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The West of Ireland is in decline and when you look at the neglect of successive governments it’s easy to see why. While Dublin has enjoyed multiple major capital investments over the last two terms of government, the west of Ireland has fallen further and further behind to a point where we are now categorised as a “Transition Region” by Europe.
Metrolink, the latest “world class” project for Dublin, is likely to cost north of €10bn but judging by the performance with the Children’s Hospital, it could be in the trillions before it is complete. Add the €2.4bn (and rising) National Children’s Hospital, BusConnects (€2bn+), Poolbeg West Development (€2bn+), TUD Campus (€500m), Dart expansion project (€2.6bn+), Ringsend Wasterwater Project (€500m) and the expansion of the Luas (€370m) and you quickly arrive at a figure north of €20bn for the nation state that is Dublin.
During this time Galway has seen infrastructural improvements to University of Galway and University Hospital Galway (both Galway West) and the completion of the Tuam Bypass (Galway East) for a total of just shy of €1bn. This is a million miles away from the level of investment Dublin enjoys, despite Dublin county have a population of approx 5.4 times County Galway.
Galway gets a tiny fraction of the capital expenditure allocated to Dublin. The majority of this, circa €1bn, is for work that has yet to commence.
The Galway Ring Road, which has been talked about for 30 years, still hasn’t happened. It is a necessary part of improving Galway’s overall transport infrastructure and paves the way for better public transport services. It is earmarked for €600m in government funding.
Similarly, the Galway Metropolitan Area Transport Strategy (GMATS) has been earmarked for €320m in funding but nothing is happening. If you do a Google search for “Galway Transport Strategy” or if you follow a link from this page on the National Transport Strategy website, you reach a dead-end.
Nothing to see here!
The waste water infrastructure in Galway city is on the verge of an environmental apocalypse as pipes carrying waste water to Mutton Island are on the brink of collapse.
The infrastructure in the East of the county fairs no better and has been described to me by one property developer as “third world“.
There you have it. Galway is third world, so that Dublin can be world class.
The government intend to pump water from the Shannon to serve Dublin; they intend to build fossil fuel plants in East Galway to serve data centres for the affluent east and they won’t spend a penny modernising our infrastructure.
It’s long past time for change! Vote Independent – vote for Paul Madden in East Galway!
