Labour councillor Billy Cameron is calling on the Galway City Council to provide sites for two sports clubs within the city. Galway Kayak Club which previously operated out of the Fisheries Field and the Galway Racing Pigeon Club are currently looking for new sites to cater for increasing membership.
Cameron says: “Galway Kayak Club naturally need a site in close proximity to either the River Corrib or the Eglinton Canal with slip facilities to launch their craft. Previously they operated from a site within the Fisheries Field but the OPW have now acquired the site and have refused to accommodate the club.
“It is not too much to ask for a small site whereby a container can be placed in order to provide storage and changing facilities for members of the club,” says Cameron. “We as a council should be encouraging and facilitating clubs, especially in the current economic climate where youth will be turning to sports in order to find cheaper pastimes and activities.
“The Galway Racing Pigeon Club which was established in 1985, race pigeons for six months of the year ( April-September ). The birds are prepared and crated every weekend for racing during the summer months. They race as far as Ballycastle, Co Antrim, and right across the channel to Scotland. Currently the club is operating, thanks to the generosity of a local Bohermore publican, out of a store to the rear of the premises. With a large number of new members who are quite young, the club feels that it is not appropriate to continue in such a location,” says Cameron.
“ I would love to see this relatively young club facilitated on a site on the west side of the city where there are ample green-field sites to accommodate their container. Both site issues have been brought to the attention of the director of services for recreation, amenity and environment, the issues are being progressed and I would hope for a speedy resolution” conlcuded Cameron.
