Galway City Council
Template:Short description Template:Use dmy dates Template:Use Hiberno-English Template:Infobox legislature
Galway City Council (Template:Langx) is the local authority of the city of Galway, Ireland. As a city council, it is governed by the Local Government Act 2001. The council is responsible for housing and community, roads and transportation, urban planning and development, amenity and culture, and environment. The council has 18 elected members. Elections are held every five years and are by single transferable vote. The head of the council has the title of mayor. The city administration is headed by a chief executive, Leonard Cleary. The council meets at City Hall, College Road, Galway.
History
The earliest known charter dates from a grant of Richard II of England in 1395.<ref name="Ireland1835">Template:Cite book</ref> The first Mayor of Galway was Peirce Lynch. A board of town commissioners was established by local act in 1836.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The corporation was dissolved under the Municipal Corporations (Ireland) Act 1840, with the town commissioners as its successor.
Template:Infobox UK legislation In 1853, 24 town commissioners were appointed under the Template:Visible anchor (16 & 17 Vict. c. cc).<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In 1899, under the Local Government (Ireland) Act 1898 (61 & 62 Vict. c. 37), the county of the town became an urban district of County Galway, with an urban district council succeeding the town commissioners.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> In 1937, the Urban District of Galway became the Borough of Galway, remaining part of County Galway.<ref>Template:Cite Irish legislation</ref> The borough council had 12 members.<ref>Template:Cite Irish legislation</ref> It increased to 15 members at the 1985 election, in anticipation of its conversion to a city council.<ref>Template:Cite Irish legislation</ref>
In 1986, the Borough of Galway became the County Borough of Galway and ceased to part of County Galway.<ref>Template:Cite Irish legislation</ref><ref>Template:Cite Irish legislation</ref> The council was known as "The Mayor, Aldermen and Burgesses of the (County) Borough of Galway" from 1937 until the enactment of the Local Government Act 2001, under which it was renamed Galway City Council.<ref>Template:Cite Irish legislation</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In 2013, a Local Electoral Area Boundary Committee reviewed the allocation of seats and the local electoral areas across local authorities. In the case of Galway Council, it recommended an increase from 15 to 18 seats.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> This was implemented by the Local Government Reform Act 2014.<ref>Template:Cite ISB</ref>
On 6 June 2018, the government announced that Galway City Council and Galway County Council were to be merged into a single local authority by 2021.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> As of late 2021, this proposal was reportedly "off the agenda".<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Regional assembly
Galway City Council has two representatives on the Northern and Western Regional Assembly where they are part of the West Strategic Planning Area Committee.<ref name=si573>Template:Cite Irish legislation</ref>
Elections
Members of Galway City Council are elected for a five-year term of office on the electoral system of proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote (PR-STV) from multi-member local electoral areas (LEAs).
| Year | Template:Abbrev party name with color | Template:Abbrev party name with color | Template:Abbrev party name with color | Template:Abbrev party name with color | Template:Abbrev party name with color | Template:Abbrev party name with color | Template:Abbrev party name with color | Template:Abbrev party name with color | Template:Abbrev party name with color | Total | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | colspan=2 Template:N/a | 0 | 4 | 18 | ||||||||
| 2019 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | colspan=2 Template:N/a | 0 | 6 | 18 | ||||||||
| 2014 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 0 | colspan=2 Template:N/a | 3 | colspan=2 Template:N/a | 0 | 6 | 18 | ||||||||
| 2009 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 0 | colspan=2 Template:N/a | 0 | colspan=2 Template:N/a | 0 | 4 | 15 | ||||||||
| 2004 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 1 | colspan=2 Template:N/a | 1 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 15 | ||||||||
| 1999 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 0 | colspan=2 Template:N/a | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 15 | ||||||||
| 1991 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 0 | colspan=2 Template:N/a | 0 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 15 | ||||||||
| 1985 | 6 | 5 | 1 | 0 | colspan=2 Template:N/a | 0 | colspan=2 Template:N/a | 2 | 1 | 15 | ||||||||
Local electoral areas
Galway is divided into three LEAs, defined by electoral divisions.<ref>Template:Cite ISB</ref> The electoral divisions were formerly known as wards and were defined in 1986.<ref>Template:Cite ISB</ref>
| LEA | Definition | Seats |
|---|---|---|
| Galway City Central | Claddagh, Dangan, Eyre Square, Mionlach, Newcastle, Nuns Island, Rahoon, Shantalla, and Toghroinn San Niocláis. | 6 |
| Galway City East | An Caisleán Gearr, Baile an Bhriotaigh, Ballybaan, Lough Atalia, Mervue, Murroogh, Renmore and Wellpark. | 6 |
| Galway City West | Bearna, Cnoc na Cathrach, Rockbarton, Salthill and Taylors Hill. | 6 |
Councillors
The following were elected at the 2024 Galway City Council election.
2024 seats summary
Councillors by electoral area
This list reflects the order in which councillors were elected on 7 June 2024.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Template:Multi seat members begin Template:Multi seat constituency Template:Multi seat constituency Template:Multi seat constituency
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- Notes
Co-options
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Changes in affiliation
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References
External links
Template:Galway Template:Galway local elections Template:Local government in the Republic of Ireland Template:Authority control