most important items are being well looked after, but there is still material in the old building, and there is a question as to whether that building and the artefacts therein are being properly maintained,” he says. “You only have to look in the window to see.” The mayor is also uneasy about the museum’s decision to close for two months from late December to mount permanent exhibitions. “This museum is a tremendous addition to the city,” he says. However, he said he is very disappointed with the problems involved in getting it up and running.
There are plans, weather permitting, to sail a full-size Galway hooker into the Claddagh from Carraroe, haul it out of the basin, treat it and hang it from the museum’s ceiling – never to touch salt water again. Construction was commissioned by the local authority from builders in Carraroe, and the vessel will be suspended from the main atrium area.
Ironically, traditional boat owners who could not avail of Gaeltacht grants had appealed to Galway City Council earlier last summer to give some financial support to their sector. They argued that such craft have become an international symbol of the city, but are very expensive to maintain for those owners who are not able to avail of Gaeltacht grants for them. It is understood that both the city council and Galway Harbour Company have responded positively to the case made.
STILL, SOME MEMBERS of the Galway hooker community believe that it is “madness” for the city council to spend so much money on a new craft with no history, which will be imprisoned in a building that looks out onto several Claddagh vessels sharing decades of sea miles along the Atlantic coastline. BreandáÓ hEaghra defends the project. “It wasn’t just about building the boat, but about filming the method by which it is done, recording that tradition.”
Michael Burke of Galway City Council says the museum does have a mission statement, which is “being finalised”, and is based on a report commissioned from museum consultant Aidan Walsh several years ago. During the eight- to 10-week closure, sets will be mounted, objects placed under the supervision of conservators, and information panels and audio-visual equipment installed. Permanent displays will begin on the ground floor, and the aim is to relate the history of the city through a “series of storylines”, which will be similar to a “theatre set”, Gillespie and Ó hEaghra explain. “Looking at the past through the present, if you like,” Gillespie says.
Key events such as visits to Galway by Pope John Paul II and the late US president John F Kennedy will be recorded, and the idea is to “give visitors a flavour of what Galway is and what makes it special”. One of the more interesting ideas is the community gallery, comprising pieces selected by 12 individuals who were asked to define what Galway meant to them. A 13-year-old boy made a model of Eyre Square out of metal; another chose his brother’s hurley stick; another participant chose stones and sand from the shores of the bay. A “medieval gallery” will relate the story of Galway’s tribes, and the second floor will focus on the Claddagh and its development.
Ó hEaghra, whose remit extends to education and outreach, has plans to tap into Galway’s arts community, and intends to organise talks, seminars, workshops on specific crafts – similar to those hosted by the NMI’s folklife museum in Mayo. He says that the museum will be “child-friendly”, and is very optimistic about its future. “It is a fresh canvas,” he says. “A very exciting challenge.”

The Galway City Museum seen from under the Spanish Arch. Photograph: Joe O’Shaughnessy
Photograph: The Irish Times

@CologneMike wrote:

The Galway City Museum seen from under the Spanish Arch. Photograph: Joe O’Shaughnessy
Photograph: The Irish Times

Nice image of the new Galway museum building seen through The Spanish Arch. Wonder if anyone has a picture looking in the other direction through the arch. If so, we will see the unmitigated disaster in urban planning that Galway City council has allowed since the late 80ies. Some of the carbuncles given consent would easily qualify for Irelands worst buildings and are excellent candidates for the wrecking ball.

Anyone got any pictures of that?

oh my god guys i seen this and just had to post it i just crapped my pants.
these are the plans for galway in the next 5 to 10 years
N6
The N6, estimated to cost €500 million, is presently at an advanced stage and the compulsory purchase of all lands is nearing completion, we understand all parts of this road will be under construction before the end of 2007. (The contracts have been awarded to the Spanish Giant Construction – P.J Hegarty Company. It is anticipated that this road will be open in 2010, largely impacting on areas like Kiltullagh, Athenry, Oranmore and the Ardaun Corridor.

GALWAY CITY OUTER BYPASS
The next phase will be the GCOB, the Galway City Outer Bypass, which involves the construction of 27km of roadway including the fifth bridge over the Corrib estimated to cost in the region of €340 million. The C.P.O. process has already begun on the road, which will commence at Briarhill/Garraun, continue north where it will cross the Tuam Road (N17) at Two Mile Ditch, travel in a westerly direction where there will be a major intersection at Ballindooley with the N84 Headford road.
This will open up access for areas like Corrandulla, Headford, etc. It will then continue west where it will cross over a new bridge on the Corrib at Menlo (this is very significant as it will be the 5th bridge over the Corrib), then continuing in a westerly direction towards Bushypark and dissecting Glenlo Abbey Golf Club, before crossing over the Moycullen Road (Junction A – benefiting Moycullen, Oughterard, etc.) and turning further west bypassing Knocknacarra and then emerging on the west side of Barna. It will be a dual-carriage and will be equivalent to a ring road around on the west/northern side of Galway City. This has huge implications for all of Galway. First of all, it will make commuting time from all of these areas much more accessible, creating serious opportunities for land development and providing further opportunities for house buyers, warehouses, commercial buildings, shopping centres and park and ride. Bearing in mind the continuation of the provision of the infrastructural services like sewer, water, energy and roads which will open up enormous development potential.
TRAIN STATION, HARBOUR AND C.I.E SITE
Ceannt station is about to be upgraded and C.I.E have a large land bank zoned C1 which is earmarked for the biggest development ever in Galway. It is proposed to construct a 600,000 sq.ft shopping centre which would be the second biggest enclosed shopping centre in Ireland after Dundrum. The total development will be 1,500,000 sq.ft or about €2 billion. A planning application is to be lodged for this in the summer of this year.

As it stands the project is now at an advanced stage with CIE and the Harbour Board, Coras Iompair Eireann and Galway City Council, are preparing a master plan for the area which will include shopping centres, high rise buildings and hotels encompassing the train station, adjacent to the bus station and the fair green which will also link the harbour. On completion, there will be shopping centres, office blocks, apartments and hotels all interlinked with possible access via Eyre Square, the harbour and the CIE station in one entity. Galway City Council have identified this as an area where high rise buildings may be built especially overlooking the water.

THE HARBOUR BOARD
The Harbour Board has a large landbank of c. 32 acres overlooking Galway Bay and are in the process of developing these lands. Their objective is to provide facilities for tourism, aqua centres, cultural centres and perhaps a concert hall together with the shops, pubs, restaurants, and leisure amenities, residential and offices, etc. It is anticipated that the new inner dock will be included in the National Development Plan 2 and the whole area will be revitalised and a new port is to be constructed which will be able to accommodate liners, yachts, etc. We also understand that there is presently a 40,000 tonne oil terminal under construction.

N17 & N18
This road is to be known as the Atlantic Corridor and this will create a vertical road from the north of the country to the south of the country. The effect will be to release land banks in areas like Clarinbridge, Kilcolgan, Ardrahan. It will also open up access to Shannon Airport and reduce travel times to areas like Sligo and Limerick. The CPO process on the Athenry to Ennis Road has already commenced and this road is estimated to cost €430 million.

N.U.I.G.
One of the biggest building projects ever undertaken in an Irish university
is to be erected on the shores of the River Corrib in a €400m expansion for
NUI Galway.
The biggest single development — a €55m engineering centre — will be the largest engineering school in the country and will become an iconic building for the university and the city itself due to its innovative design and visibility from the Quincentenial Bridge.
Another of the more exciting projects is a proposal to build an extra courthouse for the city in conjunction with the courts service which would be linked with a new law school to allow students to have direct access in a very practical way as to how the law works. The public will benefit from an extended walkway around the Corrib, which will become the central focus of the university due to a new entrance from Newcastle Road and an upgraded road along the length of the river.
The bulk of the 20 projects over 260 acres of prime city centre land are likely to be completed within five years, with the entire ‘Campus of the Future’ scheduled to be opened by 2015. Some projects have already begun — among them the €22m sports centre featuring a 25m swimming pool and the €5m cultural centre with cinema, theatre and art gallery.

NEW BRIDGE OVER THE CORRIB
This is a highly significant part of the infrastructure. We presently have four bridges but primarily the Quincentennial Bridge takes the bulk of the traffic together with the Salmon Weir Bridge. The intersection at the Headford road is enormously busy and is a real bottle neck in Galway, by constructing this 5th bridge it will relieve all of this pressure, traffic will not have to enter the city centre and can travel on the ring road.

TYNAGH ENERGY
Tynagh Energy is building Galway’s first power generating station. The €300 million power plant will be a modern state of the art facility using the latest in advanced engineering technology. It will use the cleanest available fuel – natural gas- which will significantly reduce emissions of carbon dioxide. For the first time, Galway City and region will have a reliable and efficient source of power.

BROADBAND
The MAN (Metropolitan Area Network) managed by eNet has been installed around Galway and suppliers all kinds of cables to parks, hospital , companies now have a choice of supply choice and diversity.

RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT
Galway is set to become the capital of research and development for biotechnology in Ireland. As Ireland has now become known as a knowledge based economy it is important for the development of stronger links between industry and academia, Galway with its 20,000 students is well planned to harness these changes.
The reputation of N.U.I.G. is highly regarded, primarily driven by research successes. N.U.I.G. is the home to numerous centres of excellence in the biological and biomedical sciences industry. It is also home to the National Centre for Biomedical Engineering, Science and the Digital Enterprise Research Institute. The Government is funding this research which has exceeded from €10m in 2000 to €50m annual funding today. NUI Galway has had a strong culture of innovation dating back to the early 1980’s when the first Irish small business incubation units were opened on campus. The new bioincubators complement the existing incubators and provide a focus for the commercialisation of the results of biotechnology research in the western region.
It is believed that Biotechnology will be one of the significant technologies of the early 21st century. Simply put it the application of knowledge about living organisms and their components to make new products and to develop new industrial processes. People have used Biotechnology for centuries for example fermentation processes (beer and wine) and food production using naturally occurring enzymes (cheese, yogurts, etc).
Modern Biotechnology has developed a range of techniques which are applied to commercial use. The US is the clear leader in development and commercialisation of modern Biotechnology with Europe following behind. The pace of change in biotechnology today is extraordinarily rapid. There are four categories of companies within Biotechnology – Agbio and environmental, biopharmaceuticals, Diagnostics and suppliers and services.
The Biopharmaceuticals sector is estimated to account for 70% of the total industry with 20% in food and 10% others. The government is committed to developing long term policies and investing in the key areas needed to sustain and grow the sector into the next generation. It also seeks to maximize the creation and nurture the development of new commercially focused early stage biotechnology companies in Ireland and Galway. It also seeks to target foreign origin biotechnology entrepreneurs and early stage companies with potential to establish in Ireland.
Galway’s biotechnology companies are Medtronic, Boston Scientific, Merit, Abbott, Creganna and Tyco healthcare. These companies have very significant research and development sections. Also in Galway we have the ICT sector which is Information Communication Technology, as Ireland has now become known as a knowledge based economy we have moved to a knowledge intensive business from a labour intensive business. What is required for this is 3rd or 4th year graduates keeping pace with the rapid growth of multi nationals. In this sector, we have APC, Sap, Fidelity, Cisco Systems, Oracle and Hewlett Packard and a recent announcement by Cisco created 200 jobs in Galway which was a superb win for IDA Ireland against stiff international competition. Cisco is regarded as the world wide leader in networking products and services and it is to establish a dedicated world class research and development in Galway with the support of the IDA. Cisco develops and sells networking and communication technology products and services for transporting data, voice and video to customers worldwide. The Galway centre will be an integral part of Cisco’s future world wide research and development activities. It will employ skilled graduates and is projected to grow to 200 positions over the next 3 years, employing people at degree level and above with a number of positions requiring master and PHD qualifications.
Many of these companies operate in a herd like mentality when they locate to one region. Galway now is very well represented with medical device companies, IT Companies, etc. It also has the added advantage of attracting key personnel to a region when they are many similar type companies. If, for example, an employee is to locate to a region, he would not be attracted by one company as if he is not successful in that work environment he can look outside to other similar companies in the same region.

thers even more the link is:

http://www.kmsgalway.com/menu.asp?menu=122&parent=0&item=0003

i seen that there are barely any forums about Galway so i decided to start this one,
these are the plans for galway in the next 5 to 10 years

N6
The N6, estimated to cost €500 million, is presently at an advanced stage and the compulsory purchase of all lands is nearing completion, we understand all parts of this road will be under construction before the end of 2007. (The contracts have been awarded to the Spanish Giant Construction – P.J Hegarty Company. It is anticipated that this road will be open in 2010, largely impacting on areas like Kiltullagh, Athenry, Oranmore and the Ardaun Corridor.

