Hotels report surge in booking for Galway Races
From this week's Galway City Tribune - Hotels are reporting a surge in bookings for Race Week, with holidaymakers and racing fans expected to flock to the city – despite the seven-day festival being held ‘behind closed doors’.
Punters are contacting hotels wondering if big screens will be erected for the races, or if they will be allowed watch the action on TVs in hotel bars and lounges.
Galway City Council has said that, despite rumours, they have received no proposals for any open-air events – in any case, these would be restricted to a maximum of 200 people, following the Government’s decision to extend existing Covid-19 controls.
Meanwhile, Gardaí have abandoned a plan to divide the city centre into barrier-controlled zones for Race Week, following the announcement that pubs which do not serve food will not re-open before August 10.
And the City Council has ruled out fencing off the Spanish Arch area once again – despite concerns about hundreds of young people congregating during the sunny weather last weekend and the potential impact on the spread of the coronavirus.
The local authority said that Galway promoted itself as being an outdoors city, and people will not visit if they cannot use public spaces. This is a shortened preview version of this article. To read it in full, see this week's Galway City Tribune. You can buy a digital edition HERE.