Veteran Prendergast hits jackpot

What if Galway was a blank canvass and you could change anything or build anything you like – or indeed get rid of anything you didn’t? What if you, as an ordinary citizen, were given your say in how the city – and indeed county – would look in 2040? Well here’s your chance.Galway 2040 is one of the best ideas to rear its head in a long time – for many reasons.

Firstly, 30 years is the sort of time frame you need to effect substantial change; in the past we’ve been blighted by short-sightedness, an inability to think beyond the next five years. That’s why 2040 is a realistic target.

But more importantly, while the concept was dreamed up by some of our most respected business leaders from a variety of fields, the idea is to throw this open to everyone so that the people themselves – the ordinary Galwegians – are the ones who decide how their city will look for the next generation.

On Friday week, November 5, Galway 2040 hosts the Galway Public Symposium at GMIT; and if that sounds highbrow or elitist, nothing could be further from the truth.

The steering committee has chosen ten specific areas – or pillars – on which to deliberate but part of what will happen on Friday week is that the public will be given their chance to add other areas they deem worthy of inclusion.

And this day-long conference is just a starting point; there will be no conclusions or final report after tomorrow’s event because this is about dreaming, about having a vision – and then getting into the nitty gritty of how to make this happen.

The areas chosen for discussion at the GMIT are marine and energy; research; enterprise and innovation; infrastructure and environment; the development of Galway’s docklands; tourism; culture; agriculture and food; education, and social inclusion.

The idea with marine and energy, for example, is to determine how we can further harness our natural resources – that ties in with research, enterprise and innovation because we have a wonderful facility like the Marine Institute at Rinville already making waves, pardon the pun, on an international stage, because they have people who can see the potential over the decades to come.

Everyone talks about Galway’s culture – the festivals, the parties, the scenery, the music – but how do we make that work even more successfully by 2040?

And in case we lose the run of ourselves and think this is all about creating employment and wealth – which is a worthy ambition anyway – there is also the question of social inclusion and how we can ensure that this new Galway is a city and county for all.

For more, read this week's Connacht Tribune.