Sir, – As widely predicted, councillors in Galway have voted to withdraw their own motion passed in September to trial a cycleway alongside the iconic Prom in Salthill (News, February 14th).
The objections from some residents and businesses were sincere, particularly those around the removal of some of the area’s available parking spaces, and the validity of these objections would have been tested as part of the trial.
But by refusing to even contemplate the measures, the action by these councillors is as clear an example of the disconnect between the stated aspirations at government level and the reality of climate action.
There is no feasible path to the kind of emissions reductions that we need to make that does not involve a big reduction in car journeys, which have done nothing but increase over recent decades.
One of the easiest ways of doing this is to take space away from private cars and use it for other forms of transport.
But as most councillors have shown in Galway, taking space away from private cars is off the table, despite the promises of the same councillors to do just that if the city’s planned second ring-road is built.
So we’re left with a system whereby the incentives at a local level are skewed heavily toward the existing model of promoting car use for as many journeys as possible.
If the large parties are serious about climate action, rather than just words, then as the song says, “something’s gotta give”.
But judging by this week’s U-turn, this “something” is unlikely to happen in Galway any time soon. – Yours, etc,
DAVE MATHIESON,
Salthill,
Galway.