Galway City Council has said the big wheel on Eyre Square that was the focus of an emergency alert on Friday night is “fully certified as safe”. Up to 20 people were stranded in higher cabs when an electrical fault stalled the wheel’s rotation shortly after the opening of the square’s annual Christmas market.
It took more than 2½ hours to release the last of the occupants, with staff manually rotating the wheel. Galway fire service used cherrypickers to provide blankets and hot drinks to the occupants during the rescue. No injuries were reported, but paramedic assistance was offered to passengers who had been stranded for a long period.
The city council said a new safety certificate had been issued after inspections by an approved assessor. It said it had previously been supplied with all necessary certification, as required under event-licensing regulations. The wheel is back in operation. The former city mayor Cllr Pádraig Conneely had said serious questions needed to be answered and called for a full independent safety assessment.
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