South Galway harbour campaigns to save its green space

On the eve of the annual gathering of Galway hookers in Kinvara, the harbour community has appealed for the return of its lost village green.

A public meeting is due to be held today to highlight the importance of the green area to the village, and to events such as the Cruinniú na mBád.

The public space close to the village’s quay, a protected structure which draws many tourists, was replaced with a temporary tarred-over space to facilitate work on a new sewage treatment plant. It has since become a coach, camper van and car park, leading to fears that the green will never be reinstated.

Coastal villages such as Kinvara are experiencing greater vehicular traffic as a result of the Wild Atlantic Way tourism trail, which has put pressure on space in the village.

The Save Kinvara Green action group said residents acknowledged car, bus and coach parking in the village was an “ongoing” issue which was “increasing with the rise in tourism”.

“Kinvara’s traffic problems will not be solved by changing the attractiveness of the quay area to facilitate two-way car, camper van, minibuses and larger coach traffic and a few more parking bays,” it said.

Picnics

The original green “acted like a roundabout or traffic island, and made traffic slow down – thus ensuring safety,” Kinvara resident

Declan Connolly

said.

“It also meant the pier could be protected from non-marine traffic, while people regularly had picnics on the green,” he added. “There is a very real worry that leaving the pier in its current state for up to nine months is creating a precedent.”

Petition

The action group said it expected to have collected some 1,000 signatures, both online and in print, in support of its campaign by this weekend. The 38th annual Cruinniú na mBád opens on Friday evening and runs until Sunday.

Three family-owned hookers, each 150 years old, will load up with turf in Connemara on Saturday and sail over to Kinvara, where the festival will be opened formally by musician Declan O’Rourke.

Galway County Council said that the green area “will be reinstated as it was”.

“The timing of this will be dependent on progress with the contract and suitable weather and growing conditions,” it said in a statement.