Galway traders up in arms at state of St Nicholas’s Market
Sixteen traders at the historic St Nicholas’s Market have called on the local authority to lift the veil of secrecy on the long-promised upgrade.
And they have threatened further action unless Galway City Council comes up with a start date, a funded project, and a plan to apply the by-laws to ensure all spots are filled by regular and occasional traders.
In a letter to the chief executive, the traders say they have “repeatedly raised” three problems and they are still getting a deaf ear from City Hall.
They pointed to the lack of essential services, including electricity, running water, waste bins and toilets; what they called the refusal to spend on street surfacing and drainage, public lighting, seating, and signage – and the failure to enforce the street trading by-laws so that every trading space is taken up on every trading day.
“The city council does a regular census of attending traders – but it is not acting on the findings,” said bread-maker Paul Illien.
“In rolling over permits for traders who rarely if ever use their licenses, it is locking out a younger generation brimming with enthusiasm and ideas for bringing colour and life to this historic market.
“The council has to ensure that traders not using their licenses pass the torch to others who are locked out. It should also be issuing one-day licenses permitted in the by-laws,” he added.
The traders claim they are regularly assured that action is on the way, yet nothing is done.
They said that the street surface was a serious tripping hazard; there is no public lighting, power points, running water, bins or toilets, or drainage for rainfall runoff.
And they feel very aggrieved that the Council have, in their words, soaked them for money over 30 years but left all this work undone when they had contractors in remediating William Street to Quay Street and Mainguard Street.
Organic farmer Cáit Curran is livid that City Council is spending like a Sun King on new offices while leaving ratepayers in the lurch.
“The monstrosity in Mervue could cost as much as €75-80 million, at a time when they are plucking the public for higher property taxes and commercial rates, and possibly even strangling tourists with a bed tax,” she said.
“They need to start running their business like a business – more money for the things that bring in tourism and investment, and a lot less on keeping themselves in comfort,” she added.
Pictured: The St Nicholas's Market: traders demand action on promised upgrade.