Look in the page "Stuff from 2013", and you'll se a piece on the traffic problems caused by visitors (people - visitors and islanders - driving to Cleggan and leaving their vehicles wherever it's convenient to them, sometimes for weeks on end).
It meant that in 2013, as in previous years (but worse in 2013), Cleggan was turned into an unmanaged car park. Visitors to, and residents in, Cleggan couldn't park their cars or access their own properties. The bus was often delayed by not being able to navigate the street in Cleggan or access its parking space (delayed by more than 30 minutes - that's a third of the whole Galway-Cleggan journey-time! - on some occasions. The access routes to the harbour were usually blocked, meaning that if there were to be an emergency requiring an ambulance to get to the pier-heads, that would have been impossible.
The Connemara Journal covered this with a news item in its September 2013 issue, and a comprehensive letter from resident Heather Greer spelt out the (simple!) actions needed to address the problem.
In December, Heather submitted a Freedom of Information request (FoI) to Galway County Council on the matter, and got little in return. So she appealed, this time to the Director of Services, Kevin Kelly. This time she received a more comprehensive response, but one that indicated that Cleggan's parking problems were likely to continue for a further two (and more likely three) years.
At the end of January, there was (it seemed) GOOD NEWS. The minutes of the Galway County Council's 27th January 2014 meeting included the following:
"In reply to Cllr. D. Connolly, Mr Liam Gavin [a permanent member of the Galway County Council staff] confirmed that it was intended to proceed with regulation of parking in Cleggan Village through appropriate signage and lining in advance of the development of the car park."
This was really great news - it was EXACTLY what the October 2013 letter from Cleggan had sought. It meant that the County Council would proceed to put at least some (simple, easy, cheap...) measures in place to regulate the madness that is parking in Cleggan.
We celebrated prematurely! As the March issue of the Connemara Journal reports:
"Evan Molloy, Acting Director of Services in the Council’s Roads Section, told the Journal: ‘The statement made at the council meeting – referring to the implementation of signage – was incorrect, and was subsequently clarified at the February meeting.
‘The situation regarding the Cleggan village car park hasn’t changed. Until the car park is in place we cannot implement a traffic management plan.’"
WHY NOT????
Do we really have to remind Galway County Council that:
- The situation in 2013 was unbearable for Cleggan?
- Inishbofin has been selected as one of just three areas for a pilot "Blue Project" scheme, which will increase traffic to Bofin in 2014 and after?
- The Aughrus Peninsula (and Bofin) are part of the massively promoted "Wild Atlantic Way" project, developed by Bord Failte for introduction in 2014?
- Both Inishbofin and the Aughrus Peninsula/Cleggan are gearing up their plans to attract increased numbers of visitors in 2014 and beyond?