Galway Totally Explained

Everything about Galway totally explained

ť This article is about the city of Galway in the Republic of Ireland. For other uses of the name, see Galway (disambiguation).

Galway, like the whole of Ireland, experiences a year-round mild, moist, and changeable climate, due to the prevailing winds of the Gulf Stream. The city experiences a lack of temperature extremes, with temperatures below 0 °C (32 °F) and above 30 °C (86 °F) being rare, though not unheard of. The city receives an average of 1,147 mm (45.2") of precipitation annually, which is evenly distributed throughout the year. Rain is the most common form of precipitation - hail, sleet and snow are rare in the city, though will sometimes be experienced during particularly cold winters. Galway is also consistently humid, with humidity normally ranging from 70% to 100% every day, and this can lead to heavy showers, and even thunderstorms breaking out when drier east winds, originating in the European continent, clash with this humidity in the late Summer in particular.
   The average January temperature in the city is 6.8 °C (40.6 °F) and the average July temperature is 16.0 °C (60.8 °F). This means that Galway is said to have a Maritime Temperate climate (Cfb) according to the Köppen climate classification system. Extreme weather is rare, though the city and county can sometimes experience severe windstorms that are the result of vigorous Atlantic depressions that occasionally pass along the north west coast of Ireland. Most of these storms, however, happen between late autumn and early spring inclusive, being quite rare at other times of the year.
   Due to the city's north-westerly location, Galway boasts long Summer days, with it daylight before 04:00 and not getting truly dark until after 23:00 during the midsummer period; however, the opposite is true in midwinter, when daylight doesn't truly start until 09.00, and is gone by 16:00.
   Due to the mild, moist climate, Galway is able to support plantlife not usually found at such high latitudes, such as palm trees and even fig trees.

Politics

City Council

Services such as rubbish collection, recycling, traffic control, parks and housing are controlled by a fifteen member city council elected to five year terms by proportional representation, the next such election is due in June 2009. The make-up of the current city council following is:

The changes since the 2004 results include Cllr. Michael Crowe joining Fianna Fáil, Cllr. Cathriene Connolly leaving Labour and Cllr. Danny Callanan leaving Sinn Féin.

Mayoralty

The City Council is chaired by a mayor who is elected to a one year term by their fellow councillors. Their role is mainly ceremonial, although they do have the casting vote. The current mayor is Cllr. Tom Costello who was elected Mayor of Galway on June 18, 2007.

Deputies

Galway City is part of the Galway West constituency of Dáil Éireann. Its TDs are:

Noel Grealish (Progressive Democrats)

Michael D. Higgins (Labour ). He is the party's President and former minister for Minister for Arts, Culture and the Gaeltacht.

Éamon Ó Cuív (Fianna Fáil). He is the current Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs.

Frank Fahey (Fianna Fáil).

Pádraic McCormack (Fine Gael).

Economy

Galway Chamber

Galway City, capital of Connacht, is the third largest city in the Republic of Ireland after Dublin and Cork. The City has experienced phenomenal growth in recent years. Galway City has a strong local economy with complementary business sectors, including manufacturing industry, tourism, retail and distribution, education, healthcare and services that include financial, construction, cultural, and professional.The Galway City Chamber of Commerce is currently chaired by Mr Peter Allen.

Employment

Most (47%) of the people employed in Galway work in either the commerce or professional sector; with a large number (17%) also employed in manufacturing. Most industry and manufacturing in Galway, like the rest of Ireland, is hi-tech (for example ICT, medical equipment, electronics, chemicals, etc.), due to the Celtic Tiger economic boom. Tourism is also of major importance to the city, which had over 2.1 million visitors in 2000, and produced revenue of over €400 million.

Employment by Sector	2002	%
Agriculture & Mining	200	1%
Building & Construction	1,686	6%
Manufacturing, Electrical, Gas & Water	4,679	17%
Commerce	7,615	27%
Transport	1,199	4%
Public Administration & Defence	1,452	5%
Professional	5,552	20%
Other	5,805	21%
Total	28,188	100%

Culture

Galway is nicknamed Ireland's Cultural Heart (Croí Cultúrtha na hÉireann), and is world renowned for its vibrant lifestyle and numerous festivals, celebrations and events.
   In 2004, there were three dance organisations, ten festival companies, two film organisations, two Irish language organisations, 23 musical organisations, twelve theatre companies, two visual arts groups and four writers' groups based in the city.
   Furthermore, there were 51 venues for events; most of which were specialised for a certain field (for example concert venues or visual arts galleries), though ten were described as being 'multiple event' venues.
   A 2008 poll ranked Galway as the 42^nd best tourist destination in the world, or 14^th in Europe. It ranks well ahead of all major European capitals (such as Paris, London and Rome), and many traditional tourist destinations (such as Venice).

Irish language and Culture

Galway city has a reputation amongst Irish cities for being associated with the Irish language, music, song and dancing traditions - it's sometimes referred to as the 'Bilingual Capital of Ireland', although like all other cities in the Republic of Ireland, the vast bulk of the city's inhabitants converse mostly in English. The city is well known for its ‘Irishness’, mainly due to the fact that it has on its doorstep the Galway Gaeltacht. Irish theatre, television and radio production and Irish music form a component of Galway city life, with both An Taibhdhearc, the National Irish Language Theatre, in Galway city centre, while TG4 and RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta headquarters are in the Connemara Gaeltacht in County Galway. Four electoral divisions, or neighbourhoods (out of twenty-two), are designated as Gaeltachtaí. .

Further Information

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