It's a castrated horse... or is it a pleasant meadow? Councillor Seán Ó Tuairisg said it was a castrated horse and Councillor Seosamh Ó Cuaig said it was a sort of a field. They were translating from Irish. What is it anyhow? Well, they are talking about Garraun. And we will hear more about Garraun. For thousands may live there and generations yet unborn may find their homes there. It is east of Galway city and south of the main road as you go towards Oranmore. It edges to the other side of the road in places. There are hundreds of acres there and it's now firmly put into the new draft county development plan for County Galway.

The new county plan will be prepared over the next eight months and it's in this plan that the policies, rules, and regulations about planning in the county are laid out. It will be the planning 'bible' in the county until 2015. But back to the castrated horse... or to the pleasant field.

Garraun was almost certainly 'Garrán' before it was mangled into some sort of English language form. Councillor Ó Cuaig, who is an acknowledged expert in this field, said it meant a pleasant garden - 'garraí' is a large sort of garden and 'garrán' is a sheltered garden. But I know where Seán Ó Tuairisg was coming from with his castrated horse. A 'gearrán' is a gelding - the makings of a stallion before the job was done on him. It nearly sounds the same as Garraun. But then the word 'gearán' (complaining) sounds almost the same as 'gearrán' (gelding). And that fitted into the picture too, for many councillors were complaining about Garraun and the road where it may be leading.

Indeed there were councillors who said that it would be better to get off the horse on the road to Garraun... but it has stayed in the new draft county plan.

Garraun and Ardaun
The county council management and planners intend to draw up a master plan for Garraun within the next five years. And the master plan for the future would almost certainly include thousands of houses, shops, schools, services, roads, rail, and transport. It's a new major town... and it would effectively link Galway city to Oranmore in the future. And it's earmarked - in the long term - to take much of the increased population in County Galway. But what happened to Ardaun? Wasn't Ardaun supposed to be the big new town stretching from Ballybrit towards Oranmore on the north side of the main Galway to Dublin road?

Well, Ardaun seems to have suffered the fate of the 'gearrán' - the castrated horse. Ardaun probably became too controversial and too many of the county councillors had gone against it. On top of that, part of Ardaun is inside the city boundary and part of it is in the county area. So with two councils dealing with it, it became more difficult. All of Garraun is in the county council area so it's over to Galway county councillors and the people of County Galway to give their verdict.

Garraun is not yet written in stone. The draft county plan goes out on public display next month. It will be available in post offices, Garda stations, libraries, and county council local offices. We are all entitled to make proposals in writing to the council about Garraun and any other matters in the draft county plan. All of these suggestions will be looked at and there is a lengthy process of meetings before the plan is finalised next summer. But back to the castrated horse in the pleasant field of Garraun. Why are so many councillors hell bent on leaving Ardaun and Garraun in same state as Seán Ó Tuairisg's horse... and why is the county council management galloping towards Garraun?

Most county councillors - in my opinion - have been against the new town between Galway city and Oranmore because they feel the rest of the county will suffer because of it. The councillors are in favour of spreading development across the county. So if you earmark Garraun for development it will cost money that could be spent on services in Mountbellew or Dunmore or Woodford or many other towns and villages, according to the councillors. And the people will go to live in Garraun which will mean depopulation in rural areas. Councillor Michael Regan from Ballinakill in southeast Galway mentioned on Monday that football and hurling clubs were struggling to field teams in some country areas.

Is Garraun critical?
Speaking on Monday, the director of planning services in the county council, Paul Ridge, said that the money for Garraun would not come from the county council. It would come from developers and they would have to pay higher sums of money for providing the services - what are called development charges - than in other parts of the county. Paul Ridge also pointed out that the new county plan envisaged that plenty of houses would be built in other parts of the county. And it does. But these are houses 'on paper'.

Indeed the future of Garraun is also 'on paper' only. However it's clear that designating Garraun for development and drawing up plans for it will attract attention and action. And if developers decide it's worth going to Ardaun, that could mean they will not build in other towns and villages. And you could have a snowball effect - more development following more development and more people to Garraun. And the management of Galway County Council wouldn't waste their time on Garraun unless they wanted it to be a success. So what would be the benefit?

Well, 'critical mass' is one aspect of it. Galway is too small to be a counterpoint to Dublin in the west. And large industries and businesses are generally going towards the larger cities. Linking the city to Oranmore could - in theory - bring the city population up from the present 71,000 to maybe 120,000... that is a bit down the road. Indeed, there is another theory that you would need to look at a Galway to Limerick connection with good road and rail connections to provide the 'western Dublin'. And where are Woodford and Cleggan and Creggs and many another village and town in County Galway in this scenario?

Would other areas suffer the fate of Seán Ó Tuairisg's horse if Garraun came into the field of play?