April 2015 NUI Galway Students say No to N6 Bypass Routes

President of NUI Galway Student’s Union has presented Dr Jim Browne, President of NUI Galway, the results of an online petition with over 3,500 signatures in support of the University’s opposition to proposed routes for the N6 Bypass. The students are in one voice with the University as facilities such as the Student Sports Centre (pictured) or the Dangan Sports Grounds will be destroyed.

The ongoing online petition initiated by NUI Galway students, targeting current students, staff and NUI Galway’s Alumni, has reached over 100,000 people online since the campaign started 2 weeks ago.

SU President, Declan Higgins said: “There can be little doubt that a number of the proposed routes would have a massively detrimental effect on our student body if they were to proceed. We are ever conscious of the need for our members to have full access to sports facilities and amenities during their time in university, and some of these proposed routes could have a massively negative impact on this. More creative thinking ought to occur within the NRA and the City and County Councils.”

NUI Galway last month submitted its opposition to proposals in the N6 Galway City Transport Project. The University, which is central to the life of the city and surrounding region, is one of the major employers in the city; it hosts a population of over 20,000 students and staff and has invested €400m over the last decade in capital development. The University believes that what currently makes the NUI Galway campus an attractive location – for Irish and international students and staff – would be irretrievably damaged should proposed routes be accepted.

The physical growth of the University has been carefully planned over many decades. A programme of land acquisition in Dangan has allowed the University to increase the area for new buildings while simultaneously acquiring space for sports facilities. The unified campus is now an educational base for over 17,000 students. The University continues to climb in world rankings, reflecting significant improvements in research activity and overall performance. Its progress would be severely disrupted by the current proposals.

President Browne thanked the students for their support and paid tribute in particular to the Students’ Union leadership for taking such a serious interest in the plans affecting the campus for current students and for future generations of students, who it is hoped will enjoy the same benefits and facilities currently available to those attending the University.

“NUI Galway is proud of its unified campus which has emerged as a result of decades of planning and forethought.

The University sees particular benefit in an integrated campus which comprises of a mix of teaching and research buildings, allowing for interdisciplinary academic activity; it has invested in an array of sports facilities, readily available to students and staff – offering a healthy work-life balance; and the University believes that its grounds provide a major recreational facility for the campus, the city and for the wider community.

The University will therefore continue to strongly object to current proposals and call for alternative options for the future of Galway transport planning. 

I thank the students for taking the time out of their busy exam schedules to support their University in this way.  I also thank the many thousands of alumni who have endorsed NUI Galway’s opposition to the proposed developments.”

ENDS