GALWAY CITY OUTER BYPASS
The next phase will be the GCOB, the Galway City Outer Bypass, which involves the construction of 27km of roadway including the fifth bridge over the Corrib estimated to cost in the region of €340 million. The C.P.O. process has already begun on the road, which will commence at Briarhill/Garraun, continue north where it will cross the Tuam Road (N17) at Two Mile Ditch, travel in a westerly direction where there will be a major intersection at Ballindooley with the N84 Headford road.
This will open up access for areas like Corrandulla, Headford, etc. It will then continue west where it will cross over a new bridge on the Corrib at Menlo (this is very significant as it will be the 5th bridge over the Corrib), then continuing in a westerly direction towards Bushypark and dissecting Glenlo Abbey Golf Club, before crossing over the Moycullen Road (Junction A – benefiting Moycullen, Oughterard, etc.) and turning further west bypassing Knocknacarra and then emerging on the west side of Barna. It will be a dual-carriage and will be equivalent to a ring road around on the west/northern side of Galway City. This has huge implications for all of Galway. First of all, it will make commuting time from all of these areas much more accessible, creating serious opportunities for land development and providing further opportunities for house buyers, warehouses, commercial buildings, shopping centres and park and ride. Bearing in mind the continuation of the provision of the infrastructural services like sewer, water, energy and roads which will open up enormous development potential.
TRAIN STATION, HARBOUR AND C.I.E SITE
Ceannt station is about to be upgraded and C.I.E have a large land bank zoned C1 which is earmarked for the biggest development ever in Galway. It is proposed to construct a 600,000 sq.ft shopping centre which would be the second biggest enclosed shopping centre in Ireland after Dundrum. The total development will be 1,500,000 sq.ft or about €2 billion. A planning application is to be lodged for this in the summer of this year.

As it stands the project is now at an advanced stage with CIE and the Harbour Board, Coras Iompair Eireann and Galway City Council, are preparing a master plan for the area which will include shopping centres, high rise buildings and hotels encompassing the train station, adjacent to the bus station and the fair green which will also link the harbour. On completion, there will be shopping centres, office blocks, apartments and hotels all interlinked with possible access via Eyre Square, the harbour and the CIE station in one entity. Galway City Council have identified this as an area where high rise buildings may be built especially overlooking the water.

THE HARBOUR BOARD
The Harbour Board has a large landbank of c. 32 acres overlooking Galway Bay and are in the process of developing these lands. Their objective is to provide facilities for tourism, aqua centres, cultural centres and perhaps a concert hall together with the shops, pubs, restaurants, and leisure amenities, residential and offices, etc. It is anticipated that the new inner dock will be included in the National Development Plan 2 and the whole area will be revitalised and a new port is to be constructed which will be able to accommodate liners, yachts, etc. We also understand that there is presently a 40,000 tonne oil terminal under construction.

N17 & N18
This road is to be known as the Atlantic Corridor and this will create a vertical road from the north of the country to the south of the country. The effect will be to release land banks in areas like Clarinbridge, Kilcolgan, Ardrahan. It will also open up access to Shannon Airport and reduce travel times to areas like Sligo and Limerick. The CPO process on the Athenry to Ennis Road has already commenced and this road is estimated to cost €430 million.

N.U.I.G.
One of the biggest building projects ever undertaken in an Irish university
is to be erected on the shores of the River Corrib in a €400m expansion for
NUI Galway.
The biggest single development — a €55m engineering centre — will be the largest engineering school in the country and will become an iconic building for the university and the city itself due to its innovative design and visibility from the Quincentenial Bridge.
Another of the more exciting projects is a proposal to build an extra courthouse for the city in conjunction with the courts service which would be linked with a new law school to allow students to have direct access in a very practical way as to how the law works. The public will benefit from an extended walkway around the Corrib, which will become the central focus of the university due to a new entrance from Newcastle Road and an upgraded road along the length of the river.
The bulk of the 20 projects over 260 acres of prime city centre land are likely to be completed within five years, with the entire ‘Campus of the Future’ scheduled to be opened by 2015. Some projects have already begun — among them the €22m sports centre featuring a 25m swimming pool and the €5m cultural centre with cinema, theatre and art gallery.

NEW BRIDGE OVER THE CORRIB
This is a highly significant part of the infrastructure. We presently have four bridges but primarily the Quincentennial Bridge takes the bulk of the traffic together with the Salmon Weir Bridge. The intersection at the Headford road is enormously busy and is a real bottle neck in Galway, by constructing this 5th bridge it will relieve all of this pressure, traffic will not have to enter the city centre and can travel on the ring road.

TYNAGH ENERGY
Tynagh Energy is building Galway’s first power generating station. The €300 million power plant will be a modern state of the art facility using the latest in advanced engineering technology. It will use the cleanest available fuel – natural gas- which will significantly reduce emissions of carbon dioxide. For the first time, Galway City and region will have a reliable and efficient source of power.

BROADBAND
The MAN (Metropolitan Area Network) managed by eNet has been installed around Galway and suppliers all kinds of cables to parks, hospital , companies now have a choice of supply choice and diversity.

RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT
Galway is set to become the capital of research and development for biotechnology in Ireland. As Ireland has now become known as a knowledge based economy it is important for the development of stronger links between industry and academia, Galway with its 20,000 students is well planned to harness these changes.
The reputation of N.U.I.G. is highly regarded, primarily driven by research successes. N.U.I.G. is the home to numerous centres of excellence in the biological and biomedical sciences industry. It is also home to the National Centre for Biomedical Engineering, Science and the Digital Enterprise Research Institute. The Government is funding this research which has exceeded from €10m in 2000 to €50m annual funding today. NUI Galway has had a strong culture of innovation dating back to the early 1980’s when the first Irish small business incubation units were opened on campus. The new bioincubators complement the existing incubators and provide a focus for the commercialisation of the results of biotechnology research in the western region.
It is believed that Biotechnology will be one of the significant technologies of the early 21st century. Simply put it the application of knowledge about living organisms and their components to make new products and to develop new industrial processes. People have used Biotechnology for centuries for example fermentation processes (beer and wine) and food production using naturally occurring enzymes (cheese, yogurts, etc).
Modern Biotechnology has developed a range of techniques which are applied to commercial use. The US is the clear leader in development and commercialisation of modern Biotechnology with Europe following behind. The pace of change in biotechnology today is extraordinarily rapid. There are four categories of companies within Biotechnology – Agbio and environmental, biopharmaceuticals, Diagnostics and suppliers and services.
The Biopharmaceuticals sector is estimated to account for 70% of the total industry with 20% in food and 10% others. The government is committed to developing long term policies and investing in the key areas needed to sustain and grow the sector into the next generation. It also seeks to maximize the creation and nurture the development of new commercially focused early stage biotechnology companies in Ireland and Galway. It also seeks to target foreign origin biotechnology entrepreneurs and early stage companies with potential to establish in Ireland.
Galway’s biotechnology companies are Medtronic, Boston Scientific, Merit, Abbott, Creganna and Tyco healthcare. These companies have very significant research and development sections. Also in Galway we have the ICT sector which is Information Communication Technology, as Ireland has now become known as a knowledge based economy we have moved to a knowledge intensive business from a labour intensive business. What is required for this is 3rd or 4th year graduates keeping pace with the rapid growth of multi nationals. In this sector, we have APC, Sap, Fidelity, Cisco Systems, Oracle and Hewlett Packard and a recent announcement by Cisco created 200 jobs in Galway which was a superb win for IDA Ireland against stiff international competition. Cisco is regarded as the world wide leader in networking products and services and it is to establish a dedicated world class research and development in Galway with the support of the IDA. Cisco develops and sells networking and communication technology products and services for transporting data, voice and video to customers worldwide. The Galway centre will be an integral part of Cisco’s future world wide research and development activities. It will employ skilled graduates and is projected to grow to 200 positions over the next 3 years, employing people at degree level and above with a number of positions requiring master and PHD qualifications.
Many of these companies operate in a herd like mentality when they locate to one region. Galway now is very well represented with medical device companies, IT Companies, etc. It also has the added advantage of attracting key personnel to a region when they are many similar type companies. If, for example, an employee is to locate to a region, he would not be attracted by one company as if he is not successful in that work environment he can look outside to other similar companies in the same region.

if you would like to read more the link is:
http://www.kmsgalway.com/menu.asp?me…nt=0&item=0003

The merits for the outer bypass are far from proven and the real motivation behind the release appears to be opening up Connemara for more one off houses which the authors seem to do quite well out of; unfortunately the link you supplied doesn’t work but the parent site also lists this

Sites for Sale

The opening of the Galway to Athenry commuter rail service and the concentration of industrial investment by the IDA in Oranmore is the way forward for Galway which if current development pattern persist will become entirely gridlocked in the centre if alternative settlement patterns are not adopted very soon.

come on you can do better than that what about galway clinic,ceannt station??,developments in oranmore,in perticular that new office block that was recently completed,the new 400 million euro NUIG developments and theres alot more where that came from

I hope there is a lot more to come; however I found that press release to be a particularly crude piece of cheerleading. The usual tripe talking up the market listing the entire wish list without apportioning an order of importance to the various projects.

I agree that great things are happening at UCG and the campus facilities really have underpinned a lot of very high end R & D units. I further agree that Ceannt offers an excellent opportunity along with the neighbouring docklands to create a model regeneration district at density.

Should the Ceannt Docklands area be combined with the Athenry rail and Arduan bus corridor then you have a very tight spatial plan that could make Galway a very efficient and high quality environment.

The alternative is the continuation of the one off 4 by 4 model underpinned by the outer bypass right through to Barna. That model will lead to chaos if not arrested.

There should not be a 40,000 tonne oil terminal built. Thats stupid, building it right next to the city. Build it somewhere else where oil trucks wont be sitting in traffic for ages.

