Hope of breakthrough by July for long-stalled Galway wastewater scheme
There may be a faint stroke of light at the end of this wastewater infrastructure tunnel as Galway County Council says they will have a “better flavour” for Craughwell/Clarinbridge funding in July.
At the May Galway County Council meeting, discussion led from the construction of affordable housing to the infrastructure necessary to facilitate it, especially wastewater treatment systems.
Construction of a wastewater treatment system for Craughwell and Clarinbridge has been at a standstill since receiving €20 million in 2023.
Nearly two years later, Councillor Martina Kinane was shocked to see a request from Uisce Éireann for 15pc (€5 million) co-funding from Galway County Council to begin any works.
Cllr Kinane said that was the first time she had heard of any match funding requirement from the allocation.
Taoiseach Micheál Martin made a promise in March 2026 to visit Craughwell/Clarinbridge over the issue after Minister Browne increased funding, bringing the council’s match responsibility down to 8pc (€2.4 million).
However, even with some preassure taken off the amount, Galway County Council is unable to get the project started.
Taoiseach to visit Galway over wastewater treatement project. Photo: PA
“Let’s call a spade and spade,” Councillor Martina Kinane told executives at the May meeting after a lengthy season of investigating where the money can come from.
“The only answer is for the local authority to chalk up the millions of euros,” Cllr Kinane said.
Galway County Council Chief Executive Liam Conneally said the management team has also been looking at other ways to find the needed money.
Uisce Éireann has a new developer led policy that is “quite restrictive” according to Director of Services Damien Mitchell, that would allow developers to take over the responsibility for infrastructure like this one.
The Craughwell/Clarinbridge treatment system would be eligible to fall under that scheme.
“We have been engaging with the department on the jurisdiction of the council after the service master agreement, asking who has the responsibility and jurisdiction over the scheme,” Mr Conneely said.
He continued to say that engagement has been ongoing with other local authorities caught in the co-funding requirement and the story is the same - they can’t bridge the co-funding gap either.
However, ending on a positive note, Mr Conneely gave the commitment to report back in July after getting a “better flavour” of the situation.