The Smarter Travel Gaillimh entry in the St. Patrick's Day Parade was awarded Best Overall Entry in the Parade recently. Nearly 50 students/staff from NUI Galway participated in the event by dressing in graduation outfits, cycling and in some cases juggling on unicycles through the streets of Galway to promote alternatives to the car. Congrats to Art Soc and Juggling Soc among the many others who participated in this winning entry.

Galway City Council in conjunction with Galway County Council is currently coordinating a Smarter Travel Area Bid aimed at securing funding of €25 million in stage II of the National Smarter Travel Areas Competition (see www.smartertravel.ie), which if successful will serve to promote and increase sustainable travel in Galway over the next number of years. A number of initiatives involve NUI Galway, including the development of a Greenway from Fisheries Field to Dangan, which would improve access to both the campus and Galway City for pedestrians and cyclists.

The St Patricks Day Parade proved an ideal opportunity to increase awareness of the benefits of sustainable travel for people who live, work and study in the city. Other participants included Comhairle na nOg, Green Schools Travel Programme, Macnas Drummers and Galway City Council.