Just read in the City Tribune that the Ceannt Station quarter will include two 16 storey buildings and five 8 storey buildings.Sounds promising, hopefully it will be something bold and exciting, but no signs of any plans available yet,

I think too that Galway City Council should get their fingers out and upgrade the Bishop O Donnell / Seamus Quirke road. Plans have been out there for years, but its never started.

that does sound promising gakway rush but i think there using ceannt startion as an exuse to build commericial and residential buildings rather than vastly improve the station its self and the overall traffic problems in Galway.But i suppose it would be cool to have a 16 storey building in Galway

It would certainly fit in with the plan to extend the city towards the sea , by developing the 40 acres or so that the Harbour Board owns into high density commercial and residential and building the new Docklands from reclaimed land. It would create a ” new city centre” with modern high density design and protect the charachter of the ” old city centre”

@Jammyd wrote:

i think its brilliant that galway is finally starting to consider building up rather than out,, this could be a great show case of galway as a modern city post celtic tiger. however, i presume it will take years for this to happen especially since any high rise development in galway is never welcomed. i can see the petitions start to roll in already :rolleyes:

LOL, yes, the usual suspects are probably already lined up.:(

It is entirely premature to predict the reaction to any scheme before it is lodged and people can have a look. If the City is offered a legoland it will be shot down. However if a design worthy of the City is proposed there is no doubt that the Bord will pass the scheme regardless of who says or signs what. It will be interesting to look at where the mass is sited and the legibility of the contribution to the City skyline. Whatever happens densities are set to increase dramatically and that is real progress whatever way you assess it. The real question is do the applicants go for a scheme that will clear first time out or do they do what both applicants for former CIE rail sites have done and deliberately ensure that the proposals are red carded first time out?

Our Green Mayor is one of the objectors to the proposed Galway Outer By-Pass.:confused:

@galwayrush wrote:

Our Green Mayor is one of the objectors to the proposed Galway Outer By-Pass.:confused:

You can’t be surprised that he made a submission on this. It is clear that the N6 needs to be bedded in to serve the main industrial areas off the N17 and Headford Rd. However continuation to Bushy Park should be 2 plus 1 and the proposal to bring this route to Barna is totally unviable. It would if completed in its current form completely remove any prospect of a sustainable development pattern for the City.

Where road objectors have lost all battles recently on National Primary routes it has been predictable as the NRA has been able to point to the National Development Plan and National Spatial Strategy to justify construction on the basis of core National objectives.

Building a commuter dual carriageway to Barna will be shot down on the basis of not being national infrastructure and facilitating unsustainable development patterns.

It is further interesting that the mayor looks set to become connaught’s first green TD. If the polls are to be believed it will be at the expense on Noel Grealish who built has campaign on this road. A changing order it appears will emerge.

I’m surprised at all the excitement over the possibility of high rise developments on the CIE lands in Galway city centre. I can only hope that the architects (MOL I believe) and the planning authorities pay more attention to quality of design and materials, rather than merely trying to impress with tall structures. Galway is unique amongst Irish cities, not least, because it was not founded/developed around a Viking settlement. It’s village like character (already much destroyed by speedy and bady planned urban regeneration of the 80/90ies) needs to be treated with sensitivity and intelligence.

This will be the biggest urban build ever in Galway (on publicly owned lands) and it’s such a shame that there has been so little public consultation. There ought to have been an international architectural competition. We don’t want yet another shopping mall and appartment complex.

Roche lays the blame over water crisis
Thursday, 12 April 2007 12:11
Minister for the Environment Dick Roche has said that disastrous mistakes by management were to blame for the Galway water crisis.

The minister said the mistakes were made over a number of years.

He said he did not understand why clean water is not being delivered into households at this stage.

Minister Roche added that he has offered every resource available to deal with the cryptosporidium outbreak.

Speaking on RTÉ Radio’s Today with Tom McGurk, the minister was reluctant to get drawn into a debate about who was responsible, but agreed that if no-one was held to account, the crisis could happen again.

Is he right?

I think he’s just talking mindless political fluff.

This is a better article ->

The Clare river is now being investigated by Galway County Council as one of the possible main sources of the cryptosporidium bug in the drinking water supply in Galway city and the surrounding area.

It is believed that flooding of the river late last year and earlier this year led to large amounts of animal and human waste being discharged into the river, which flows into Lough Corrib at a point less than 10 miles north of Galway city.

Galway County Council director of services Jim Cullen said investigations were now focusing on the river, and officials were carrying out aerial inspections in an attempt to identify potential pollution sources along the river, which stretches 50 miles north past Tuam and into counties Mayo and Roscommon.

It is believed there are a number of untreated and poorly treated sewage systems which are flowing into the river.

This includes the town of Claregalway, now one of the main commuter towns near Galway city, which has no central sewage treatment facility.

“It’s had a definite impact,” Mr Cullen said of the Clare river, but he said there is still no evidence pointing to one main source of the bug, which has contaminated the drinking water supply of more than 90,000 people in the city and surrounding area.

Other causes are believed to include two sewage treatment facilities at Oughterard and Headford, where largely untreated human waste is flowing into the lake. Contamination from farming along with waste flows from septic tanks have also been identified as contributing to the problem.

However, yesterday Galway County Council said the primary cause of the contamination is believed to have been record rainfall which increased the amount of waste flowing into the lake in the last six months.

“Normally the Clare river wouldn’t be a problem, but it was in significant flood in the early part of this year,” Mr Cullen said. “It is inevitable that there would have been a wash or flood of contamination into the lake.”

Figures show that average rainfall in the last four months of last year was 50 per cent higher than the average for the previous 40 years.

The council is currently working on increasing the supply of water from a cryptosporidium-free source at Luimnagh north of Galway city, which could be in place by mid June.

It came as Green Party leader Trevor Sargent called for a moratorium on all additional housing development in the areas of the county which are feeding sewage into watercourses, including Oughterard and Claregalway.

Last night at a special meeting of Galway City Council, members were informed of plans to provide cheap bottled water to residents in the city. The council will be paying for a subsidy system where shoppers will be given one bottle of water free for every bottle they buy.

The offer will apply only to Galway Mineral Water and will be available in certain shops, including Tesco, Dunnes Stores, Nestors and Joyces, Galway city manager Joe McGrath said.

The cost of the additional water will be paid for by Galway City Council. The council said it has no plans to introduce a similar subsidy system for the county areas affected by the outbreak.

The council has also asked the Government to introduce a voucher system to provide free bottled water for social welfare recipients.

There is increasing concern in the city about the potential impact of the ongoing water boil notice on tourism, although tourism chiefs have insisted that the water crisis had no discernible impact on visitor figures during the Easter break.

http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/ireland/2007/0412/1176156961843.html

He is second only to Bertie in that department;

I am shocked that opposed to working with those he manages that he went on a spree of character assinanation casting aspertions over the entire water services division of two local authorities. This is the same Dick Roche who announced that €21m had been sitting unused for a couple of years. He then grants €48m and has not done the one thing he could have done in the short term which is ring up Seamus ‘booted out of transport’ Breannan to get free water for the most vulnerable of the City & County population. Ultimately €21m is not €48m and for Roche to blame others when granting less than half what was required is just Dicking around.

One also wonders did this sit on Cullens desk for years while he was in environment, when exactly were the funds made available, were they tied to specific projects?

Aklthough I doubt that I actually think that Dick’s ego is probably big enough to trash his own colleagues reputation if he thought there were brownie points in it; state employees fellow cabinet members no difference really.

Roche blames management for water crisis
From:ireland.com
Thursday, 12th April, 2007

Minister for the Environment Dick Roche has said mistakes by local authority management in Galway are responsible for the current drinking water contamination crisis.

Mr Roche said he had offered every resource available to help deal with the cryptosporidium outbreak.

Speaking on RTÉ’s Todayprogramme, Mr Roche said he did not understand why clean water was not being delivered to households at this stage.

He agreed that if no one was held accountable, the same thing could happen again in other local authority areas.

“I think there were some catastrophic management errors in Galway over the years…I think that there was a serious problem with the operation of the Terryland plant,” Mr Roche said.

“But as in every other local authority, to be fair to the current people who are in place, they weren’t necessarily in place a few years ago.”

Asked whether if people were allowed to “get away with it”, in terms of a failure to hold people to account for the crisis, they might “do it again”, Mr Roche said:

“It’s not an unreasonable thing to say at all”.

The water crisis is now in its fifth week, with tens of thousands of people forced to boil their tap water as a result of contamination by the cryptosporidium parasite. There have been at least 100 cases of gastric illness due to the contamination.

Residents of Galway city will be allowed to purchase two bottles of water for the price of one as part of a plan to provide clean drinking water.

The local authority has, however, rejected councillors’ calls to provide the water entirely free of charge, claiming it would not be logistically possible.

At the end of March, Mr Roche announced a €48.4m plan to alleviate the water contamination crisis in Galway city and county.

The package includes a commitment to speed up the development of the new treatment plant in Galway at a cost of over €21 million.

An additional €27.4 million has been allocated for increased storage and water conservation measures in Tuam which will allow for additional water to be made available to Galway city in the longer term.

2 for 1 on water is a start, but shameful that its only being introduced 5 weeks into the crisis.

We’ve paid for water, we need an alternative, we should get FREE water from the shops, within reason (max per customer).

Or a good place to start would be to deliver a 5 litre bottle of water to every household effected. This would be done in other countries swiftly, but isnt considered here. All we get is a half arsed effort, some name calling, random pointing of fingers and the usual festering heap of blame-avoiding red tape that is so common here nowadays.

Reading the article again, this is the height of disgrace ->

The cost of the additional water will be paid for by Galway City Council. The council said it has no plans to introduce a similar subsidy system for the county areas affected by the outbreak.

😡 And who pays?

The rate payers not only can a hotelier expect a dramatic fall in business but now they can expect increased business rates to go with it. Whilst the very poorest will either need to boil water or pay for it.

https://archiseek.com/content/showthread.php?t=6048

Greens ridicule Roche’s model photos
From ireland.com
18:16
Thursday, 12th April, 2007
The hiring of models to pose with Government ministers is a frivolous misuse of public money, it was claimed today.
The use of glamorous girls in photoshoots came under scrutiny after Environment Minister Dick Roche was pictured between models at a press conference on decaying water pipes.
Green Party environment and equality spokesman Ciarán Cuffe insisted the models had no relevance to Dublin’s creaking sanitation system. “It’s a frivolous misuse of state resources. It’s just silly. I have seen Martin Cullen pose with women jumping out of composters before but nothing quite like this,” he said.
“It seems inappropriate. I don’t see the relevance of young women to decaying water pipes.” Mr Cuffe also complained about the lack of gender equality in the photo shoots questioning why it wasn’t young good-looking men paraded alongside the country’s leaders.
“It seems more often than not it’s a couple of female models in the shoot,” he said. “I’m not convinced there is any need for models but if they are to be used there should be some gender equality.”
But Mary Murphy, of the public relations firm who organised the models, played down the concerns.
She said the models cost only €150 each for the press conference which was shared out between seven local authorities in the greater Dublin area.”

Did anyone see if the pictures were published?

Green Party environment and equality spokesman Ciarán Cuffe insisted the models had no relevance to Dublin’s creaking sanitation system.

That made me laugh 😀

This is and architectural discussion forum. Please stay on thread, the water problems in Galway are not related in any way to architecture.

Strictly speaking that is true but you will find that the forum branches out into development patterns and infrastructural provision on a regular basis.

I contend that the absence of an abundance of quality contemporary architecture in the City is in no small way attributable to prevelance of one off houses outside the city. The water problems are a direct result of these one off houses and as such it is relevant.

Its not like Galway people lack creativity yet the city has few examples of stunning contemporary architecture.

