Councillor Peter Keane finished up his stint as Galway’s first citizen last week, and was replaced by Councillor Mike Cubbard.
This will be Cubbard's third turn as Galway City Council's chairman, becoming the city's 71st mayor.
The current FF-Labour-Independent-Sinn Féin 'pact' running the city has already decided who will be mayor during the life of the 2024 to 2028 council, but four years is an eternity in Irish politics, so deals can change.
Keane, a Fianna Fáil councillor for 17 years, has been a prominent figure around the city during his mayoralty, but does not appear to have actively courted the limelight as some councillors do when they become Galway’s premier denizen. In the first few weeks he was spotted sporting his chain of office down the Prom in Salthill, but – to be fair – they all do that.
The Taylors Hill solicitor has won respect from city officials and councillors of all parties for his business-like chairmanship-style during full council meetings each month, and smaller meetings of the Corporate Policy Group. His sometimes sarcastic humour went down well in Galway city media circles, with local hacks always chasing a pithy quote from often dry local authority sessions.
Staff in City Hall appreciated Keane’s ability to expertly cut-short some of the more long-winded local politicians, ensuring everyone got home at a reasonable hour after contentious meetings. Veteran councillor Níall McNelis (Lab ) ably deputised for Keane when unavailable.
Keane appeared to work well with the city’s chief executive, Leonard Cleary, who began his tenure in tandem with Keane's mayoralty. Keane exercised the little-used casting vote power of the mayoral office to force through controversial local tax hikes desired by City Hall, but opposed by a number of city councillors - including from his own ruling pact.
In paying tribute to Keane at the formal handover of mayoral chains last Friday, Councillor Donal Lyons (Ind ) - who is not a member of the council's ruling majority - made a point of reminding all present that Keane was the only Fianna Fáiler to vote more tax increases. A barbed compliment if ever there was one.
Keane's fluency in Irish was widely remarked on during his handover to Mayor Cubbard, and his ability to speak French during this year's 50th anniversary celebrations of Galway's twinning with Lorient brought cosmopolitan prestige.
Horsetrading
All 18 city councillors vote to elect or confirm a mayor each year. The current pact has the whip hand in mayoral elections, but there is often internal, political horse trading as to which members get the mayor’s chain, and also when, as being mayor at different times during the political cycle has potential pluses and pitfalls.
Cubbard takes over now for what promises to be a tricky period in Galway's city council's evolution, with a move from College Road to Crown Square a certainty, despite substantial grumbling among staff. Cubbard says his priorities will be the youth of the city, and water safety. One suspects the Galway city Ring Road may also dominate.
He will be assisted by Galway City East’s experienced rep, Alan Cheevers (FF ), as deputy mayor.
The current city council’s term expires in 2028 when there must be a local election.
By law, an election for Dáil Eireann does not need to be held until January 2030, but if a general election is called early, its results could put the current multi-party Galway city compact under strain, depending on who the Dáil next elects as taoiseach and tainasite.
Mayoral machinations
Fianna Fáil and the Labour Party negotiated two mayoralties during the current 2024 to 2028 city council.
Experienced community activist Councillor Helen Ogbu (Lab ) is expected to become Galway’s first non-white first citizen in 2026, on an all-female ‘front bench’ accompanied by Councillor Josie Forde (FF ). Both councillors are dynamic, first-time politicians expected to bring new approaches, and both share a focus on hot button housing and mental health issues.
Both, however, are somewhat untested as meeting chairpersons, so they will face steep learning curves wrangling 17 opinionated councillors into order at monthly meetings. Forde must overcome a tendency to self-edit, while Ogbu has corrected her initial tendency of speaking on issues beyond the remit of a local authority. Both chairwomen will need to be strict to tame some of the big beasts in the council chamber.
Fellow first timers John McDonagh (Lab ) and Aisling Burke (SF ) are anticipated to be mayor and deputy mayor respectively, the following year, provided the current pact holds. The tough-talking Shantalla man and multi-talented Mervue woman hail from opposite sides of the Corrib, but appear to get on well, despite long-term antipathy between the Galway West branches of Labour and Sinn Féin.
It looks like an-all Fianna Fail finalé to the current city council with Cheevers expected to become ‘His Worship, Mayor of the City of Galway, its Aldermen and Burgesses’, with Councillor Michael J Crowe as his Deputy Mayor.
Outspoken Cheevers has political ambition, so it makes sense for him to grab the mayor’s chain in an election year, as it almost guarantees prominent public profile.
Crowe is a more mercurial choice by the Soldiers of Destiny, as he was rejected by the electorate of Galway city’s central ward in May 2024, losing his seat of 20 years. The Bohermore barrister was appointed back onto the local authority when his party colleague, John Connolly, was elected to Dáil Éireann last November, leaving his city west council seat vacant.
All these behind-closed-doors mayoral progressions could be upended, of course, if the Pact doesn’t hold.
Fine Gael – which previously ran Galway with Labour, Greens and Independents - has been decidedly critical of how the current pact has operated. Galway’s two Social Democrat councillors, despite often openly agreeing with Pact members’ policy, did not elect to join it, while independent councillor Donal Lyons occasionally appears frustrated being left outside the tent. Councillor Terry O'Flaherty (Ind ) plots her own course.
So although the mayoral chain of office is divvied-out for the next three years in a multi-party agreement, a chain of unexpected events always has the possibility of breaking - what appears to be - occasionally tenuous, political links.
