Environmental groups in Galway are planning a 24-hour vigil to mark their opposition to the controversial proposal to remove 90 trees in Eyre Square.
Details of the vigil on February 1st were discussed at a meeting last night of the Galway Environmental Alliance, an umbrella group of over 20 organisations in the city.
The trees are earmarked for removal as part of Galway City Council's plan to develop the square, which was approved recently by An Bord Pleanála.
Last year, the appeals board directed that 11 of the square's 100 trees be preserved or transplanted close to their present position, along with another nine which are also to be spared.
However, yellow ribbons have already been tied by opponents around some of the 90 trees which will be chopped.
An Bord Pleanála's approval was based on an oral hearing held last September on the environmental impact statement for the project, which was initiated in 1999 by former city manager, Mr Joe Gavin.
The proposed revamp of the Georgian square, described by a district court judge last year as the "largest open-air arena in the country", was drawn up by Mitchell and Associates, Dublin-based landscape architects, and Muir Associates, consulting engineers.
It aimed to transform the square into a series of plazas on a European theme, and to return the space to pedestrians.
It proposed that formal landscaping be replaced by informal wooded areas, including a sculpture garden where existing features - the limestone figure of Pádraic Ó Conaire, the writer, and the brown hooker sails designed by Eamon O'Doherty - might be relocated.
Traffic flow would be altered and visual "clutter", including public lavatories, replaced.
The toilets have already demolished and replaced by cubicles.
The project aimed to mark the millennium, but was approved by city councillors only in June 2000. At that stage, the councillors voted to retain most of the trees where possible.
When An Taisce objected to the lack of an environmental impact statement, a study was commissioned by the city manager, Mr John Tierney, from McHugh Consultants.
It was put on public display.
Mr Niall Ó Brolchain of the Green Party, who chaired last night's alliance meeting, has questioned the decision to ignore the will of the elected councillors on retaining trees, as expressed in June 2000.
The Galway Environmental Alliance is calling on the city council to amend the plan for the square, and is also seeking a preservation order for all good and "fair" trees. A number of the trees were planted by dignitaries, including the late US president John F. Kennedy.
The vigil on February 1st-2nd will include music, a children's art competition and talks on the square's history.