Had govenment policy over the last 30 years favoured concentrated urban centered development over low density sub-urban and rural sprawl, I’m not certain the standard of arcitecture in Galway city, or anywhere else, would have been any better.

It is in most places where medium density is the predominent development pattern the 1960’s were a horror story the 1970’s were patchy, 1980’s brick clad and by the mid 1990’s a lot better. Compare Edinburgh with Bristol and you will see the point I am making.

I wouldnt be surprised if the water problem magically gets sorted soon… the media and political will rule in this country and now that the whole fiasco has been featured prominantly on Sky News maybe something will be done.

Damn it was funny to see the Mayor of Galway pushed into a corner by the interviewer… he was trying his best to not sound like the whole thing was such a farce, but he did try the blame game a bit 😀

http://news.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30200-1261781,00.html

Tempers Boil Over In Water Crisis

Updated: 10:19, Saturday April 21, 2007
As the rest of Ireland basks in the unseasonal spring sunshine, spare a thought for the unfortunate people of Galway.
Galway’s water supply has been contaminated by cryptosporidium
Galway’s water supply has been contaminated by cryptosporidium

Almost a month after the cryptosporidium parasite was detected in their water supply, 90,000 residents in the city and county are still having to boil water for drinking, cooking and oral hygiene.

The cryptosporidium parasite causes gastro-intestinal problems, and can be fatal in some cases. A similar outbreak 14 years ago in Milwaukee killed 104 people and struck down 400,000 with severe diarrhoea.

Almost 200 people in Galway have fallen ill since the problems began back at the beginning of March. Thankfully there have been no fatalities, but that is where the good news ends.

The county’s tourism industry is being badly affected by the outbreak, amid warnings that millions in tourist revenue could be lost if holidaymakers decide to stay away.

Hotels are already having to supply bottled water, on a daily basis, to every room for guests to drink.

Michael Coyle, of Galway’s Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said the crisis could have a devastating impact on the city’s largely tourist-based economy.

“If I was going on holiday to somewhere that had an outbreak, I would be making phone calls to find out if it would be safe for my family,” Mr Coyle said.

“We are already seeing these type of calls coming in now, particularly to the accommodation and hotel sector.”
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And with Galway’s horse racing week – plus poetry, jazz and oyster festivals – still to come this summer, there are genuine fears that the city’s tourism economy could be crippled.

The crisis has now escalated into a very public row between the City Council and the Government, with both sides blaming each other for the fiasco.

Environment Minister, Dick Roche TD, criticised local officials for not doing more in recent years to improve Galway’s water supply.

He questioned why £14.5m of Government funding to eliminate the risk of water pollution was not taken up earlier.

But the Green Party Mayor of Galway, Councillor Niall O’Brolchain, put the blame firmly at Minister Roche’s door, pointing out that as he is the minister responsible the blame must surely lie with him.

“If we look at the probable causes of the cryptosporidium outbreak… it becomes even more evident that the fingerprints of Minister Roche and his cabinet colleagues are all over this mess,” said Mr O’Brolchain.

“Water quality in Lough Corrib, which is the source of Galway City’s water supply, has been continuously and seriously degraded over the lifetime of this Government.”
Galway residents are still having to boil water a month into the crisis
Galway residents are still having to boil water a month into the crisis

Galway City has two water works. One fully treats the water and gets rid of the parasite while the other, older, treatment plant does not. This Terryland plant produces 30% of the water supply but, crucially, the water from both plants goes into the same reservoir.

The Government will now fast track £14m of funding for a new treatment plant to replace the Terryland facility, with another £18m provided to increase storage and water conservation measures in the county.

The offer of an extra £750,000 emergency package to help tackle the ongoing crisis also turned into another row between Mayor and Minister, with Mr O’Brolchain accusing Mr Roche of “playing politics”.

Even a temporary measure aimed at helping Galway’s house-holders ended up in a row. The City Council helped fund a “buy one, get one free” offer on bottled water at certain local supermarkets.

But that was immediately attacked, not surprisingly, by other retail outlets and other bottled water providers who felt they were being unfairly dealt with.

The crisis shows no sign of ending any time soon, with one local official claiming it could be September at the earliest before the city has a safe water supply once again.

But, as always, some people have seen the funny side. It is reported that the latest craze among the city’s students is a game of Russian roulette with the local tap water.

Glasses of water are filled from bottles, with one filled from the tap. The blindfolded participants then have to drink a glass of water – taking the chance that they might end up drinking the glass with the contaminated tap water in it.

The plans for the massive docklands developement will be submitted within a few weeks.
Adding this to the Ceannt Station developement, it’s beginning to look like a new modern New City centre “towards the sea ” is going to be created and this will enable the character of the old Medieval city centre to be retained.It’s a massive area when the 40 acres of reclaimed land is added, probably more than 100 acres in total.

40 acres of foreshore license in the context of the Mutton Island hoo ha is a fantasy. The unco-ordinated piecemeal development of the most logical extension to Galway is entirely premature in the absense of a coherent integrated master plan.

@PVC King wrote:

40 acres of foreshore license in the context of the Mutton Island hoo ha is a fantasy. The unco-ordinated piecemeal development of the most logical extension to Galway is entirely premature in the absense of a coherent integrated master plan.

This has been in the pipeline for years now,Yes i agree, the lack of infracture is the biggest worry, although the proposed rail link is certainly a step in the right direction. Perhaps an elevated road network is the only solution to serve what may be a high density area , can’t see any department spending that much money here though,

I certainly dont agree with the massive land reclamation.. if I remember seeing the general plans a while back I though it would destroy the ecology of the entire area.

And lose the damn oil terminal from the plans. Thats obscene.

Found a lot of information on the Ceannt Station Quarter – with a lot of pictures, plans and comments.

http://www.cie.ie/projects/galway_station_update.asp

Follow the links at the bottom, each deals with a separate issue.

Cheers for the link.
Interesting.:cool: Looks good so far.
I would love to see what the proposed facade looks like.

@Sulmac wrote:

Found a lot of information on the Ceannt Station Quarter – with a lot of pictures, plans and comments.

I thought I would cut / copy / paste some of then here. This city centre site has great potential!

Any images of what it will actually look like?

Seems like a colossal amount of space going on the car parking.. surely they could put a multistorey carpark up instead and save that land?

@THE_Chris:

The parking will mostly be multistory in a basement, if you get what I mean; it will be built on levels underground – or that’s what the plans say anyway.

http://www.cie.ie/projects/images/gImages/10_Plans%20&%20Sections%20copy.jpg

Found a map of the Green Party’s proposed Galway Light Rail System (‘Luas’).

http://www.eamonryan.ie/images/galwaymapa001.jpg

Here’s a separate proposal; but it is just by an independent researcher.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/0/06/Clr_Route_med2.jpeg

I think the GP’s option is a bit more realistic to start with; and hopefully if they get into a coalition government that gets into power it’s possible it’ll be built.

The first link makes it look like the line will go NEAR the airport, in typical Irish non-integrated style. It has to go TO the airport, at the front door of the place. The Corrib Light Rail (2nd link) is much better, but needs to be modified to go to the airport too.

Any light rail should include a direct Salthill route and Claregalway line.

Does anyone have any pics of the old Rahoon Flats, and info on when they were knocked down and what was built in their place? Thanks.

Pulled down about 15 years ago. Replaced by bog standard semi-d council houses.

Which estates replaced them? 🙂

Just checked on the Galway City Council website. If you look at the city map it’s now called Rahoon Park Noth and Gleann Dara. Both situated at the junction of Circular Road and Seamus Quirke Road. A google search returned no images of the old flats – hardly surprising given how un-photogenic they were

just taught id post a few pictures of future developments and ones under construction in Galway

galway clinic
http://www.fertilitycare.ie/images/GalwayClinic.JPG

http://www.mcnamaraconstruction.com/images/hopsitalimage.jpg

http://www.acei.ie/images/galway_clinic_project.gif

galway coach station foster street
http://www.mcnamaraconstruction.com/cgi-bin/proj_files/Webworks%20&%20Coach%20Station.jpg

new briar hill shopping centre
http://www.purcellconstruction.ie/photos/070306%20BRIARHILL%20PROGRESS%2003.jpg

http://www.purcellconstruction.ie/photos/060525%20briarhill_shopping_centreedit1.jpg

city point building prospect hill

http://www.galway.net/GalwayNet/cimg/u/200×200/35382.jpg

sorry about picture size

new stand at galway race course

http://www.mcnamaraconstruction.com/cgi-bin/proj_files/galway%20racecourse.jpg

north point on tuam road

http://www.dtzsf.com/photos/1593.Jpg

i think theres also plans for an 8 story hotel on the tuam road, but haven’t been able to get any pictures yet

@galwayrush wrote:

The plans for the massive docklands developement will be submitted within a few weeks.

Any more news on this yet?

Galway seems to be really booming nowadays, nice pics. 🙂

yea any news about the docklands?

or anything about ceannt station redevelopment?

Spoke to a person involved with the Docklands Development, said that they have carried out studies and hope to begin blasting on the sea bed in a few months time.The 40 Acres of sea to be reclaimed is just a portion of the overall plan, which comprises of 108 acres in total including the Ceannt Quarter.He wouldn’t go into too much detail other than say that it would include quite a lot of High Rise buildings.
I was impressed with the Ceannt Quarter plans, there’s a link in this thread to the plans.:cool:

Click link below for CIE’s presentation on the new Ceannt Quarter, complete with architects impressions of public spaces, towers, glass roofs and lots of shiny happy people..

http://www.cie.ie/projects/open_days_boards.pdf

Wait a minute, how come a nice new train station is planned for Galway and Kent in Cork gets a lick of paint only?

And I’m afraid this monstrosity wins the ‘shoot the architect’ award….

Rest of the plans are good stuff tho 🙂

I think the overall plan looks excellent, of course the usual; suspects are lining up to try and scupper it. Is it essential that all members of Left Parties in Galway have to oppose anything that might drag Galway into the current centuary? Ceannt Station, Outer By-Pass, Docklands to name a few.:mad:

I think that it’s a brilliant, very detailed and well thought out project (which is rare in Ireland :p ).

Great idea of having an observation deck on top of the hotel as well, bring in more tourist$. 🙂

@Seanselon wrote:

Click link below for CIE’s presentation on the new Ceannt Quarter, complete with architects impressions of public spaces, towers, glass roofs and lots of shiny happy people..

http://www.cie.ie/projects/open_days_boards.pdf

Looks great, but CIE haven’t a hope in hell of delivering any of it. CIE have been promising very similar stuff for Cork’s Kent Station for many, many, many years now and they’ve not even come close to thinking about considering maybe getting started. CIE really don’t give a sh*t about the other cities in the country besides Dublin and produce these sorts of ‘masterplans’ and glossy brochures for Cork, Limerick , Galway etc. just to keep well in with Dept. of Environment and the local authorities. It won’t happen any time soon, if ever. Which is a shame, because it looks good. Expect lots of reports, launches and announcements and people ‘giving it the go ahead’, etc. but nothing will actually happen.

@Radioactiveman wrote:

Looks great, but CIE haven’t a hope in hell of delivering any of it. CIE have been promising very similar stuff for Cork’s Kent Station for many, many, many years now and they’ve not even come close to thinking about considering maybe getting started. CIE really don’t give a sh*t about the other cities in the country besides Dublin and produce these sorts of ‘masterplans’ and glossy brochures for Cork, Limerick , Galway etc. just to keep well in with Dept. of Environment and the local authorities. It won’t happen any time soon, if ever. Which is a shame, because it looks good. Expect lots of reports, launches and announcements and people ‘giving it the go ahead’, etc. but nothing will actually happen.

