Battles for support over location of new Galway Hospice

The Friends of Merlin Woods has garnered 1,500 signatures for their petition opposing the development which they insist will forever destroy Merlin Park Meadows.

“Merlin Park meadows has been conserved as a public amenity space for many generations and is a vital green space for the people of Galway. With 84 acres of land already zoned for development within the Merlin Park hospital complex, it will have an adverse impact on the community and once it is gone, it can never be replaced,” according to the petition author Caroline Stanley.

“Along with the Merlin Park Woods it is the only known habitat in the city where Red Squirrel are thriving and sightings from other areas of the city are of roadkill. It is home to thousands of mammals and wildlife species such as butterflies, bumblebees and dragonflies providing a safe haven for them with huge declines in the number of these species and many threatened species in recent years.

“It is home to a variety of Orchids and wildflowers similar to the protected Burren in Co Clare. This is a very unique meadow within the city of Galway and is totally natural.”

In a letter given out to the hundreds who took part in the Hospice Memorial Walk on September 11, the Galway Hospice Foundation has urged the public to sign a petition supporting the development of the new €15m 50-bed hospice at Merlin Park.

They argue they have spent five years finding the 14-acre site at Merlin Park and they had looked at over ten alternatives.

“We have met with these groups with the HSE and have committed to working with them to minimise the impact of the hospice development on the lands. We plan to retain and enhance the woodland areas on the site and we do not plan to restrict access to the site so the general public will still able to walk through the meadow areas that we do not develop,” writes the Foundation.

For more on this story, see this week’s Galway City Tribune