Tuam Town Commissioners are calling for a ban on car rallies in the area following angry local reaction to the disruption in the town during a stage of the Statoil Galway International Rally last weekend. Members said they had never seen such anger in Tuam over a single issue. They spoke of intimidation, abuse, reckless driving, littering, trespassing and the streets being used as toilets.
"If this is tourism, we don't want it. Temple Bar didn't want the lager louts and we don't either," one member, Mr Joe Burke, said. Speaker after speaker at the commissioners' meeting spoke of the shock and anger felt after the town was "taken over by thugs". Proposing the ban, the chairwoman, Ms Ger Joyce, said she had been inundated with complaints. She said she never wanted to see a rally in or around Tuam again.
The meeting agreed to support a ban on the rally in the Tuam area. It was agreed the ban would be reconsidered if the organisers could guarantee that they could prevent a repetition of last weekend's disruption and anti-social behaviour. Tuam is believed to be the first local authority in the State to call for such a ban. The move follows Galway Corporation's decision this week to review its support for the annual rally, following rioting and traffic chaos in the city during the event.