That’s a terrible thing to say about CIE – they don’t care about Dublin either

I’m not so sure it will not go ahead in some form or other. Ceannt station is unique amongst Irish provincial city centre rail termini, insofar, as it is a truly city centre. It is only 250m (approx.) from train door to Eyre Square.

Given the extent of the proposed site, it’s location and the ever insatiable demand for commercial and residential property in Galway, this is a particularly valuable and easily disposable piece of real estate for CIE. They would make a tidy profit and end up with a brand spanking new Rail/Bus terminal.

They have, of course, yet to get planning permission. The application will be lodged in September we are told by CIE. It is likely there will be a raft of objections from local interests and already we have heard Micheal D Higgins TD (Lab), shout down CIE’s apparent lack of consultation with the local community. He has also expressed concerns about the nature of the development questioning the ratio of commercial use to transport use, fearing the transport element of the project is taking second place to the profit making commercial/residential parts.

This project is likely to go ahead, perhaps not as we see it presented in the plans to date, but it will happen and probably within the stated timeframe too.

@Seanselon wrote:

This project is likely to go ahead, perhaps not as we see it presented in the plans to date, but it will happen and probably within the stated timeframe too.

i admire your optimism, but experience suggests otherwise.

Has anyone seen any plans for the proposed giant Fountain in Galway Bay?:eek:

@galwayrush wrote:

Has anyone seen any plans for the proposed giant Fountain in Galway Bay?:eek:

This one: http://www.galwayadvertiser.ie/content/index.php?aid=8268 ?

Seems like a good enough idea, though they’d want to be careful about where they put it… especially with Galway’s prevailing winds.

Great idea, would look great if combined with plenty of lighting for nighttime displays.

Though this made me laugh –

he proposal, made by two men including a city-based dentist

Found a pic of where the proposed fountain would be placed:

http://www.galwaynews.ie/1144-plans-1-000ft-fountain

And also, a €450m development given the go-ahead by planners:

http://www.galwaynews.ie/1143-january-start-450m-development

And this is the development’s website: http://www.harrmack.ie/page.asp?menu=113&page=324

I really hope they get planning for the fountain. Thats the kind of unique and original thinking we need in Ireland at the moment.

That fountains mad. Would be nice to see it built, but it seems a tad unlikely that it will happen. I reckon that the running costs of a fountain pumping water 1000 feet into the sky would be fairly high.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_Fahd%27s_Fountain

This requires ten full time staff.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jet_d%27Eau

This runs on 2400 volt electrictiy so I imagine the Galway fountain would consume huge amounts of electricity

Is that Dubai-like island part of the plan? That causway could cause problems with sea currents and build some kind of bull Island type buildup

It’s a totally daft idea. How ostentatious and inapproriate a plan. I doubt (hope) it will never happen. Shame we don’t see very much quality architecture in modern Galway (either realised or proposed). The city is built at one of the country’s most beautiful senic locations yet has very little decent architecture to match.

The problem is, I think, a lack of joined-up thinking amongst the various bodies who hold power. The lack of a council appointed city architect is also, of no help.

@Jammyd wrote:

anyone know when the knocknacarra town centre is opening looks nearly finished??

If Dunnes are part of it (which I *think* they are), it looks set to be open on/by 25 September (next Tuesday).

Two links here:

http://www.rte.ie/business/2007/0918/dunnes.html?rss

http://www.breakingnews.ie/business/?jp=MHCWIDMHKFID&rss=rss2

fountain is seriously class but this is way to exciting for ireland-hasnt got a hope in hell…

Noticed this today:

http://www.galwaynews.ie/1382-3bn-development-under-threat

Who’s genius idea was it to put oil tanks in the middle of a city anyway…? :rolleyes:

@Sulmac wrote:

Noticed this today:

http://www.galwaynews.ie/1382-3bn-development-under-threat

Who’s genius idea was it to put oil tanks in the middle of a city anyway…? :rolleyes:

Probably the left wing politicians who are opposed to anything exciting proposed for Galway.

The proposal for a fountain in Galway.
Not being an architect i read with great interest the variety of comments on the proposal for the fountain and thought i might add a few comments to clarify the proposal i put forward for the fountain.
1 the causeway into galway bay already exsists – mutton island could be used as a pre-existing causeway.
2 no survey has been carried out to confirm that this would be the best place for the the fountain to be sited
3 the fountain project is merely a proposal – no costing has been done- the idea is simply that – a concept put forward as an artist statement –
5 how much would it cost – well how high do you want it
4 the mechanics and design of the fountain have yet to be determined.

we envisgaed this concept are merely researched had it been done before – yes it has and it has been successfully ran for 20 years in jeddah

how much power would it consume – ( see 5 ) – it owuld also be possible to limit the power consumption by limiting the total time that the fountain was “turned on” – possibly using a half hour cycle – on and off for a limited duration each day say 10.00 till dusk – with occassional night time use with illumination only for special occassions.

We envisaged using computer controls linked to wind speed and direction to limit the mist factor so not to jeopardise pedestrians or local traffic – also siting the fountain far enough into the bay would control this factor .

the balance of capital and running costs of such a project would be balanced against the income it would generate to the buisnesses of the city – inevitably there would be benefit to exsisting local buisnesses – tourism – and generation of new buisnesses directly to the tourist facility
we also envisaged the possiblity of a Gaway bay ? fountain visitor facility — this could possibly be along the liknes of the Cliffs of Moher concept? and linked to a tourist site seeing boatrip around the fountain and the bay –
no such trips currently exist.

Running costs – this could be assessed in greater depth comparing the upkeep and maintenance to that of the Jeddah project.-

Certainly as an art project it would provide a focus to the Bay- an entrance to the proposed harbour and a symbol for Galway and the west of Ireland . – apart from the power required the main resource ( water ) is already there and i presume the environmental impact would be related to the power consumption only.

in summary – im a dentist not an architect – but if there is enough weight of opinion that this is a good idea and is realisable – we will be able to approach the funding agencies with greater effect.

so thank you for your comments so far and if anyone has any further thoughts it would be much appreciated –
my diect email is drpmoore@eircom.net

Wouldn’t be against the idea per se though I do think it’s slightly gimmicky.
You could also make a strong argument that it’s already been done in both Geneva and Saudi Arabia. It’s a bit like the Eiffel Tower replicas that dot the globe, in Prague etc – everything always plays second fiddle to the original.

i don’t think we should knock it. gimmicky it may be but a work of art nonetheless. if you get funding for it Paul then go for it. Arts council might be interested. oh! and i would probably site it closer to the docks rather than mutton island… it just means that when your on the spanish arch on a lovely summer day you will be abler to get a good view. i think mutton island would be too far away.

on other matters.. then big develpment on the tuam road built by Glenman… i was excited when it first started to go up but the finished ( or close to finised_ saw it about a month ago ) article is really disappointing.
the dunnes in ballybrit looks (ahem) interesting. i reserve judgement on it until it’s finished.

I don’t know about the practicalities of the place but in my opinion it has to qualify as possibly the ugliest, most unwelcoming developments of it’s type that I’ve ever seen. A collection of bog standard silver boxes would be more visually pleasing than what we’ve ended up with. And the worst thing is that it’s obvious a huge amount of design, fine detailing and expense has been gone to to make it. I really think the black stained timber was a huge mistake and the signage is perhaps the tackiest i’ve ever seen – the huge yellow BRIARHILL is truly vile – even the typeface is awful.
Anyway rant over – I do appreciate that a lot of architectural thought and effort has gone into the building but the end result to my eyes is a bit of a disaster…

Seems the Docklands plan is starting to get moving now:

http://www.galwaynews.ie/2092-first-glimpse-dockland-project

Also, some idea to move the city airport:

http://www.galwaynews.ie/2088-moving-city-airport-be-examined

biggest ever regeneration plan in the West of Ireland, which will also be the biggest every tourism project in the country.

Who proofread that??

Moving the airport is a ridiculous idea. Its in a good location, it just has rubbish transport links. A reasonably regular bus service there would be fine, or integrate it with any future Luas style plan. Its getting a junction nearby on the new N6, what the hell is the point of moving it??

@THE_Chris wrote:

Who proofread that??

Moving the airport is a ridiculous idea. Its in a good location, it just has rubbish transport links. A reasonably regular bus service there would be fine, or integrate it with any future Luas style plan. Its getting a junction nearby on the new N6, what the hell is the point of moving it??

Agree, there is a small road at the end of the existing runway, sort that problem out, and then it can be extended.plenty of land available.

@Sulmac wrote:

Seems the Docklands plan is starting to get moving now:

http://www.galwaynews.ie/2092-first-glimpse-dockland-project

[/url]

Conference centre, some quite tall buildings, massive docklands, looks amazing, can’t wait to see the plans of the final draft.I think the completion date of 2010 is ambitious, considering the usual regular objectors are already lining up.

@galwayrush wrote:

Conference centre, some quite tall buildings, massive docklands, looks amazing, can’t wait to see the plans of the final draft.I think the completion date of 2010 is ambitious, considering the usual regular objectors are already lining up.

Hopefully they’ll integrate it with the Ceannt Station development, creating a huge new city quarter.

Also, noticed this as well:

http://www.galwayindependent.com/local-news/local-news/galway-%27luas%27-gets-green-light-from-transport-minister-/

Wonder if Dempsey’s being serious or just saying whatever it takes to make the Wesht happy? :rolleyes:

The Green Party councillor said he was hopeful that the project would go ahead and said that if all went to plan, the new Luas could be up and running by 2012.

Some hope.

Would be nice to see in 5 years time, but in the short term a couple of million (short change almost) thrown into the bus services in Galway (and Cork) would be nice.

@Sulmac wrote:

Hopefully they’ll integrate it with the Ceannt Station development, creating a huge new city quarter.

Also, noticed this as well:

http://www.galwayindependent.com/local-news/local-news/galway-%27luas%27-gets-green-light-from-transport-minister-/

Wonder if Dempsey’s being serious or just saying whatever it takes to make the Wesht happy? :rolleyes:

Yes, the entire plan for the area includes the Ceannt Station area along with more land at the Docks, totalling 114 acres, it’s proposed to build a new modern city centre ” towards the sea”

Its a good idea, but surprisingly little of the current CIE area will be used for Public Transport, which is stupid.

@THE_Chris wrote:

Its a good idea, but surprisingly little of the current CIE area will be used for Public Transport, which is stupid.

There are 3 Train Platforms in the plan, more than enough for Galway, as any Trains that may go north or south to Limerick and Cork will all change at Athenry. Even if a Light Rail was built, 3 Platforms are easily enough for at least 12 destinations.

Front page of Galway First today is about a few planned developments in Galway City and County:

http://editions.pagesuite.co.uk//PageSuite3.aspx?page=1&scale=100&height=700&width=1000&editionid=43531&filekey=&path=_PSEDitions/Galway%20Advertiser/Galway%20First/2007-12-17/

– Riverside concert hall / conference centre, capacity 2,500.
– 4000sqm “urban centre” in Ardaun, with 1.85km bus/bike corridor.
– 21km upgrade of the Galway/Athenry rail line.

