Ireland
Galway Docks to give way for new marina
First steps underway to relocate Port of Galway to Rossaveal
The first major step towards developing a new multi-million euro port in south Connemara has been taken with five Government departments coming together to move the plan forward.
The move will see the relocation of Galway port to Connemara and allow the development of the city harbour for recreational craft.
Galway port will next year become the first ever Irish stop-over in the Volvo Ocean Yacht Race, an event which will bring 140,000 people to the West and an estimated financial windfall of €43 million.
Galway West TD Frank Fahey, who is promoting the development of the new port at Rossaveal, said it would be part of a huge infrastructural redevelopment of that part of the West.
Rossaveal is a fishing centre, which also happens to be the ferry port for the Aran Islands, could easily absorb Galways commercial shipping traffic. This would then pave the way for the redevelopment of the city centre docks with a potentially enormous marina
"What is needed now to make this happen is some joined-up thinking between all the parties involved," he said.
The assistant secretaries of the five departments, Transport, Agriculture and Fisheries, Environment, Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs and Finance, recently held their first meeting on the issue.
