Galway residents threaten European Court action over student accommodation development
Galway residents gathered at City Hall this week with concerns over a major student accommodation development in Westside which may end up before the European Court.
The residents came to voice frustration with Uisce Éireann and Galway City Council over a wastewater infrastructure for the 240-bed development at Séamus Quirke Road adjacent to Westside Shopping Centre.
Citing what they claim is a failure by Uisce Éireann and the council, they claim the development commenced prior to a contract signed with Irish Water. This would be contrary to a key condition set out in An Coimisiún Pleanála’s approval on January 22, 2025.
The condition in question requires that an agreement be in place with Irish Water for wastewater systems before any construction begins.
However, residents believe work commenced without such a contract in place. They sought documentation to verify when the agreement was finalised.
Galway City Council has confirmed an investigation was conducted in regards to any “alleged unathorised developments” and were “satisfied that all relevant conditions have been discharged at this time.”
“Irish Water, on their acceptance letter, says no contract exists until it is signed and sent back with full payment,” a spokesperson for the community group told the Irish Independent.
“We put in an official complaint [to Galway City Council] that it was an unauthorised development in the Westside on the March 15, 2025.”
Nearly a year later, residents said they were informed the contract was available on the e-planning website.
“The contract was dated the April 29, 2025, at least six weeks after we first complained that it was an unauthorised development,” the group added.
“We did not receive this information therefore, we were prohibited from entering and asking for judicial review within the time frame.”
A Galway City Council spokesperson told the Irish Independent that the Planning Department did meet with the Westside Community Group in a “lengthy” discussion.
“Information requested by the group at the meeting has subsequently uploaded to the planning file,” the council said.
"Galway City Council made a submission to ABP recommending that the application be refused. Galway City Council’s submission was only one of several submissions submitted advocating for the proposed development to be refused.”
Uisce Éireann has also confirmed to the Irish Independent it has “has entered into a connection agreement for the student accommodation development at the Westside Shopping Centre.”
“An executed connection agreement with Uisce Éireann is required before a new development can be connected to the Uisce Éireann network (water and wastewater). Prior to entering into a connection agreement, Uisce Éireann considers whether the network has capacity to service the development.”
"We are not in a position to comment on the details of any individual connection agreement,” Uisce Éireann added.
Once a contract is signed, a decision may be subject to judicial review within 90 days. However, residents claim delays in communication meant that window expired before they could act.
“We were well within that timeframe because the contract didn’t exist until April 29, 2025,” the spokesperson said. “Now it's at a stage where we have gone outside the time that we can take legal action against it because they dragged us on.”
“Our local government have failed us, our community, our county and our city as much as those up in the Dáil have failed the citizens of the country.”
The demonstration, held on Monday April 13 ahead of a Galway City Council meeting, aimed to hold the local authority accountable, the group added.
“We are here today to point out that the council aren't doing what they're supposed to do. They had a chance when this was being developed.”
“The council could have taken Irish Water on legally instead of us having to do it.”
Some residents also expressed frustration about the role of elected representatives, claiming councillors are often “playing second fiddle” to executives making decisions. Despite support from Councillor Mike Cubbard, communication remained limited, they said.
“We held a meeting as recently as February 25 with senior planners, facilitated by the mayor, who is part of our community,” the spokesperson said.
“Our mayor took it upon himself to keep emailing, and it took three or four emails, at least, before finally he got a response from the senior planners saying the documents are supposed to be there in the public domain.”
“To this day, they never actually answered us, believe it or not.”
Protesters said their next step may be to take legal action in European Courts against Galway City Council and Irish Water over what they describe as a lack of investigation. They would plead for an extension to the judicial review period under “exceptional circumstances”.
“We will be legally arguing the case that these are exceptional circumstances. We have a paper trail of emails and letters of complaint dating from March 2025 right up to today showing that we look for information, as all the public is entitled to have access to.”
“We did not receive this information therefore, we were prohibited, if you like from entering and asking for judicial review within the time frame.”
Residents stressed they are not opposed to student accommodation, and in fact support its development, but say their concerns centre on planning and infrastructure.
“We’re not going away because this is a serious issue,” the spokesperson added.
“Our children and grandchildren are diving off Blackrock and swimming in effluent water affected by ongoing wastewater problems in the city.”
This article was amended on April 15 to add a statement from Uisce Éireann and Galway City Council.
Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting shceme.
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