Same story also found here: http://www.galwaynews.ie/2247-270-million-sought-fund-ambitious-gateway-projects

And also, the N17 [or M17] Galway-Tuam upgrade:

http://www.galway.ie/en/Services/RoadsTransportation/RoadProjects/m17/

“I wish I was on that M17….” 😉

At least part of it HAS to be M, as it will lead inescapably to the M6. That part of the M6 will probobly be M, as its being financed by a private company and M looks better than N, just like the Fermoy bypass.

Found some information on the Docklands presentation last Tuesday:

http://www.galwayindependent.com/local-news/local-news/forum-reiterates-need-for-docks-integration/

😎

edit:
The council are going to develop a “cultural hub” around the Lower Merchants Road area, already purchasing buildings for it!

http://www.galwaycity.ie/TopNews/MainBody,4367,en.html

Its fantastic news actually that its M17 and not N17. 😀

@BTH wrote:

I don’t know about the practicalities of the place but in my opinion it has to qualify as possibly the ugliest, most unwelcoming developments of it’s type that I’ve ever seen. A collection of bog standard silver boxes would be more visually pleasing than what we’ve ended up with. And the worst thing is that it’s obvious a huge amount of design, fine detailing and expense has been gone to to make it. I really think the black stained timber was a huge mistake and the signage is perhaps the tackiest i’ve ever seen – the huge yellow BRIARHILL is truly vile – even the typeface is awful.
Anyway rant over – I do appreciate that a lot of architectural thought and effort has gone into the building but the end result to my eyes is a bit of a disaster…

Actually got to see this devlopment the other day and would agree with all of the above. It is pretty hideous in fairness.

Large €40mn development for Taylor’s Hill announced:

http://www.galwaynews.ie/2307-40m-development-taylors-hill

http://www.galwayindependent.com/local-news/local-news/holy-orders/

🙂

All references to developments at Galway’s Docks and at Ceannt Station, look like they are on hold pending a decision from ABP on the enlargement of new bus mainatenance garage at the Harbour Enterprise Park. This would have been the first stage in the development of Ceannt Station. But this is now unlikely, because of an exclusion zone around the new oil terminal currently under construction.

The Buncefield explosion in the UK has put any development at the City Docks, and, Ceannt Station on hold until the publication of the final Buncefield Report. Probably summer this year.

Also. Despite looking for a Framework Plan/Masterplan for this area for years, still none in place. Also no City Architect. Therefore, any coordinated city development unlikely. Just ad-hoc development as before, and still no transport infrastructure.

What more can we expect.

You’d think they’d have the cop on to move those oil tankers… :rolleyes:

Anywho, did anyone see the proposal for the €300mn concert hall?

Found a good link on the City Council’s website:

http://www.galwaycity.ie/AllServices/CommunityEnterprise/Publications/FileEnglish,4505,en.pdf

http://www.galwaycity.ie/GeneralNews/MainBody,4231,en.html

Very ambitious proposal, I think…. lets hope they get the funding. 😉

The bit that made me laugh, though, was that they hoped for it to be finished by 2010! They forget that this is Ireland, obviously. :p

The other two projects are also needed, especially the double-tracking of the railway for commuter services.

http://www.galwaynews.ie/node/2907

The new “cultural quarter” seems to be getting along smoothly too. 😎

Who’s bright idea was it to get Anthony Reddy’s to do the concert hall design design…. It’s an absolute and utter shocker – just what Galway dosen’t need – something fussy, flashy and “Iconic” parachuted in. This beautiful site needs something more subtle and controlled – the location is spectacular enough. If this ambitious scheme (which is badly badly needed for the city) is to go ahead then an international design competition would have to be a part of it – and hopefully someone who has some sort of understading and feeling for the city will actually win it…

The other two schemes are also needed badly, but they will happen eventually as the city develops. Ardaun is a great opportunity and double lines as far as Athenry are going to be absolutely essential – especially when the western rail corridor eventually opens up. i just hope that Galway gets the funding for the concert hall as it’s definitely fallen well behind other parts of the country in terms of facilities. With a proper concert hall, an art gallery, art house cinema and a new theatre and venue to replace the pleasant but rather inadequate Town Hall, Galway could really sell itself as a cultural destination all year round, not just during festival time. Thankfully there finally seems to be a move on to actually provide this arts infrastructure that is so badly needed.

Heres a few images of the concert hall proposal – I realize that they were probably fairly rushed (as these feasability/proposal things tend to be). I just personally think the design approach is all wrong for the site… Having the main entrance and foyers tucked in towards the cathedral is only one mistake I could identify. The main approach from the city needs to be along the river. Anyway, see what you think…

At last, the possibility of a genuinely exciting building for Galway. Fair play to the City council – Here’s their proposal for a new arthouse cinema close to the City Museum. Designed by Tom dePaor, the scheme is currently on public display in City Hall. Personally I think it’s a beauty. Exactly what I meant above when I was talking about architects havein a feel for a place. The “tower house” idiom works so well in this context and the interiors, with all those cascading staircases, would be fantastically exciting…. Sorry images are a bit huge!

The top floor auditorium looks particularly fantastic. I have one misgiving – and it’s the location. Right on the edge of the busiest through road in Galway City. If they really want this area to become a vibrant cultural quarter as the council are pushing, this road will need to be severely calmed and a good landscaping scheme put in place. At the moment cars either whizz past here at high speed or sit stuck in interminable traffic jams. Not really the most pleasant or relaxing environment to go for a cultural experience… Still, loving the design. Looks like dePaor is finally breaking through to the bigger stage…

One other proposal I spotted whilst in the planning office for nearby (top of Flood St. just off the site model above). Its for a site currently being excavated. I believe it’s offices and retail although there was talk in the past of a “Vicar St.” style venue at this location. Looks to be a bit more slick than the usual Galway Developer dross. It was refused in favour of an earlier more standard proposal but is being appealed to ABP – I hope it gets passed.
Forgive the poor image quality – photographed from a computer screen…

Designers: Sean Dockry & Assoc.
3d’s: ProViz

Wow, both those designs are hideous. What is going on in Galway, they’re ruining the city centre.

Obviously not everyone’s tastes are the same 😉

Both these schemes are outside the main historic core of the city centre in somewhat run-down, marginal areas. I personally think that both, particularly the cinema (which I know is probably a bit too avant-garde for many of more conservative tastes) will be very positive contributions to their locations.

The Arthouse building looks quite well and compact in size. Ideally if they could acquire the corner premises and convert it into a mini plaza which could be used in the summer months as an outdoor café. The location of the Arthouse in this part of the city centre is perfect.

The image of the glass office building is indeed somewhat blurred. I personally like glass front buildings as it would mirror the rapid changing Galway bay sky. However an office building in this part of the town could be out of character with rest of the other cultural amenities in it’s vicinity?

The location of the concert hall alongside the cathedral would totally detract from it. I wonder what is the general reaction to it’s location in Galway?

I took a stroll along the Corrib river / Salmon weir last summer and they carrying out a lot of work on the weir itself. Apart from the concert hall proposal what has the city council planned for Nun’s island area?

The cinema is an interesting take on the tower-house and it would read very well as a sculptural shape; the actual cinema theatres seem very small capacity, but perhaps I’m just used to bigger volumes in the big smoke.
The office building – glass-fronted; how original – ho,hum. (What’ll happen when it all falls off in another generation?)

CologneMike,
Not sure if you mean the little vernacular building on the corner in front of the newbuild in the image you’ve reproduced – It’s actually part of the scheme and houses the box office and admin for the Cinema. From the plans it looks like you can enter the scheme from either the main road side (up the ramp) or through the old carriage arch into a tiny courtyard between old and new where there’s a choice of entering directly to the cinema foyer or up an external staircase directly into the bar area (charmingly named “sitting room” in the plans!). One unfortunate element of the scheme is that the big picture window overlooking the main road at first floor levels just misses catching a view between the city museum and the buildings across the road towards the Claddagh – instead it’ll be staring directly at a particularly nasty apartment block.

The new office builfing is fairly suited to its location as Merchant’s Road is all large scale office blocks creating a bit of a canyon of a street. I really do think that the ground floor and basement (if there is one) would be a great spot for a bar/venue that might compliment the emerging cultural quarter. It’s down as retail in the plans but i can’t really imagine people coming to shop here so far from the main core of Shop St / High St. As for it being glass fronted johnglas, not sure how familiar you are with Galway but the fact that it’s not some lumpen, punched-windowed post modern nightmare comes as a bit of a relief! Some decent quality well executed corporate style design wouldnt do this particular location any harm at all!

To be honest I wouldnt be too worried about anything detracting from the Cathedral in Galway, it’s already enough of a monstrosity! I do however think that whatever goes on the Fisheries Field should be a little lower key and be more connected to it’s site than an “object” iconic building. Nuns Island is the great forgotten area of Galway. its got lovely character in places but some utterly revolting new developments either in planning or completed. Its an exciting area, a lot of sites are either about to be released or are coming up for decision on. The Bish school wish to move out of town, the NUIG engineering school is relocating from it’s agglomeration of old industrial buildings to the main campus, the cathedral carpark has huge potential. The whole area could be transformed with a bit of forward thinking – my personal vision would be to make it the cultural core of the city (somewhat at odds with what’s happening at Flood St), to create better linkage back to the Shop St area via a footbridge and thus create a whole new route from shop st, via nun’s island to the cathedral, university and on to the hospital. Sort of an “institutional spine”. It’s the thing about Galway that sometimes frustrates me – so much potential, so little vision…

BTH: thanks for the comment; good local knowledge always outweighs armchair critique. Is the Bish school the one near St Nicholas’s (a spectacularly ugly lump, I recall – the school that is)? If it is its removal would allow for a building less alien to the (medieval?) street pattern and allow for a good modern infill.
Why isn’t the carpark behind (in front of?) the Cathedral developed? The parking could go underground and you could create a ‘cathedral close’ and get some sense of enclosure round the bldg. The Cathedral is a bit of a fright, but is now old enough to be a part of the landscape and you would never think of knocking it, but the landscaping needs rethought and I seem to remember that the interior has been messed about a bit, and not for the better.

@BTH wrote:

Not sure if you mean the little vernacular building on the corner in front of the new build in the image you’ve reproduced – It’s actually part of the scheme and houses the box office and admin for the Cinema. From the plans it looks like you can enter the scheme from either the main road side (up the ramp) or through the old carriage arch into a tiny courtyard between old and new where there’s a choice of entering directly to the cinema foyer or up an external staircase directly into the bar area (charmingly named “sitting room” in the plans!).

Yes I was indeed referring to the small corner building with the old carriage arch. Looks like as if the corner building had to be retained to keep the same height with the rest of Flood Street? But do the two building types complement to each other?

Well really it’s being retained because it’s very old and because it’s part of the little fragment of streetscape that is Flood St. It’s not because of any inherent architectural quality – although it is a very simple, unadorned, elemental structure just like the new tower rising behind. In a way it reminds me of the group of buildings housing The Kings Head pub on High street. There a very simple vernacular street frontage conceals the significant remains of a massive tower house which was buried within the city block. This image of Speeds Pictoral Map of Galway 1651 taken from the King’s Head Website has the structure I mean highlighted.

In a way the proposed cinema is a bit like as if the new main road has exposed the face of one of these old mid-block tower houses. Or maybe I’m just reading too much into it…!

