Local election candidate, Mark Lohan, has set out a number of common sense measures he and his fellow Sinn Féin representatives would deliver if elected to Galway City Council on 7 June.
The City Central candidate said the climate crisis is one which all politicians must take seriously, and Sinn Féin is committed to responding with urgency and common sense.
“There are a range of measures the City Council could take which would help make Galway more sustainable, which citizens would rally behind,” he said.
“I proposed a plan to the City Council in 2019 to harvest energy from canals to power the city’s street lights with green electricity, using micro-hydrokinetic power in line with successful models in other countries.
“At a time of rising electricity costs, generating our own could help reduce the Council’s energy bill as well as emissions. If elected, I would work to make this a reality. Over 100 years ago the first public electric street lights in the city were powered by this source.
“If we are serious about encouraging public transport use, we need to deliver a city bus service that is reliable for workers and families, with bus shelters to keep passengers, especially older users, in out of the wind and rain when they wait for the bus., added Mr Lohan.
“Promoting active travel, which benefits both health and climate, requires safe cycling infrastructure. That means delivering fit-for-purpose cycle lanes, in consultation with communities, to take bikes out of the way of car traffic, which would also make life easier for motorists.
“The farce of City Councillors voting to reverse their own proposals in Salthill should not block all progress on delivering the Galway to Bearna greenway that was agreed in 2016.
“We also need to seriously examine options for a light-rail or Gluas to ease traffic congestion and help take more cars off the road across our city. It’s been four years since Dr Michael McGettrick‘s Single Lane Tram report which demonstrated that Galway’s linear shape makes it mathematically suitable for the tailored light rail that European cities smaller than Galway have adopted successfully. Equally the use of the glider tandem bus as has seen success in Belfast and Limerick should be studied and considered.
“The unending saga of the Ring Road, which has already cost over €21 million with not a metre of road built, should not serve as a barrier to examining other sustainable ways to ease traffic and provide alternative transport options.
“If you want to harness the energy of our canals for electricity, if you want to deliver reliable bus and cycling options for our people, and if you want a Council with ambition to look into a light rail for Galway and a city national park, then vote Sinn Féin on 7 June,” he concluded.
