Polarised reactions to potential merger of city and county council

October 7th, 8:03am October 7th, 8:03am

Galway Bay FM News Desk

Galway Bay fm newsroom – There’s been a polarised reaction to the potential merging of Galway City and County Council into a new ‘Greater Galway Authority’.

It follows the publication of a long-awaited report on local government arrangements in Galway which recommends the unification of both local authorities.

The Galway Local Government Committee was established by then Minister for Local Government Alan Kelly in January 2015.

It was tasked with carrying out a review of local government arrangements in Galway City and County and to make recommendations for improvements.

The review examined the possible impacts of three scenarios – no change, an extension of the city boundary, or a total merger of the two local authorities.

Councillor James Charity is one of those sitting on Galway County Council who welcomes the news – he says unification should have happened sooner.

However, City Councillor Padraig Conneely says the recommendation is extremely bad news for Galway City.