Galway consortium makes bid for EU Urban Innovation funding

Galway City Council is leading a bid to secure EU funding from a €50 million pot to help revamp the old city centre.

A consortium of interests is making an application to the EU Urban Innovation Fund for a pilot project.

The goal of the project would be to reimagine the city centre by re-purposing existing buildings and under-utilised spaces to help address the vacancy problem in Galway.

Galway City Council has partnered in a consortium with the Atlantic Technological University, Galway Chamber of Commerce, Galway Culture Company, Northern & Western Regional Assembly (NWRA) and University of Galway to make this bid.

“Urban regeneration is complex but it is key to the sustainable development of Galway city,” says Dave Hickey, a former president of Galway Chamber, who chairs the team which put together the bid.

“A cornerstone of this project and the funding behind it will be ‘place-based participation’ – that is the involvement of the community throughout any urban redevelopment process.”

“If the community is not engaged and interacting with a project, it will not achieve its goals,” he added.

This is the first time such a wide-ranging partnership has come together to bid for EU funding aimed specifically at sustainable urban development in Galway.

CEO of Galway City Council, Brendan McGrath said that unlocking the potential of urban spaces is key to the sustainable growth of cities.

“Each of the partners brings different capabilities to the consortium which gives us a better chance of success in securing EU funding, in a highly competitive process.”

The NWRA has hitherto unused insights, he added, while the Culture Company places creativity at the heart of the project, and the two universities have experience in applying for EU funding.