Heads must roll over the recent High Court decision against City Hall on the Eyre Square renovation or else the Department of the Environment must step in and examine the way the Galway City Council is run.
This is the view of The Mayor of Galway Cllr Padraig Conneely, who said his oft derided stance on controversial Eyre Square renovation has been “vindicated” by last week’s decision.
The city council recently lost its High Court case over its handling of the €6.3 million funding for the Eyre Square renovation. The court rejected the council’s legal moves to overturn an arbitrator’s finding that it behaved unreasonably towards Samuel Kingston Construction and wrongfully withdrew funds for the Eyre Square project.
Mayor Conneely was outspoken in his criticism of the Eyre Square scheme and he is now calling for high ranking City Hall staff and management to consider their position in light of the judgement.
“The mis-management of the contract by City Hall means heads must roll,” he told the Galway Advertiser this week.
When Mayor Conneely was asked who he thought should resign/be fired over the issue he declined to name names but said: “They all know who they are.”
He continued: “Senior management got us into this debacle. They failed to mange the contract properly for the city. Judgement has been found against them and millions will now have to be paid out to Samuel Kingston and in legal costs and that all has to come from the ratepayers’ pockets.”
The Mayor is also calling on the Department of the Environment to examine the way City Hall is run and if necessary take action.
“The Department of the Environment should seriously look at the type of management we have in Galway,” he said. “They are the boss, they must act.”
Mayor Conneely said that he repeatedly raised concerns about the project and the direction it was going in but was not heeded by City Hall or the majority of his fellow councillors.
“Every time I raised this issue I was shouted down but the judgement has vindicated me,” he said. “All I have is the moral responsibility and I use it by being outspoken. On two occasions I was threatened with solicitors’ letters, saying that if I didn’t keep quiet I would be taken to court. Efforts were made to silence me but I will not be silenced.”
Mayor Conneely said that following the judgement he has received many phone calls and text messages from the public telling him ‘well done’ and ‘keep it up’.
For its part, the Galway City Council and its legal team are now assessing the legal and other issues which arise from the detailed 60 page judgement from the High Court.
Following conclusion of this assessment, the City Council will proceed in accordance with its legal advice. As a result of this and the fact that the Arbitration Process between the city council and Samuel Kingston Construction Ltd is still ongoing and may take some time to finalise, City Hall said it would be “inappropriate to make any further comment at this time”.
