As temporary repairs to sea wall damage in Oranmore caused by November’s Storm Debi are completed this week, a local councillor has slammed delays and again called for permanent infrastructure.
Acknowledging recent local authority repairs to the roadside stonewalls and Oranmore train station fencing, the Cathaoirleach of Galway County Council, Councillor Liam Carroll (Ind ), also welcomed a €312,000 allocation to resurface the R338.
Announced by Oranmore-based TD and government chief whip Hidegarde Naughton (FG ) last week as part of a €658 million fund for regional road upgrades, this money is ring-fenced to continue the ‘black top’ surface from the city boundary to Oranmore Railway Station, including the hard shoulder. Currently the county-city boundary is obvious, as motorists and cyclists feel a ‘bump’ when travelling into the rough-surfaced stretch maintained by Galway County Council.
Cllr Carroll, who recently quit Fine Gael after he was not selected as the party’s Oranmore local election candidate, has been highly critical of what he perceives as a lack of action over the past five months. He says he again discussed storm defences with the County Council chief executive Liam Conneally two weeks ago after Storm Kathleen. Carroll says he urged Conneally to apply to central government for flood defence funding, and that the rock armour similar to the coastline at Spiddal might be an appropriate response.
