The Local Authority Waters Programme (LAWPRO) launched the new Galway Bay South East Catchment Community Forum with an inaugural meeting on Monday 20th November 2025 at Comworks, Loughrea, Co Galway. The event marked a significant milestone in facilitating community-led participation in the protection and restoration of water quality in the Galway Bay South East catchment.
The Galway Bay South East Catchment Community Forum is one of five pilot river catchment projects across Ireland, established under the new River Basin Management Plan to support public participation. The meeting was a fruitful follow-on from previous scoping meetings to figure out the most suitable format for how people from Co. Galway and communities around Galway Bay might participate in delivering better water quality for all.
The Galway Bay South East Catchment Community Forum is now formalised, with representatives included from Cuan Beo, Irish Farmers Association, Abhainn Dá Loilíoch Woodland Group, Oyster Country Heritage Group, Burren Action Group, Gort River Walk, Talamh Beo, CELT, Atlantic Technological University Galway, and Bord Iascaigh Mhara. Forum members also include other representatives from local community groups, agriculture, angling and recreational interests. While the forum achieved a good sectoral balance and geographic spread, it welcomes further applications from the north of the catchment and those from the forestry sector.
The forum elected its leadership team during the meeting and discussed areas for action going forward. This includes working on catchment scale projects, promoting local public awareness and understanding of water quality issues, and developing greater collaboration and cooperation across the Galway Bay South East Catchment.
The forum members are focussed on taking proactive measures to benefit water quality, biodiversity, and their local communities. They are keen to forge relationships with their catchment counterparts in the four other pilot fora being developed in other parts of the country and to engage purposefully with all relevant stakeholders using the avenues that are now available to the Galway Bay South East Catchment Community Forum.
The next meeting has been scheduled for early 2026 where members will be able to gain greater literacy around the management structures of the Water Framework Directive and water monitoring, and refine the targets for the forum in 2026.
Luke Drea, Senior Community Water Officer for LAWPRO in the Western region explained: “The purpose of the Galway Bay South East Catchment Community Forum is to identify what the members, assisted by LAWPRO, see as the priorities for the catchment and then to develop a plan of action to address these issues.” He emphasised that the establishment of the forum is a key action within Ireland’s Water Action Plan or River Basin Management Plan. “This is an exciting opportunity for public participation and LAWPRO will work closely with the Forum and local communities right across the Galway Bay South East Catchment to support better water quality for all.”
The forum elected John Kelly and Aisha Phillips, a local farmer and member of Loughrea Tidy Towns respectively, as Co-Chairs of the forum. LAWPRO will continue to provide secretariat support to the forum as agreed in the initial scoping meetings.
John Kelly and Aisha Phillips, the new Co-Chairs of the forum stated: “The Galway Bay South East Catchment is a diverse and unique catchment that extends from the Slieve Aughty mountains in the East to Galway Bay in the West. The water that connects these and the communities that it flows through need to be protected and restored. The Galway South East Catchment Community Forum is about bringing together communities with an interest in improving and protecting water quality in the catchment, and giving them a strong voice in how it is looked after into the future”.
The Galway Bay South East Catchment Community Forum is part of the Catchment Community Fora initiative, coordinated by LAWPRO. This national pilot programme works with communities to protect and improve water quality, supporting local engagement and collaboration across Ireland’s river catchments. By bringing together diverse stakeholders, the fora aim to share knowledge, identify challenges, and develop practical solutions that benefit both people and nature.
For more information about the Galway Bay South East Catchment Community Forum and LAWPRO’s work, contact Janet Laffey, LAWPRO Community Water Officer covering East Galway and Roscommon at jlaffey@lawaters.ie.