Galway windsurf school faces closure

A complaint from a birdwatcher over the use of temporary buildings by Galway city's only windsurfing school has threatened the…

A complaint from a birdwatcher over the use of temporary buildings by Galway city's only windsurfing school has threatened the future of the popular watersport facility.

The Rusheen Bay windsurfing centre has been served with an enforcement order to remove offices, changing rooms and stores, after the complaint was lodged to Galway City Council.

Following a meeting with council officials, Cathal Kavanagh of the Rusheen Bay centre said the school would be forced to close if the structures had to be removed.

All of the club's facilities are based in five transport containers on the rental site because Mr Kavanagh has been unable to raise the funds to construct permanent facilities for the school.

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He received the order from the council at the end of August asking him to remove the structures within 40 days, and claims to have been "in limbo" ever since.

The threat of closure has led to the setting-up of an online petition to save the centre, which has taught 4,500 people how to windsurf since it first opened 11 years ago.