Johnglas, the Bish is the monstrosity that you come upon as you follow the one way system from the cathedral carpark, between the big old engineering buildings onto Nun’s island proper. There is another rather more elegant modern building facing the cathedral which is also a part of the Engineering department. I’d love to see the Cathedral carpark become something more urban – you could imagine an almost Florentine experience, wandering through narrow streets with little glimpses of the massive dome looming overhead. Ive heard that there could be issues as the ground was possibly used to bury prisoners from the Gaol which previously occupied the site. Surely though something could be done that could respect this as well as developing the places potential.

Nuns Island / Cathedral carpark

Here’s a few pics of the area we’re discussing –
1: Looking towards Nuns Island from Cathedral carpark – NUIG Engineering Department and County Library visible

2: Back through carpark to uninspiring “backside” of Cathedral

3: From Nuns Island towards Cathedral – reasonably elegant 1960s engineering building on right

4: Nuns Island with Bish school on left and old Bish on right.

It’s a very interesting area – lots of potential.

When is Galway going to get rid of that terrible wirescape, or do people just not notice?

Just thought I’d post this recent picture of Wolfe Tone Bridge area of Galway for comment.

You probably posted the most flattering view of that newish development on the left. The other side is horrendous with all that green cladding tacked on. it is quite possibly one of the worst devlopments in Galway imo. I lived in the devlopment on the far right with the stone cladding up until last year
That little tower/museum thing also hides some of the most awful apartments you will ever see (possibly 1960’s/1970’s) in the middle of that block.

Just my opinion though!

Wow, that must have been a seriously high tide! Was that taken at the weekend? I was out of the country… I’ve been living here six years and never seen the claddagh basin and the river “joined” like that…

As for that building with the tokenistic use of copper in the background…. To call it hideous is to be charitable. It’s an awful clumsy composition from all angles but when you get up close it’ss possibly the worst detailed modern building in Galway. That whole stretch of riverside could be very interesting but unfortunatly the ball has been dropped badly… Lack of vision yet again.

are there any high rises planned for Galway? I read that Iarnrod eireann plan to double track the Galway line. Too bad that the Western railcorridor will be single track and a section of the line South of Ennis floods constantly, which will lead to a very unreliable service. I can’t tell from their website if they intend for passengers to change at Athenry or have a direct Galway-Limerick service. Anyone any ideas? Either way, double tracking from Athenry to Galway is well needed as that line will be handeling intercity trains from Dublin and Limerick/Waterford as well as Athenry commuter service

oh not more of that green sh*t,its everywhere!!

2 interesting letters in the City Tribune today, concerning the Council’s refusal of the Taaffes development due to the Seveso regulations….

Dear Editor

I am writing in response to the refusal of Galway City Council to allow the development of Ms Una Taaffe’s former shop on William St.

As I understand the situation nobody who owns a business within a certain distance of the oil tanks at the Docks may now alter their premises, redevelop it or God forbid, build on any site nearby. Does this not make the City Centre redundant? If so its a shocking position for Ireland’s third city.

Does the Council not realise that in invoking the Seveso regulations, introduced after the Buncefield Terminal disaster they have practically put their own planning office out of business, or at the very least lessened their workload substantially?

As there have been many questionable initiatives in the past by our good burghers, perhaps the Council could follow the trend and now fund an initiative that would move the entire city north, by say 200 m, and so out of range of any explosion.

This may lessen the damage were our indigenous oil tanks to go the way of their English cousins

Second one:

I am flabbergasted by the recent decision of the Galway City Planning Office to reject the proposed redevelopment of the derelict Taaffe’s Shop on William Street, as outlined in your cover story of the 4th April last. In doing so they have signed a death warrant for the City Centre!

In recent years Galway has fallen behind other cities in Ireland in the quality of retail and the retail experience offered to its residents. Nowhere is this more evident than in what should be the thriving heart of the City. While the City’s medieval streets and buildings may contribute to its charm, retailers find such configurations problematic. This is evidenced to the degree that many retailers have opened and closed in bewildering numbers in recent years, unable to operate or reach financial minimums in shop units more suited to the 17th than the 21st Century. The absence of larger shops has meant the influx of poor quality retailers in the City Centre and the opening of a plethora of phone shops and coffee outlets. This is to be regretted as the basic necessities of comparison shopping that can be expected in any other town are not to be found here.

In the coming years the City Centre is likely to face increasing challenges particularly if proposed retail developments at the Galway Shopping Centre and on the lands surrounding Ceannt Station get the go-ahead. Is it not the duty of the local business community and its myriad of representative bodies and our local officials to foster the economic development of Galway’s heart? Measured and sustainable development in the City Centre should be encouraged. There are few opportunities in Galway for the larger shop units that national and international retailers now demand. As far as I can see Taaffe’s remains the only one that can fulfil this need. Its development would undoubtedly breathe new life into the area and bring increased numbers of people into Galway’s heart. Instead the exodus of Galway’s shopping public to places such as Athlone, Limerick, Sligo and Dublin will continue unabated as choice cannot be found or expected here at home.

The decision by Galway’s planners to effectively sterilise the City Centre, means that Taaffe’s will continue to stand as a crumbling monument to its increasing stagnation.

@rob mc wrote:

oh not more of that green sh*t,its everywhere!!

Yeah that seems to be ubiquitous in Galway. Much more so than anywhere else.

What you dont get a sense of from the sections of the cimema is how spiky the building is inside. de Paor is continuing his current penchant for jagged plans. Looks really interesting to be honest.

Here’s another image of that City Point development on Prospect Hill – looks much more promising in this one – the black stone would look quite striking I think and in this scenario the pre patinated copper would work. it’s grand when it’s being used sparingly on roofs etc. or when it’s done with a bit of flair like on GMIT but when it’s just tokenistically plastered on a building as wallpaper as in the building down at the claddagh or used in stupidly inappropriate places like the kiosks in Eyre Sq it becomes a problem….

I can understand your impatience with the ubiquity of patinated copper, but it’s just a fad, like many other fads, e.g. exposed concrete, unpainted galvanised metal, acres of glass cladding and flat-roofed, boxy house extensions. Much of architecture – at any period – is fashion and what is touted as ‘cutting edge’ (whatever that means) is actually just the latest trend. So, there’s a lot more patinated copper to come until people get tired of it and go on to something else like titanium (no, sorry, that’s been done) – and it’s still better as a surface material than exposed concrete, especially in this climate.

New apartments in Doughuisce.

Sorry about the size ….

Does anyone know if the Ceannt Station Quarter Developement is going ahead?

Great to hear IÉ taking somw initiative for a change. I really hope they introduce Double tracking between Ceannt and Athenry. A single track wouldn’t have a hope in hell of accomidating Commuter services to Athenry and intercity services to Dublin and Limerick

yea i passed the crown development the other day,i had heard about a year back but never knew it had been approved,it looks like they already have the groundwork down!!

@Jammyd wrote:

bit dissapointed from the website looks like its gonna be Homebase that anchors the development.. my hopes of Galway getting an Ikea seem dashed :p

Only another 1.2m people to add to reach their primary retail catchment floor. For a retail park it looks quite good; the architects job on Festival Place Basingstoke is an interesting project as it involved the remodeling of a failed 1960’s planned town type scheme (bizarely dropped into the centre of quite a pleasant market town) into a hugely successful covered shopping centre that attracts a footfall of 350,000 per week which is impressive for a town of 90,000 people.

Any updates on the Ceannt Station project?

@PVC King wrote:

Only another 1.2m people to add to reach their primary retail catchment floor. For a retail park it looks quite good; the architects job on Festival Place Basingstoke is an interesting project as it involved the remodeling of a failed 1960’s planned town type scheme (bizarely dropped into the centre of quite a pleasant market town) into a hugely successful covered shopping centre that attracts a footfall of 350,000 per week which is impressive for a town of 90,000 people.

Any updates on the Ceannt Station project?

Galway has 72,000 in total.. not 90,000. 🙂 a bit of an exaggeration.

I believe the 90,000 is referring to Basingstoke…

@dave123 wrote:

Galway has 72,000 in total.. not 90,000. 🙂 a bit of an exaggeration.

It’s approx 102,000 within a 15 KM radius of the city.
Still a small place though.

UP TO 1,000 jobs will be created by the new look €200 million Galway Shopping Centre when it is completed within the next five years.

Work on the massive project — which will see the size of the centre quadruple — is expected to begin early in the New Year, with the developers keen to begin as soon as possible.

The redevelopment plan for the centre is set to be given planning permission following a vote by city councillors last Monday in favour of rezoning land to accommodate a new entrance.

The entire four-phase project should be completed by 2013, with the first phase expected to be completed in 2010. And according to the project’s backers, Harcourt Developments, the construction phases will create around 250 to 300 jobs.

In a letter to councillors, Harcourt’s Director of Group Operations Conal Harvey asked that the rezoning be passed so that the development “can proceed as soon as possible”.

“The total projected investment in the project is in the order of €200m over a four to five year period, with construction employment running at 250 to 300 people. When the entire centre is completed, employment will grow by an additional 1,000 jobs,” he said.

This week, councillors voted 12-2 in favour of a Material Contravention of the City Development Plan to rezone land on the Sean Mulvoy Road (owned by Hibernians Football Club) to make way for a new entrance to the shopping centre.

The access roadway from the Sean Mulvoy Road will be 70 metres in length, and according to planners, the development will result in an overall improvement of the access roads, including junction changes and better use for pedestrians, cyclists and buses.

The Council’s Director of Services for Planning, Tom Connell, advised members to accept the recommendations being made by the Council’s executive, adding that it was “a vote of confidence that such an investment is to be made in the city”. :D:D:D:D:D

Before
http://www.harcourtdevelopments.com/images/galway.jpg

After
http://www.galwaynews.ie/sites/files/galwaynews/imagecache/Main/sites/files/galwaynews/images/x4_New_look_Shopping_Centre.jpg

Fantastic. Lets make the Galway Shopping Centre, which is located at the Terryland Roundabout, the biggest bottleneck in the city, four times its current size. Yes, that’ll be a good idea, all that extra traffic will make getting across the city EVEN MORE FUN.

Good grief why couldnt this wait till the Outer Bypass had at least been started?

Good point that has to be the busiest road in Galway!!

It would have been a better idea to either have waited for the outer by-pass,or to have just built it outside the city!!

Thank god they aren’t building it outside the city – Galway has mercifully escaped the draining effect of out of town retail developments up until now. The main reason it’s taken so long for this scheme to be granted is that they have had to make various proposals for improvements to the Headford Rd. roundabout/bottleneck before coming up with an acceptable and potentiallly successful solution. And really it cant possibly become any more of a nightmare for traffic than it already is!! Can it?

Now the city council just need to get on with their Local area plan for the opposite side of the Headford Rd. – where the horrors that are the Galway Retail Park, Black Box theatre and Omniplex cinema currently reside. The intention is that this area will become an extension of the city centre with a proper street pattern and mixed development as well as opportunities to develop areas of the waterside at Dyke Rd. Of course just about anything would be an improvement on it’s current state!

On another note the new coach station has been completed

Dont know what they were thinking tho,putting only 8 bus terminals in it!!
Only in Ireland!!

Proposed 5th bridge over river corrib.

The outer bypass is supposedly set to start immediately,as funding has been received and planning has been approved for a 15 km stretch of dual carriageway.

Whats everyones view on the outer bypass??

Good idea? bad idea?

A €350 million development plan for Galway harbour aims to move the port south on land reclaimed from Galway Bay.

