Merger of Galway city and county councils proposed

http://www.rte.ie/news/2016/1007/822198-galway-councils/

I think this would be a good idea - an integrated approach to planning and development would hopefully give better outcomes.

Redhairedguy

Well for one thing it'll do away with that red tape nonsense of needing to know if something falls under a City council or County council heading.

thesandeman

And it will stop a certain poster getting confused.

TerrorFirmer

Loads of stories about this on the GBFM website, also podcasts of the Keith Finnegan show for anyone who's interested in hearing more about the arguments on both sides this morning.

Most city councillors are resolutely against it, but surprisingly so are most county councillors, which does seem odd as their financial situation is dire and the merger could only be a good thing for them.

Of course, this 'Greater Galway Authority' is unlikely to retain almost 60 elected representatives between both, so a lot of them would probably be up for the chop.

Will have to be reduced to at least ensure they all to fit into that brand spanking new chamber at County Hall worth 500K that only seats 39 councillors

larchill

What happened to the proposal to merge Cork City & County.

biko

Ask the Corkonians

thesandeman

larchill wrote: »

What happened to the proposal to merge Cork City & County.

They became a Peoples Republic boy.

D Trent

thesandeman wrote: »

They became a Peoples Republic, Boy

FYP

snubbleste

Anyone else think it is strange that an entire government agency shuts down because of a death?
As a mark of respect to our esteemed colleague and friend; Peter Keavney, R.I.P.
The offices of Galway City Council will be closed to the public from 10.30am to 1.30pm on Wednesday 19th October, 2016
May he rest in peace.

biko

Possibly they will all attend removal or similar connected event. It is 3 hours.

This thread is about the merge and not an opportunity to have a dig.

ben.schlomo

biko wrote: »

Possibly they will all attend removal or similar connected event. It is 3 hours.

This thread is about the merge and not an opportunity to have a dig.

Dig.......funeral.........harsh.

Mrs OBumble

snubbleste wrote: »

Anyone else think it is strange that an entire government agency shuts down because of a death?
As a mark of respect to our esteemed colleague and friend; Peter Keavney, R.I.P.
The offices of Galway City Council will be closed to the public from 10.30am to 1.30pm on Wednesday 19th October, 2016
May he rest in peace.

It's not the entire offices, just the public office - for three hours. When I was first here they were closed for an hour for lunch anyways, not sure if it's still the case.

It may seem strange in some countries. But here, it's just part of the way Ireland does deaths. And actually - if it was a colleague of mine who'd died, I'd expect to be going to the funeral.



Do you think that Galway County Council would operate a different policy on such things, so it might be an issue in the merger?

Zzippy

In light of Galway Co Co recently voting to increase property tax by 15%, I'd be happier to keep them separate. Until I move out of the city.... merge!

nuac

Will this merger lead to the continued growth of Galway city, at the expense of other centres such as Tuam, Ballinasloe?

. Those once thriving towns are now becomng dormitory towns for those working in Galway city.

Ballinasloe did have it's own Town Council, formerly Urban Council. It now seems to be losing out to Galway city and Athlone.

D Trent

nuac wrote: »

Will this merger lead to the continued growth of Galway city, at the expense of other centres such as Tuam, Ballinasloe?

. Those once thriving towns are now becomng dormitory towns for those working in Galway city.

Ballinasloe did have it's own Town Council, formerly Urban Council. It now seems to be losing out to Galway city and Athlone.

You're not really giving us a convincing argument here.

If they are dormitory towns, surely that would mean extra revenue for them when you think of people doing their shopping/eating out/school fees/local services.

Someone who lives in Ballinasloe and works in Galway is unlikely going to do their grocery shopping before returning to Ballinasloe. They are unlikely to go to the pub in Galway city and then get a taxi all the way back to Ballinasloe. People don't tend to spend too much money during their working day. Their income will be spent in Ballinasloe sooner than Galway.

Also what is so good about having a Town or Urban council?

what_traffic

nuac wrote: »

Will this merger lead to the continued growth of Galway city, at the expense of other centres such as Tuam, Ballinasloe?

Will happen regardless. Same is occurring for all the big Cities in Ireland. This was before Councils were merged and will still continue after mergers unless Gov Strategys alter drastically.

lucernarian

thesandeman wrote: »

They became a People's Republic, boy.

FYP

So after a long drawn out process, govt have published a Bill to implement the amalgamation of Galway City and County Councils by 2021.

https://galwaybayfm.ie/government-publishes-bill-to-implement-the-amalgamation-of-galway-councils/

This was after cabinet approval back in June

https://www.irishtimes.com/news/politics/cabinet-approves-overhaul-of-cork-and-galway-councils-1.3521773?mode=amp

Haven't been able to find a copy of the bill yet

Mrs OBumble

Excellent .. we'll have somewhere to dispose of our paint at last!

bagels

Dogs on the street knew this merger was a certainty. It didn't stop Galway County Council from wasting €1million of taxpayers money installing a few extra seats in the Council Chamber though. Now that Chamber still isn't large enough to hold the Councillors from the amalgamated Councils and a new one will have to be built, again costing €millions. Not to worry, sure they'll take the money out of the property tax income. And we'll let them away with it, as usual.

bagels

bagels wrote: »

Dogs on the street knew this merger was a certainty. It didn't stop Galway County Council from wasting €1million of taxpayers money installing a few extra seats in the Council Chamber though. Now that Chamber still isn't large enough to hold the Councillors from the amalgamated Councils and a new one will have to be built, again costing €millions. Not to worry, sure they'll take the money out of the property tax income. And we'll let them away with it, as usual.

It cost 600k and was funded through monies recouped from renegotiated leasing arrangement's. No front line services were impacted as a result

https://galwaybayfm.ie/claims-that-county-council-spent-40k-on-carpet-at-expense-of-roads-branded-disingenuous/

The total number of councillors will also be reduced following the amalgamation leading to overall less cost. That's not to mention the elimination of dual positions, one CEO instead of two as one example. All of which will benefit the people of Galway in the long term

Sure, there may well be a rejig of the council chamber following the amalgamation and before the elections, but reorganisation and additional once-off costs are not unusual when mergers are taking place.The same happens in the business world all the time.

Its short term pain for long term gain, nothing more

dok_golf

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

Excellent .. we'll have somewhere to dispose of our paint at last!

Lol, if only

Patrick 1959

I don’t think this will benefit Galway City or county . Galway City and County population and area size I think should warrant 2 Councils . If joint mega Councils worked then why don’t Dublin have One

tmh106

When the merger happens, will the Galway City and Galway Count boards forums be merged?

Zzippy

tmh106 wrote: »

When the merger happens, will the Galway City and Galway Count boards forums be merged?

Like the CEOs there can only be one mod too. Thumb wars to decide!

tmh106

tmh106 wrote: »

When the merger happens, will the Galway City and Galway Count boards forums be merged?

I, for one, would like that to happen. Too many good topics don't get any discussion on the county board