Galway's new city manager, John Tierney, could do well to put children at the top of his long list. For the city that is synonymous with youth, music, art and culture appears to have little place in its beating heart for the rising generation. This comes as something of a shock - even now, three years after I moved here with a five-month-old baby who is now a very active Tarzan, Batman and Popeye rolled into one. There is not a swing for this wee acrobat in Eyre Square, not a seesaw down by the Claddagh; just one badly maintained climbing frame by South Park, a sparse set of swings and a high slide among the broken glass and beer cans on Father Griffin Road, and another rusted set of swings just off Henry Street. Knocknacarra, where housing estates are mushrooming over green fields, is no better. The one decent playground that existed there was closed last year, with a promise to refurbish. Throughout the summer, the only working playgrounds on the city's west side were for visitors - on several private holiday developments just outside Spiddal.
Ah, but Galway has the sea, you say - yes, further out and beyond city bus routes, where traces of salmonella in the water have begun to disperse. It is a stark contrast to French towns and cities, where children are provided for in imaginative street architecture. It is even a stark contrast to inner-city Dublin - Fairview Park, for instance, was given a bright new set of equipment last year. Galway Corporation's earmarking of funds for a controversial riverside walk might have been better sent on other developments in its - shrinking - public space.
Fortunately, the outlook is positive, according to Stephen Walsh, recently appointed executive parks supervisor with the local authority. Walsh has been involved with schools and local voluntary groups on several public "bulbathons" and "plantathons" to cultivate the banks of the Terryland river. He says that it is quite clear from its 1999 development plan that Galway's aspiration is to become a childfriendly city.
Recently, a draft report to city councillors by consultant Richard Webb outlined a package of measures which promises to "improve play, sporting and artistic opportunities without discrimination for the children of Galway". Plans are already afoot to refurbish four playgrounds, among a total of nine sites, in consultation with local residents, according to Walsh. No harm, all the same, for local politicians to give that promise an extra push.