Fórsa trade union members have warned that services at Galway City Council will be more difficult to access for many citizens if the council proceeds with its decision to move out of Galway City to the proposed Crown Square site in Mervue.
The union has said citizens of Galway City will “lose out if the city council is cast out” from its current city centre location on College Road. Union members cautioned that the move would generate additional traffic congestion in the city, as well as ‘hollowing out’ the city centre by reducing footfall to local businesses.
The union has organised a lunchtime protest at the council premises on Monday (10th March @1.30pm), ahead of a meeting of the council at 3pm. In a recent survey of members, Fórsa confirmed the view of council staff is that the proposed relocation is not in the best interests of service users and has criticised the lack of consultation with staff and other stakeholders about the move.
Three quarters of the staff surveyed confirmed the move would make them consider applying for posts outside of the council.
Fórsa official Padraig Mulligan said: “Galway City Council has made a very serious error of judgement by pushing ahead with a move that nobody wants. It failed to consult its own staff, it failed to consult its own councillors in any meaningful way, and it is failing the people of Galway City by ignoring their needs.
“The population of Galway City and suburbs is projected to grow to 120,000 by 2040, that’s approximately 50% growth over a 20-year period.
“That level of growth demands easier access to services, real and substantial stakeholder engagement, and effective due diligence. But this council is seeking to push ahead, waste money, hollow out our city centre and force staff and service users onto heavily congested roads to access services in a business park with limited public transport.
“By reducing footfall in the city, and removing its civic presence, the council is making it harder for the citizens of Galway to have a living, working and functional city, and we need the people of Galway City to be aware of how their needs are being ignored,” he said.
Mr Mulligan said the front office services provided at the current location attract hundreds of people through its doors each week: “If we look at, for example, at cashier receipts, as an indication of footfall at the current location, the council has processed more than 2,000 transactions since the start of the year.
“Where is the cost-benefit analysis? When you remove that footfall other businesses, particularly the SMEs in the city centre, immediately lose out. The same concerns have emerged over the closure of the Pálás Cinema. These are services and amenities that draw people into the city, and it is the people of the city that ultimately lose out when pointless relocation becomes council policy,” he said.
The survey of members at the council revealed that two-thirds of staff said the move would increase their journey time to work. Almost half of the council staff said their journey time would increase by 30 minutes to an hour, while a similar number confirmed it would increase their commute costs and necessitate a change to how they travelled to work, most of whom said they would need to drive a car to work.
Mr Mulligan described these findings as evidence of council management’s failure to consider the climate action implications of the move, because the inevitable increase in private traffic would increase emissions in the city.
The majority (90%) of Fórsa members, when surveyed, said they should not accept the decision to proceed with the move.
The lunchtime protest will take place at 1.30pm at the City Council offices on College Road on Monday 10th March.
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