Galway City Council says it will not have to go through a full tender to appoint a new contractor for the beleaguered €9 million Eyre Square refurbishment.
The local authority said it had been advised yesterday to contact three construction companies which had applied for the original tender, following an emergency meeting with its design team yesterday morning.
It is also taking legal advice following the sudden pull-out early on Monday of Samuel Kingston Construction Ltd. The Cork-based company was due to issue a statement through its legal advisers yesterday, but had not done so at time of going to press last night.
Emergency works have been initiated by the local authority to secure the site and to restore roads around the square for free traffic flow. A more "presentable" and secure hoarding would be erected, the council said, and a schedule of works was being drawn up with a contractor.
Work would begin on Williamsgate Street as part of this plan today, the council said, and it was committed to a "speedy resolution" of the project.
Galway Chamber of Commerce appealed yesterday for "all involved parties to make all possible efforts to secure the project's completion" by November 5th, or at least by Christmas.
"We suggest that if double the resources were put in place, then the project could be completed in half the time," the chamber's president, John Madden, said.
He also proposed commercial rates levied on businesses in the square that had been adversely affected by the works should be suspended for three years.
Businesses have claimed up to 40 per cent in lost trade since the refurbishment began in March of last year.
Mr Madden said the chamber was concerned that the project could end up in "legal wrangling" and be frozen for 12 months, which would pose a serious risk to jobs and livelihoods in the city centre.
He said the chamber was happy to be part of a mayoral task force proposed by the city's new mayor, Cllr Brian Walsh (FG), and he urged that a strong business element be represented on such a body.
An Taisce's Galway branch reiterated its call on Galway City Council to appoint a city architect.
There was a marked difference in the quality of the built environment in cities which had such a position, Galway branch chair Derrick Hambleton said.
