THE MAYOR OF Galway, Mike Cubbard, has confirmed he will contest the upcoming Galway West by‑election as an independent candidate.

The by-election is to fill the seat of President Catherine Connolly, which she vacated upon her election to the Áras.

Cubbard, an independent councillor, said his campaign slogan will be “Galway First” and that this “reflects his belief that Galway needs a stronger voice in national decision‑making”.

The 40-year-old has topped the poll in Galway City Central in the last three successive local elections, starting with his first election in 2014.

“If the Government asks for my support, I will judge every decision on whether it is good for Galway,” said Cubbard.

“If it is, I will back it. If it is not, I will not support it.”

He added that if elected, his key priority would be securing greater central government funding for local authorities.

He also said that “tackling congestion in Galway city would be a top priority” and called for the Galway Ring Road to “proceed without delay if planning permission is granted”.

Cubbard also pointed to “long waits for GP appointments, limited home care supports and a shortage of childcare places” as “major concerns”.

He also called for a “faster, fairer immigration process that treats people with dignity but also ensures that refused applications do not result in indefinite stays” and remarked that “excessive red tape and regulatory uncertainty” in the farming sector is “holding families back”.

Cubbard said he describes himself as “centre‑left”.

He previously served as mayor in 2019 and 2020, and became the first independent councillor to hold the office three times when he returned to the role last year.

Cubbard will be fighting for the seat against Fine Gael senator Seán Kyne, Labour Councillor Helen Ogbu, Sinn Féin’s Mark Lohan, the Social Democrats’ Míde Nic Fhionnlaoich, Independent Ireland’s Noel Thomas, Aontú’s Orla Nugent, the Green Party’s Niall Murphy, People Before Profit’s Denman Rooke and Independent candidates Thomas Welby and Dr Sheila Garrity.

Meanwhile, RTÉ Raidió Na Gaeltachta and TG4′s Nuacht will be unable to host a live debate with the candidates competing in the Galway West by-election — the Dáil constituency with the largest Gaeltacht in the country — because only three of the candidates nominated to date are sufficiently fluent to take part.

Both the Galway West and Dublin Central by-elections, the latter to fill Paschal Donohoe’s seat, will likely be held in May.