When you strip back the feeling that there is a General Election in the ar, when you peel away the veneer of what are merely election promises, when you scrape through the waffle, there really is a sense of something stirring in Galway at the moment. A sort of rumbling.
In the New Year’s Eve issue of the paper, I wrote about the potential of the city to go either way — to become a progressive, sustainable, metropolis. Or to remain as a great place to go on the lash with the lads and lassies. The choice was simple. Progression or pissheads. In the days following that article, I had contact from more than 100 people who said they agreed with the sentiment, that it needed to be said, and that wouldn’t it be great if this actually happened.
I met and communicated with more than a dozen, and lay impressed with their willingness to be part of a drive to push a new sort of Galway over the line. But like Brian in the Life of Brian, I told them that alas, I was not the Messiah, that the real thinking in all of this had to come from them.
I told them what I say now. That I did not have all the answers. Or maybe any of the answers. I told them, that as the facilitator of this platform, I merely carry around a wooden box on which the true experts can stand and shout out a message. And that this box is available to everyone to stand upon and say their piece.
The overall feeling then was that nobody wanted to be the first — and this in one sense confirmed my greatest fear for the potential of Galway to opt for the less desirable route. That the absence of leadership that I spoke about at New Year would once again bedevil any hope of progress.
In the weeks since then, there have been great stirring of projects that will transform this city; ons that can be done with the blessing and oversight of groups interested in environmental and sustainable reasoning. That there will no longer be a need for developments to be bulldozed through. That there will be meaningful and respectful consultation that will be more than just a talking shop, a box to be ticked.
Yesterday, we got news of another of these projects when the Land Development Agency announced plans for the regeneration of Sandy Road. There on a 20-acre site lies the potential for 1,000 new homes that because of their proximity to the city centre ought not be car-dependent. This follows on from the plans of NUI Galway to develop greater linkes between town and gown; that our seafront might house sustainable and beautiful offices and homes rather than piles of rusting steel.
Sandy Road has the potential to create a new neighbourhood, a span new community bringing life and much needed homes back into the heart of the city.
So there is something stirring, the ball is rolling, the rumbling is real. Planning for a new Galway involves the input of us all; business oprganisations, residents organisations, engineers, architects, developers, land development agencies, local authorities, educators, media, and the rest of us.
So we go again. After all, I’m just a gobshite with a box, but I place at all of your feet. If you have something to contribute and you undoubtedly do, please stand up on it in the interest of creating a better Galway. Let’s build a city that works for us all.
