Galway Bay fm newsroom - Five million euro is to be spent on repairing the paving and footpaths on Shop Street in the city centre.
City CEO Brendan McGrath says the works will be planned next year and begin in 2019.
The repair of the uneven cobblestones on Shop Street, along with the footpaths, has been called for many years.
But the necessary funds were not available - until now - and they have come about in an unexpected manner.
The city council’s insurers Irish Public Bodies are making a retained earnings distribution to their members over a three year period.
This has resulted in a windfall of 3.8 million euro for Galway city council.
Finance Director Edel McCormack told councillors at their meeting last night that it’s critical that the council targets key areas for risk improvement to reduce the incidence of future claims.
She said the main city centre pedestrian surfaces should be the priority and Cllr Ollie Crowe replied the work would reduce the council’s claims bill.
City CEO Brendan McGrath said another 1.6 million euro could be secured from the North and West Regional Assembly bringing to 5.4 million the total spend on upgrading the Shop Street surfaces.
