Galway Bay fm newsroom - The proposed revisiting of the merger of Galway City and County Council has been slammed in the Seanad.
The merging of both local authorities was recommended by a Government advisory group in 2018, but the plan was later shelved after being defeated in the Seanad.
However, indications have been given by Government that the matter remains on the table and will be revisited in the near future.
The matter was raised by Senators Ollie Crowe and Eugene Murphy, who spoke of Galway's large population and wide geographical area.
Senator Murphy argued that not only is any merger ill-advised, but we should be looking to restore town councils in places like Ballinasloe.
He said a number of towns along the Galway-Roscommon border, like Ballinasloe, are "suffering" and a merger will only make the situation worse.
While Senator Ollie Crowe argued that Galway is simply far too geographically diverse for a single local authority to be effective.
Fianna Fail Senators Crowe and Murphy were adamant that the matter should be scrapped permanently....
Speaking in response, Junior Minister Peter Burke offered that there is a good track record of previous mergers in other local authorities.
Minister Burke said the matter will be reviewed again in the near future....
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