It looks like motorists in Galway and Cork will be next hit with a 30 kilometre an hour city centre speed limit.

The safety measure’s been introduced in central Dublin this week – but it’s not going down well with motorists and business groups, who fear it’ll put shoppers off travelling into town.

Galway’s Lord Mayor says the council there is already proposing the move, while it could be a reality on Cork’s streets by next Christmas.

Lord Mayor Declan McDonnell says safety concerns are the real reason people stay away from the city now, but Donal Healy of Cork Business Association says the idea is too much of a threat to trade.

“One of the major issues is that a lot of people are not coming in – particularly the elderly and those. By having a safer environment, it might encourage these people to come in” the Lord Mayor said.

In response, Healy said “Cork doesn’t have any traffic problems; we don’t have speeding on the streets during business hours, there’s nobody being killed on our streets, we take pride in the fact that Cork has ease of access for people to come in to enjoy shopping in our city and we want that to continue”.