Citizen spends €20,000 of his own money tackling Galway's weeds
Armed with a shovel, overalls and plastic bags, the weedsman patrols the city like a man on a mission.
Padhraic Faherty is a retired secondary teacher from Barna who has dedicated the past 18 years to ridding Galway’s parks, footpaths and roadsides of unsightly weeds.
Known as the weedsman, he reckons he has spent €20,000 on purchasing weed killer in that period in his role as a conscientious citizen.
“The roundabouts have gone wild – in fact I’d say 99% of the city is ignored apart from Eyre Square. You don’t see this in Cork or Dublin. I visited Sligo recently and it was absolutely immaculate. You don’t see a weed in London or Paris. Yet, here in Galway we’re swamped,” he exclaims.
He was driven to distraction for the past week in his bid to remove three foot high weeds from a field at the back of Seapoint and along the edge of a children’s playground.
“I’ve pulled tonnes and tonnes of weeds – docks, hogweed – these are dangerous to children. I’ve got gloves and protective clothing, yet I got burned,” he explained.
Underneath this haven of ugly plants, he made an interesting discovery.
“I found these lovely round stone chips with lovely shrubs that you’d find on the continent. They were put on plastic sheeting that was ironically designed to stop the weeds. There must be 20 years’ accumulation of overgrowth covering how it was meant to look when first designed,” stated Padhraic.
“The bit I’ve done looks beautiful. And then you have this big stack of weeds beside it. Will the Council even bother to remove them? They don’t do any manual work anymore, only mowing and removing the rubbish.”
His complaints were echoed by Galway City Councillor Padraig Conneely who complained that the roundabouts in particular are “an absolute disgrace”.
“The city’s roundabouts should be colourful and friendly and portray an image of warmth throughout,” he stressed.
“But they’re dull and overgrown and send out a lazy image of the city.”
Independent Councillor Terry O’Flaherty said she has learned this week that a contractor has been appointed to target weeds, including ragwort, which is toxic for animals and spreads by wind-borne seed.
But she said that it was a shame that the work was not undertaken earlier the year, before the weeds took such hold.
“The weeds in a number of the older estates are very unsightly and should be sprayed at least twice a year. The roadway from the bridge to the beach in Ballyloughane is completely overgrown with weeds, as is the side of road on the Tuam Road right up to the city boundary,” she stated.
“While I welcome the appointment of a contractor to carry out these works, together with City Council staff, I feel that the spraying of weeds should commence much earlier in the season.
It won’t come soon enough for the weedsman.
“It’s laughable – only that we’re the European City of Culture in a few years’ time. Here we have the equivalent of a neglected farmer’s field in a tourist hotspot.”