Special City Council Meeting at 4pm today with one item on the agenda: Update on Leisureland.
This special meeting was arranged by Councillors in order to discuss Leisureland and in particular the proposed increases for pool users.
I already mentioned that Councillors have been inundated with emails and representations from people expressing their outrage at the proposed price increases and we also have the unprecedented situation where five out of seven directors of the Board of Leisureland have actually resigned in protest.
Yet on Wednesday morning, the two remaining Directors, Cllr Conneely and the Mayor of Galway, Cllr Lyons confirmed on local radio that a compromise had been reached between them and the City Manager and that was the end of the matter!
So here we are heading into a specially convened meeting to discuss the Leisureland situation in an open and accountable manner but with the information gleaned from local radio that the deal is already done!
I am certainly not happy with this situation and will make my views known and seek to have this decision overturned.
Moreover I will not vote for any increase in fees.
The challenge we face as a City Council is to increase the number of people using Leisureland and not to place obstacles in the way.
