Galway Culture Company has failed to fulfil five invitations over 18 months to present its activities to the city's elected representatives.
The publicly-funded body tasked with implementing the legacy of Galway's 2020 European City of Culture win is finalising negotiations with the University of Galway, in partnership with Údarás na Gaeltachta, to take over its responsibilities.
Galway Culture Company has had strategic partnerships with a number of university departments in the past, and this due diligence process is expected to be completed within weeks.
The company was expected to face questions by city councillors in a long-anticipated showdown on Monday this week, but it cancelled last week.
"The due diligence process has been completed, and the transition of the company was agreed at the governing body meeting of the University last month," said Brendan McGrath, chairman of the Galway Culture Company. "Discussions are now taking place with all parties concerned. This should be concluded by the end of the month. We had hoped that this would have been concluded last month, which is why we had indicated that we would happily present on this to the council in June."
Several city councillors have publicly requested the Galway Culture Company (GCC ) to present its activities to them, with further calls for a forensic audit of its accounts.
A limited-by-guarantee precursor company to GCC, Galway Cultural Development & Activity, was originally established as a joint entity by Galway’s city and county councils in 2016. Along with staff seconded from Galway’s two local authorities, it was the driving force for Galway jointly winning the prestigious European City of Culture accolade alongside Rijeka, Estonia, in 2020.
Despite the city council changing the start time of its monthly meeting for June, to facilitate the attendance of GCC on Monday this week, the company cancelled six days beforehand.
A spokeswoman for Galway Culture Company said the organisation was "in regular contact with City Hall, and I want that noted."
Correspondence from Brendan McGrath seen by the Galway Advertiser suggests GCC cancelled its expected grilling by councillors this week at the request of its “prospective new owners”.
In response, a University of Galway spokesperson said: "No. We did not tell Brendan not to attend, or to attend." Údarás na Gaeltachta did not respond to enquiries.
Councillors have demanded Galway Culture Company attend City Hall five times since January 2025, largely to explain how it disposed of a €1 million grant to fund local legacy projects after the 2020 celebrations were unfortunately curtailed by bad weather, and the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic.
After failing to honour three invitations to attend the city council last year, and one earlier this year, it cancelled its appearance in City Hall this week, despite committing to the special meeting last April, if this month's meeting’s 3pm start time was changed to midday.
The decision to change the meeting time was approved by councillors sitting on City Hall’s Corporate Policy Group on May 5, using a legal instrument contained in the 2021 Local Government Act.
GCC's Mr McGrath, a former chief executive of the Galway City Council, accepted by email an invitation dated March 2026 to attend City Hall this week, while ruling out the plenary meeting in April.
The Galway City Council meets for a full, plenary meeting of all 18 councillors and senior officials on the second Monday of each month. Its secretariat has suggested to Mr McGrath he might attend future plenaries to be held this September, October, November and December after its AGM and summer break.
"The Board has been in regular communication with Galway City Council on this matter, and we are seeking to agree mutually convenient time to present, and we look forward to that," said McGrath.
McGrath was expected to face questions relating to how GCC disposed of a €1.1 million grant awarded by the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, fully drawn down in July, 2024, to fund legacy projects after the 2020 celebrations.
It is understood a number of motions have been drafted by councillors from at least two political parties concerning municipal funding to Galway 2020, but these will not be submitted until after an appearance by a GCC representative.
A government report issued in June last year, six months after Galway City Council first invited GCC to present its activities to councillors, shows the legacy €1 million was spent on place-based cultural programming (€537,000 ), cultural and creative sector supports (€271,000 ), and facilitating international and European relationships (€192,000 ).
“The current board [of GCC] needs to present accounts for financial transparency before it steps down,” said Councillor Alan Cheevers (FF ). “We just want to see how exactly monies were spent locally over the lifetime of Galway Culture Company, and we haven’t had that yet. I’m concerned that it has deferred its invitation five times, and it does raise red flags to be honest,” he said.
