Footage of raw sewage discharging into the River Corrib at the Long Walk recently circulated online. People Before Profit representative for Galway, Adrian Curran, has said this is a long running problem that the government, City Council and Irish Water must properly address.
Adrian Curran said: “Sewage flowing into the Corrib looks and smells foul, it is a danger to people’s health and it is environmentally damaging. The sewage flows straight out into the Galway Bay Special Area of Conservstion.
“This is totally unacceptable and the problem has been ignored for too long by the City Council, the government and Irish Water.
“I understand the sewage being discharged at the Long Walk is coming from the east of the city. It has been said for a decade or more that Galway needs a new waste water treatment facility to the east of the city, but we seem to be no closer to it being delivered.
“Failure to address this problem and supply adequate waste water treatment capacity for the whole city has the potential to delay much-needed social and affordable housing developments. If the existing water treatment system cannot cope with current demand, what hope does it have of dealing with the increased demand from the new housing we so desperately need to end the housing crisis?”
