New Developments in Galway City

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.

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?

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

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.

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.

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.

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

Any images of what it will actually look like?

@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