Mutton Island causeway named after late Mayor

WHEN the tide was out, Councillor Martin Connolly used to don his waders and trudge out on Claddagh Bay to lay pipes in a bid to divert the sewerage from the shore.The stench was so bad from the raw waste that the doors of St Mary’s Church in the Claddagh would have to be closed during Mass.This week, in recognition of all the work the late PD councillor did to get a wastewater treatment plant built, the Mutton Island Causeway was officially renamed the Martin Connolly Causeway.The Mutton Island treatment plant is located 1km offshore of South Park and was opened in May 2004.The Wastewater Treatment Works was designed to meet the requirement of the EU Urban Waterwater TreatmentDirective (1991) and to ensure that the water quality at the designated bathing beaches of Silverstrand, Salthill and Ballyloughane would no longer be polluted by effluent. Cllr Connolly’s son Sean recalled howhis late father campaigned to clean up the bay long before environmental concerns were fashionable. “Dad was a keen sailor. He restored a Claddagh hooker and used to sail around the bay. He could see the potential of Galway Bay and the Docks but knew that nothing could be achieved until the sewerage was dealt with. The Volvo Race wouldn’t have happened if it hadn’t been cleaned up,” reflected Sean.