Even though you would not have thought it at teatime at Casement Park in Belfast last Saturday evening, everything Galway seems to touch at the moment seems to turn to gold. The eyes of the country are perpetually fixed on the perpetual parties and festivals that break up the rainy summer months for us, the VOR was a great success and this week, the city and county are grateful beneficiaries of the economic viagra for the economy — the much vaunted Government Stimulus which on Tuesday sent the guts of 4,000 jobs our way in the guise of several shovel ready infrastructural projects which when complete will change substantially the commuting and health care habits of a good proportion of our population.
The devastation wrought on the country's construction sector was delayed somewhat in Galway by the massive M6 project which gave employment to many. Indeed, in a lot of cases it postponed decisions to emigrate by a year or so.
However when the M6 project came to an end, the impact was felt up and down the county. Hard, but well-paid work which had been the mainstay of many a family had come to an end and it seemed most unlikely that a project of such a magnitude would ever be rolled out in Galway again.
But, now it has and on Tuesday afternoon, when it was announced, hopes were raised around many a dinner table in the city and county. Hope that the need to emigrate may be staved off and that the time spent on the soul-destroying social welfare system may be shortened by those who have spent their lives working and never thought they would find themselves in need of Government assistance.
While many of the drivers, plant hire operators and labourers who worked on the M6 project are long gone to try their luck on foreign sites, there are still many people with young or educationally vulnerable children of schoolgoing age, who were unable to follow suit. And for them, the news of this stimulus is manna from heaven.
It is estimated that 2,500 jobs alone will be created on the M17 projects and an additional 500 will come onstream indirectly. Indeed, if the Galway City Outer Bypass project gets going, you could double those numbers — representing a major boon to households and businesses across the city and county.
Of course, nothing is ever guaranteed, and there are sceptics who fear that these projects will get off the ground when they are supposed to. There is also a chance that the outer bypass case may continue to be bogged down in legal argument and prevarication — However if they do not and the M17 rises from the fields of county Galway next spring, it will bring sustainability and hope to a lot of families. And for that we are thankful.
