Fianna Fail’s City Councillor Ollie Crowe has called on traders, city officials and pedestrians to adopt a more anti-littering attitude stressing that by doing so we are ensuring the future prosperity of the city.
”In 2007, Galway embarked on an energetic anti-litter campaign and managed to obtain eighth place in the Irish Business Against Litter (IBAL ) Anti litter League,” Cllr Crowe continued, “However, Galway’s ‘litter Free’ status was short lived and we have now dropped to 45th place. If we continue to drop litter, we’ll continue to drop on this league, and inevitably our visitor numbers and revenue will drop.”
Cllr Crowe acknowledges that Galway has seen an enormous influx of tourists over the past number of weeks with the Galway Arts Festival and the Galway Races proving incredibly popular and giving a much needed boost to the local economy.
However Cllr Crowe is warning against complacency stressing that tourism is potentially the most sustainable industry available to us in Galway. “Tourism is essential to the growth of our local economy, and we need to nurture it. While it was welcoming to see the numbers visit the city, I was appalled at the filth of our streets. Business people need to take responsibility for their own place,” he says. “The Latin Quarter needs to be commended as businesses have joined forces; each business keeps the pathway outside its premises clean thereby adding to the appeal of the area. This is a smart and simple practice which reaps its rewards and benefits for all to see.”
Cllr Crowe says it sometimes appears to Galwegians that we have the Midas-touch in continuing to attract domestic and foreign tourists to the city. He agrees that it is fantastic that the numbers attending the Galway Races were up five per cent on last year, and he is encouraged by business people were now motivated to continue their hard work.
“I am calling on everyone, customers, traders and city officials, to adopt a more anti-littering attitude. We have anti-littering by laws that need to be enforced. By simply disposing litter or power-hosing a shop front, we could all safeguard our future tourism prospects,” he says.
Cllr Crowe has also asked for street cleaning practices to be reviewed. At present Galway City Council is responsible for cleaning the streets of our inner city centre. He believes the cleaning route should include additional thoroughfares used by pedestrians leaving the city after a night out. “I have spoken with Mr Kevin Swift, Galway City Council, regarding the possible extension of the current street cleaning practices. I believe areas such as the West, College Road, Bohermore and Woodquay need to be included on the street-cleaning route. These areas are severely littered by fast-food wrappers, beer cans and the like.”
