Controversy has dogged Galway's flagship project, writes Lorna Siggins, Western Correspondent.
"Fallujah square", as Galway's city centre is sometimes called these days, has been dogged by controversy since plans for its latest redesign were presented to city councillors in January 1999.
As one angry businessman remarked yesterday, the siege-like sandbags around its 17th century Browne doorway in the middle of the square,"say it all". A local councillor has remarked that the Eiffel Tower in Paris was built at a faster rate.
At the time, former city manager Joe Gavin was very enthusiastic about transforming Galway's city centre, which was once a medieval jousting ground and market, hosted US president John F. Kennedy's historic visit, and was last redesigned in the 1960s.
The distinctive limestone figure of writer Pádraic Ó Conaire would be relocated to a "sculpture" garden, traffic would be altered to allow for pedestrianisation, and "visual clutter" such as public toilets would be replaced as the square was converted into a "series of plazas on a European theme", it was said.
The cost was then quoted at about €2.5 million, to be completed by the end of 2000.
The first row broke out because the plans by Mitchell Associates, Dublin landscape architects, and Muir Associates, consulting engineers, involved removing a number of trees. Notwithstanding local concerns, city councillors approved the project at a meeting on June 26th, 2000.
A series of protests were held by groups which formed the Galway Environmental Alliance, and Mr Gavin's successor as city manager, John Tierney, decided to commission an environmental impact assessment (EIA) before signing the contract.
The EIA was appealed to An Bord Pleanála, which held an oral hearing and ruled in favour of the project with a series of conditions, including retaining 21 existing trees.
The city manager subsequently agreed to retain four more, and pointed out that new plantings would result in a total of 120 trees in the square on completion.
The alliance referred the issue to the European Commission, on the basis that an alternative plan should have been commissioned and presented as part of the EIA.
It also appealed to Mr Tierney to reconsider its alternative, drawn up for it at no cost by Chelsea flower show award-winner Mary Reynolds.
The Reynolds plan would have involved highlighting Galway's natural link with the Atlantic, incorporating lawns moulded into flowing waves and drawing on high-quality materials of local extraction and native trees and shrubs.
The local authority declined to consider this, saying it was bound by tender and contracts procedures.
In February 2004, Samuel Kingston Construction of Cork was awarded the contract to carry out the works, which are due , to be completed in October this year.
By this time, estimated costs had already crept over €5 million, a percentage of which was to be paid for by the EU, and businesses were very worried about the impact of long-term disruption over two summer seasons.
Last November, Green Party councillor Niall Ó Brolcháin expressed concern about the budget, having noted a reference in Construction magazine to a figure of €6.5 million.
The city council said there was no overrun, explaining that the figure included ancillary works to be carried out as part of the project.
This February, however, the city council confirmed that the total cost had reached €9 million - comprising a €6.3 million contract price to Samuel Kingston Construction, and planning, archaeological and other reports amounting to €2.7 million.
It said some €2.5 million had been paid to the council for the project by the Department of the Environment.
Two months later, the square was the focus of attention again when Irish and Polish workers employed by Samuel Kingston Construction downed tools, claiming a lack of payment and reduced wages.
The 19 Irish and 11 Polish staff, most of whom were non-union members, said that up to five of the group had received no wages at all for a week.
The workers returned several days later, however, after Sam Kingston, managing director of the company, attributed the wage delay to a "glitch" in their online banking system and said the matter had been resolved.
He apologised to traders who had been upset by the disruption.
Two weeks ago, Siptu raised concerns about payments to workers and it was also reported that the Health and Safety Authority had identified flaws.
However, the authority said an inspection had identified some minor matters, and the local authority was satisfied that the company had a proper health and safety plan in place.