The project aims to attract cruise liners into a transformed deepwater port, develop a new rail link and build up to 300 marina berths.

An “iconic” structure marking the port from sea approaches will be commissioned as part of the three-phase development, according to Galway Harbour Company.

Significantly, the harbour company intends to work with CIÉ on redeveloping the existing harbour area, and a local area action plan will be initiated as part of this, it says.

The three-phase plan has been prepared in advance of Galway’s hosting the first Irish stop-over for the Volvo Ocean Race. The Government has committed €8 million to Galway’s Volvo participation, and the event is expected to attracted 140,000 spectators and a worldwide television audience, with a prospective spend of over €40 million during the fortnight from May 23rd to June 6th.

However, no State funds are anticipated for the harbour project, which aims to qualify for strategic infrastructure approval with Bord Pleanála. Some 99 per cent of the new port will be built on reclaimed land and it is “vital” for Galway’s future, the company’s chief executive Eamon Bradshaw says.

First phase from 2010 to 2013 will involve reclamation using dredged material, building a new quay wall, the development of an extended rail link, the provision of new fishing berths and the development of a 177-berth marina.

The second phase will involve completing the marina and fishing berths, and building a new nautical centre and harbour office between 2013 and 2015. The final phase will involve providing an eastern marina with 110 berths, constructing public promenades to the east and west of the development and landscaping.

Inshore fishermen have been consulted, and initial talks have taken place with a number of stakeholders, the company says. It aims to fund the development through disposal of some of its existing portfolio, and it says it has already received Cabinet approval in principal.

The plan refines an initial €2 billion strategy presented in August 2006 to former taoiseach Bertie Ahern by a “vision” group set up for the port. This focused on moving the existing tidal port to deepwater, and was marketed as a “flagship” project for the west for the 2007-2013 national development plan.

However, An Taisce’s Galway branch was critical of lack of consultation, and said an overall plan for Galway docks was already a requirement in the Galway City Council development strategy.

Last year, Minister for Transport Noel Dempsey published a Harbours (Amendment) Bill 2008 to permit the 10 State port companies to pursue a “robust commercial agenda” both in and outside the State and boost their commercial mandate.

Irish Times

@galwayrush wrote:

It’s approx 102,000 within a 15 KM radius of the city.
Still a small place though.

The city and metropolitican region is 72,000 under CSO. Stop “but it’s”……… it’s 72,000 the city and suburbs. I’m not including county Galway and nor should you start including other regions. We are talking about Galway city not surrounding countryside 10/15miles outside it.

Up to three hundred jobs for NUIG construction project
Galway Advertiser, October 01, 2009.

By Richie Mccarthy

The Taoiseach Brian Cowen visited NUI Galway last Friday for a sod turning ceremony to mark the construction of a new €40m engineering building. The construction project will employ up to 300 people and is due for completion by September 2011. BAM Building Ltd has been signed as the main contractor for what will be one of the largest construction projects west of the Shannon, and on completion will be the largest engineering building in the country.

Speaking at NUI Galway, An Taoiseach said: “The new engineering building will be financed through a combination of exchequer funding and resources realised by NUI Galway, including philanthropy. The new building will bring benefits to Galway city and its surrounds by creating jobs for the next two years. Longer term it will enable NUI Galway to continue to produce excellent engineering graduates supporting the Smart Economy in areas such as innovation and renewable energy technologies”.

NUI Galway has recently seen soaring engineering programme applications which reflect favourably on carefully thought-out new programmes. These include energy systems engineering, designed in response to a growing demand for professional engineers to work in the energy sector. Another new course is engineering innovation, which aims to create a new type of electronic engineer with skills in innovation and entrepreneurship essential to delivering the smart economy.

The 14,200 square metre engineering building will accommodate the college of engineering and informatics, housing 110 staff and approximately 1,100 students. It will include green-building initiatives, and with its exposed construction design will itself be utilised as a teaching tool for the students. High-tech renewable energy systems, environmentally friendly heat generation using carbon-neutral biomass, rainwater recycling, ground source heat pump, and low-embodied energy construction materials wherever possible will underpin the building’s green credentials and provide working examples for engineering students to study.

President of NUI Galway Dr James J Browne said: “This new engineering building reflects our commitment to providing students with the highest quality learning experience in engineering education. NUI Galway enjoys a strong reputation in engineering, evidenced by this year’s increase in undergraduate engineering entry to over 250 students – a 25 per cent increase on the previous year. This approach to education at NUI Galway is based on the university’s key research strengths and our strong linkage with industrial partners. We offer a range of innovative programmes – from biomedical to energy engineering – which highlight the university’s commitment to the national and regional needs of the smart economy”.

This looks promising.

Councils hope ambitious plan will change the way Galway travels

Galway Advertiser, January 14, 2010.

By Kernan Andrews

A major bid to make Galway the leading Smart Travel location in the country by the Galway City Council and Galway County Council could see car use reduced dramatically over the next five years and see a major rise in cycling, walking, and the use of public transport.

For all this to become a reality, an ambitious plan, which the local authorities have assembled, must be approved for Government funding.

The city and county councils’ joint submission to the Government’s Smarter Travel National Competition, which seeks to achieve sustainable transport systems and practices for Ireland, has reached the second stage.

Originally 39 applications were made for the funding for a share of the €50 million fund the Government is offering. These have now been whittled down to 11 of which the Galway bid is one.

Feedback from the Department of Transport on the city and county councils’ Stage One bid highlighted that it was “excellent” and “one of the few bids where all members of the adjudication panel agreed that it should proceed to stage II”.

The stage II bid seeks to secure funding of €25 million for the Galway Metropolitan Area (Galway city, Bearna, Oranmore, and Baile Chlair). The bid outlines an ambitious plan for the city including major infrastructural works, plans, and programmes aimed at increasing the numbers of walkers, cyclists, and public transport users.

The completed bid must be submitted by April 30. If this bid is successful it will reach the final stage of four and stand in good stead of securing all or a majority of the funding being sought.

The plan proposes to increase the pedestrian areas of Galway city into Cross Street, Middle Street, and Eglinton Street. The proposal came from consultations which took place before Christmas and the council will be meeting with retailers, councillors, the Chamber of Commerce, etc, to gain further points of view and suggestions on this idea.

According to Cathy Joyce of the Galway Transportation Unit the idea has already been “very well received” in meetings held so far with the Galway City Business Association and the Chamber of Commerce.

A major thrust of the bid is to reduce car use by 15 per cent by 2014 and encourage cycling, walking, and the use of public transport. As a result it is proposed to reduce speed limits in the city centre to 30kph.

“There is a need to look at the safety of all road users, not just drivers,” said Joe Tansey, head of the Galway Transportation Unit. “Cyclists and pedestrians will see this as vital to promoting cycling and walking, and reducing speeds will protect more vulnerable road users. Speeding drivers are a deterrent to pedestrians and to parents letting children cycle to school.”

Other proposals to reduce car use include a six fold increase in the length of bus corridors from 3km to 18km, to serve Knocknacarra, Parkmore, Oranmore, Monivea Road and the Tuam Road; and the development of a new walking and cycling route from Newtownsmith to the Docks via Abbeygate Street.

To encourage cycling, the plan seeks the development of high quality cycle routes from the city centre to Bearna, Dangan, Baile-Chlair, and Oranmore. It also proposes two new bike training parks in the east and west of the city.

According to Mr Tansey, the parks will be a kind of road safety training park for cyclists. While all cyclists will be welcome to use the facilities, they will be primarily aimed at young cyclists and families as well as new adult cyclists who may be nervous of the roads. The park will be a mock-up streetscape with various obstacles, and a volunteer instructor will be on-hand to give advice and training.

A total of four new bridges have been proposed. Two will be pedestrian bridges – one over the old Clifden-Galway railway on the River Corrib and another from the Cathedral to Bowling Green.

A key part of the plan will be the development of a multi-modal transport hub in Garraun, Oranmore, which will include park and ride facilities, a rail station, and cycling and walking felicities. The scheme will also provide local employment.

For such a plan to be successful the public need to see the local authorities deliver on their promises. Correspondingly the public to come on board and be willing to adopt new ways of getting around the city that do not exclusively involve the car.

As a result the bid proposes a new ‘sustainable travel’ PR programme and the roll out of workplace mobility plans, which will involve City Hall working with businesses which employ more than 100 people and focusing on prioritising cycling and walking to work, car pooling, and using public transport.

The council also intends to develop a new personalised travel planning programme to be piloted in Renmore. This will see City Hall discussing with the Renmore population the ways in which local people travel to work, school, and leisure activities, and seeing how car use can be reduced in this.

“We’re all creatures of habit,” said Mr Tansey. “We want to make people aware of the options that are out there. It gives people the chance to do something new and find something that might suit them.”

Fianna Fáil councillor and chairman of the Integrated Transportation Coordinating Group Michael J Crowe said the bid “is a very comprehensive plan” and will need “widespread support” for it to succeed, and he is calling on the public, councillors, and various interested groups to get behind it.

“We have stiff opposition from Cork, Limerick, and parts of Dublin city, among others,” he said. “As well as trying to secure €25 million, advancing the necessary infrastructural changes, and promoting the benefits, etc, we also need to change the public’s hearts and minds. It is an uphill challenge but one I believe is achievable.”

The Galway Metropolitan Area Stage II bid will bew assessed by reference to its level of ambition, designs, behavioural change campaigns, and the ability of the city and country councils to deliver on their plans.

“We are entering this on a high note but what will make the difference to actually securing the funding is the

@kingpin976 wrote:

Douglas Wallace were not the architects responsible for the Bailey Point development in Galway. The architect responsible was actually Architectural Design Technology. Douglas Wallace were employed in the latter stages of the project by the developer and then, following the developer going into receivership, by the receiver KPMG. Douglas Wallace’s brief in both instances was to resolve both planning compliance and legal ownership/certification issues.

Hi Kingpin,

May I correct you on this post I realise it is an old one but it needs correcting. The Architect responsible was a company called Architectural Construction Technology based in Dun Laoghaire. Douglas Wallace were only employed after the original Architect refused to continue working because the Cunningham Group who were backed by the First Active bank at the time owed around €500,000.00 and had bounced cheques. Douglas Wallace were not brought in to clean up the project they were brought in in an attempt to finish the project without paying the Original Architect. Douglas Wallace to their shame made use of misappropriated files belong to Architectural Construction Technology altered those drawings and then in public documentation claimed that they did them.

The Original Architect still has thousands of documents for this project and I understand that a number of years ago after the First Active had put the Cunningham into receivership they did a deal with A.C. T. but reneged on that deal. As a result the title to the building is in dispute as A.C.T. owns almost all of the planning and fire permissions and has all of the original drawings files.

So if I may be so bold you should perhaps not speak of things that it is clear you know nothing about

Quote:
Originally Posted by BTH
Here is the Bailey Point building in Salthill by Douglas Wallace (designed many many years ago I believe!). It should have opened about 3 years ago but has been beset by problems from the start. It will eventually accommodate a multi screen cinema in the basement, bar, restaurant, nightclub and lots and lots of apartments. I’d say the view from those penthouses is pretty amazing!

Yes the view is amazing. But see my reply to Kingpin as Douglas Wallace did not design this building nor were they brought in to clean up problems. They were brought in to circumvent paying the original Architects who were Architectural Construction Technology. The only problems were the developer did not like paying the people involved in the project not just the Architects but many other suppliers had considerable difficulty getting paid and many did not get paid.