Galway Bay fm newsroom:
The Galway City St. Patrick's Day parade will not take place this year due to concerns over public safety and the spread of the coronavirus.
Galway City Council acknowledged the government's decision at last evening's council meeting, which itself took place in the Galmont Hotel rather then the council chambers due to new public health guidelines on infection control.
Nationally, all St Patrick's Day parades have been cancelled following a meeting of a special cabinet sub committee, with Galway the last major city in the country to cancel their parade.
At last evening's city council meeting, city chief executive Brendan McGrath advised councillors to let the St. Patrick’s Day parade event license lapse for now.
The idea met with resistance from a number of representatives while cllrs Collette Connolly, Alan Cheevers and Pauline O'Reilly called on the council to show leadership and cancel the event.
Councillors then voted to defer deciding on the cancellation until after the Government released their own decision on parades nationwide.
