Galwegians embraced the chance to play their part in the protection and restoration of water quality in the Galway Bay South East catchment area, turning up in numbers for the inaugural meeting of a new community-led group in Loughrea recently.

The new Galway Bay South East Catchment Community Forum – launched by the Local Authority Waters Programme at Comworks – marked a significant milestone in facilitating community-led participation in the initiative.

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 follow-on from previous scoping meetings to figure out the most suitable format for how people across the county 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, they have said they would welcome 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 focused 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.

“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,” explained Luke Drea, Senior Community Water Officer for LAWPRO in the Western region.

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,” he said.

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.

Pictured: Luke Drea, LAWPRO Senior Community Water Officer in the Western region, addressing the members of the Galway Bay South East Community Catchment Forum.