Chauffeuring the Mayor of Galway to events has cost the city more than a quarter of a million euro over five years, the Galway City Tribune can reveal.

Some €266,333 of Galway City Council’s public money was forked out on chauffeuring various mayors since 2019, according to documents obtained by this newspaper under Freedom of Information (FOI).

The massive outlay, revealed publicly for the first time this week, prompted the local authority to seek a change in policy – it’s even exploring the possibility of a car sponsorship arrangement with local motor companies and dealerships.

An internal memo, released through FOI, reveals the annual cost since 2019 to the Council for a mayoral car and driver service.

The most expensive year was 2019, when €85,249 was spent hiring on a mayoral car and driver. This was followed by 2023 (€70,100) and 2022 (€55,500). There were fewer engagements in 2020 and 2021 due to Pandemic restrictions, but the service still cost €29,140 and €10,394 in those years, respectively.

In the first six months of June of this year, the service cost €15,950 bringing the total bill  since 2019 to €266,333.

Around €225,000 of that was paid to one local company, Lexus Limo Services.