As neither a Government Minister nor the National Roads Authority could dictate the route of a new county road it was essential for the relevant authority - Galway County Council - to ensure that the views of the public were taken fully into account before selecting a route.

This was stated by Independent MEP Marian Harkin following a meeting with representatives of An Foram do Phobal Iarras Aithneach Carna in Oughterard on Friday, September 1st.

She said that while Minister Eamon O’Cuiv had every right to express a view on his preferred route for the new road into West Connemara, the relevant decision making authority was Galway County Council.  There appeared to be a lack of meaningful consultation with the people of West Connemara in relation to the optimum route to service the needs of the people of West Connemara, the Independent MEP said.

Meetings with public representatives at which the National Roads Authority had indicated support for a Galway city to Rossaveal route raised serious questions about the role being played by the NRA, she said.  “The NRA has no role in determining the route of any new county road as this is solely the function of the local authority having regard to the roads needs of communities”, she said.

“The Galway County Plan is firmly committed to balanced delivery of roads to all communities within the county while it also expresses full support for Gaeltacht communities”, Marian Harkin said.  Bearing in mind that West Connemara had emerged as the area in Ireland with the highest level of daily usage of the Irish language it was incumbent upon Galway County Council to make decisions which encouraged population and development in that area, she said.  The need for such development was underlined by the facts contained in the ‘County Galway Local Poverty Profile 2005 which indicated declining population in the West Connemara Gaeltacht and a high incidence of poverty, she said.

“These facts, and the aspirations contained in the County Development Plan, raise major issues about the process undertaken in determining route selection for the new road into West Connemara and raises questions as to why the reasonable and considered views of the people of the area appear to be dismissed by the roads planners of Galway County Council”, the Independent MEP said.

She called for immediate consultation between representatives of the people of West Connemara and Rossaveal area and Galway County Council with a view to ensuring that the best possible route to the centre of Connemara was put in place in order to ensure a balance of development in the county.

“Anything less is an abuse of the democratic system and would contravene the policies of Galway County Council as detailed in the County Development Plan”, she said.