Galway County Council Plenary Meetings

What to Expect

Galway County Council’s plenary meeting is the full council’s monthly public sitting, where all elected members come together to set policy and vote on matters affecting the entire county rather than a single municipal district. The next plenary meeting falls on Monday 28 September 2026 at 11:00am in the Council Chamber at County Hall. Business typically covers county-wide planning policy, the capital and revenue budgets, housing and roads programmes, and motions submitted by councillors on behalf of their local areas, spanning Tuam, Ballinasloe, Loughrea, Clifden, Athenry, Oughterard and the many other towns and villages that make up County Galway. Members of the public are welcome to attend and observe proceedings, making it one of the more accessible ways to see how county-wide decisions affecting services, infrastructure and development are actually debated and decided. Because County Galway stretches from the city out through Connemara and East Galway, the plenary is also where councillors from very different parts of the county, coastal, urban and rural, come together in one room, which often makes for a broader debate than the smaller municipal district meetings held separately in Athenry-Oranmore, Ballinasloe, Loughrea, Tuam and Connemara.

Good to Know

• Free admission, open to members of the public
• Held on the fourth Monday of each month at 11:00am
• Next meeting: Monday 28 September 2026
• Note: there is no plenary meeting in August, so September’s sitting is the first since July
• Full agendas and minutes are published on the council website before and after each meeting
• Members of the public do not address the meeting directly but can raise issues with their local councillors in advance
• It is worth checking the council’s website ahead of travelling, as dates can occasionally shift around bank holidays

Getting There

County Hall is located on Prospect Hill in Galway City, a short walk from the city centre and within reach of the main bus and rail station. The venue is served by city bus routes, and parking is available on-site and in nearby streets for those travelling from elsewhere in the county.