Eyre square redevelopment

pleasant Co.

Infraction given to pure.conya, please heed the previous directions regarding civility towards other posters

Mrs OBumble

Whereisgalway wrote: »

Yea have to start small, create awareness and build from there. Eyre square/JFK is tangible, it's right in the middle of the city centre, it's seen and passed through by 1000's of people every day. The more people that pass through it and know that this is not €15+ million well spent the better

If you have people protesting about Eyre Square cost over-runs, that just focuses the issue on that one particular place and time, with no suggested change that people want other than that the money was not spent. But it was, so it's too late for that one. And as this thread shows, not everyone agrees with you that the resulting town square is under-used or barely useable.

The real problem is lack of audit of local authority spending or consequences for not following best-practise contract-management. Addressing that will take different strategies than rousing a mob of people complaining about one project which was finished 10 years ago.

Stevolende

I started looking at this thread to see if there was any comment about when the barriers were coming down. Somebody I overheard had suggested it was race week a week or so back. I thought it odd that it hadn't come down for the tourist season.

I think there had been an earlier attempt at getting the grass back this year. i remember seeing police type tape around the areas in one of the early months. Also recall seeing birds all over the grass. Now seeing barriers up with no over cover meaning that the areas aren't being protected from birds getting in there again. So wondering how effective taht really is, am assuming that one of the things birds would be doing is disturbing the growth of grass, possibly not as much as people walking on it might do.

But surely they have to take those barriers down by some point this summer?
Sorry if that has been said before but i haven't read the whole thread through and not sure what to search for.

Eeden

I suspect those barriers will come down before the start of the Arts Festival, as that's when the committee to evaluate Galway 2020 will be arriving for their visit.

Moo Moo Land

Moo Moo Land wrote: »

Fine Gael’s Conneely had called for a full investigation into the matter but the PAC chairman John McGuinness noted that the comptroller and auditor general does not audit the accounts of city councils.

Because they are audited by the Local Government Audit Service rather than the C&AG.

There is also an expectations gap about what an audit is.

Mrs OBumble

Deleted User wrote: »

Because they are audited by the Local Government Audit Service rather than the C&AG.

There is also an expectations gap about what an audit is.

Thank you - I had a feeling there was more to the story than had been presented so far!



FWIW, there were workers doing something to one of the re-grassed areas today, I didn't have time to see what exactly, but there were strips being moved.

Also, re-seeding was tried earlier in the year, and as before the birds made a meal of it it so it didn't work. Laying slabs on pre-grown grass was carried out more recently, and it is this which the barriers are protecting. I have a feeling that this couldn't be done before the temperature got to a certain level (or something)

Stevolende

Eeden wrote: »

I suspect those barriers will come down before the start of the Arts Festival, as that's when the committee to evaluate Galway 2020 will be arriving for their visit.

One might think that things like that might count against the 2020 bid.
You would think that the town would have to be in suitable shape all year, not that the only time the town is in shape is when there has been a prearranged viewing. Also that there might be negative points when things aren't in shape when there hasn't been a prescribed check/audit might't count against it. Dodgy ground I would have thought. & I would have thought that something like the flagship town for 2020 might be done on a continual assessment, does word not get back at other times tahn official audits?

& outside of that, with the square being the point of arrival to town, or at least the next place people have to go through once they have arrived, for so many I would think it would be something they'd want to keep in a welcoming state for most of the year. Instead of the foreboding fenced off way it is now.

snubbleste

Stevolende wrote: »

One might think that things like that might count against the 2020 bid.

The grass is an art installation, mademoiselle jury member, that's why it needs to be protected.

The last audit report that there is no employee allocated to procurement and that internal audit is under resourced.
http://www.environ.ie/sites/default/files/publications/files/microsoft_word_-_galway_city_council.pdf

gordongekko

Stevolende wrote: »

I started looking at this thread to see if there was any comment about when the barriers were coming down. Somebody I overheard had suggested it was race week a week or so back. I thought it odd that it hadn't come down for the tourist season.

I think there had been an earlier attempt at getting the grass back this year. i remember seeing police type tape around the areas in one of the early months. Also recall seeing birds all over the grass. Now seeing barriers up with no over cover meaning that the areas aren't being protected from birds getting in there again. So wondering how effective taht really is, am assuming that one of the things birds would be doing is disturbing the growth of grass, possibly not as much as people walking on it might do.

But surely they have to take those barriers down by some point this summer?
Sorry if that has been said before but i haven't read the whole thread through and not sure what to search for.

Seed once germinated is of no interest to birds. The barriers are to keep people off it .

nuac

btw Local Government accounts are auditted by a Local Government auditor.

J.pilkington

Seems the tacky tribune(galways version of the daily mail) has been stalking boards as usual for news stories

J.pilkington

J.pilkington wrote: »

Seems the tacky tribune(galways version of the daily mail) has been stalking boards as usual for news stories

Or that both are reflecting the zeitgeist.

Are we occupying Eyre Square again?