Galway City Local Community Safety Partnership

The Galway City LCSP is a collaborative initiative that brings together community members, local councillors, statutory services, and the community and voluntary sector to improve safety and wellbeing across the city. Rooted in the belief that every community has the right to feel safe and thrive, the Safety Partnership works to identify local safety concerns, foster inclusive engagement, and coordinate multi-agency responses. Through community representation and the development of a Community Safety Plan, the Galway City LCSP ensures that community voices are heard and that services are held accountable for delivering meaningful change.

Local Community Safety Partnership

Get Involved: Join the Galway City Local Community Safety Partnership 

Are you passionate about making Galway a safer, more inclusive place for everyone? The Galway City Local Community Safety Partnership is inviting expressions of interest from community members who wish to actively contribute to shaping local safety priorities and solutions. We welcome applications from residents, youth, minority groups, and representatives of community and voluntary organisations. This is your opportunity to collaborate with local services and agencies to co-create a safer Galway for all. 

Submit your expression of interest by Monday, 25th August 2025 at 17:00 via the following link:  https://galwaycity.submit.com/show/34  

Your Voice. Your Community. Your Safety. 

The Local Community Safety Partnership (LCSP) is a new government initiative that brings together community members, the voluntary and community sector, statutory services, and local councillors to work together in identifying and tackling community safety issues locally. Building on the work of the Joint Policing Committees, the Local Community Safety Partnerships (LCSPs) brings all the relevant state services and the community together at local authority level to provide a holistic forum for discussion, decisions and action on local community priorities.

Community Safety 

The concept of community safety is about people being safe and feeling safe in their communities, with the fundamental belief that every community has the right to be and feel safe to flourish and thrive.

Partnership Approach

The Local Community Safety Partnership approach is based on the principle that policing is not the responsibility of An Garda Síochána alone and involves other agencies of government such as health and social services.

The partnership approach is built on two premises:

  1. That every community is different and has different problems and issues.
  2. That responding to those problems and issues requires a range of inputs from across Government, local services, voluntary sector and the community itself.

The response to the issues identified above requires the following elements:

  • Community engagement in identifying what the needs of the community are.
  • Commitment and buy-in from State, local and voluntary service providers to work together to address those needs.

The Local Community Safety Partnership approach aligns with similar approaches in related policy areas such as the existing Local Community Development Committees.

Galway City Local Community Safety Partnership Objectives

The primary objectives of Galway City Local Community Safety Partnership are to:

  • Prioritise issues identified by the community as safety concerns.

  • Ensure community engagement and representation on the Safety Partnership.

  • Improve multi-agency collaboration. 

  • Increase community confidence in service providers.

Additionally, the Galway City Local Community Safety Partnership seeks to foster sustained community involvement in identifying needs and co-designing solutions, with a continual commitment from services in working together to address those needs. 

Membership of Galway City Local Community Safety Partnership

One of the premises behind the partnership approach is that every community is different and has different problems and issues. 

The Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration has issued regulations for the membership of Local Community Safety Partnerships. The regulations make provision for the establishment of the Partnership and require a maximum of thirty members. 

This includes seven elected members of Galway City Council, along with representatives from communities, service providers and other stakeholders.

There are four public sector bodies designated for mandatory membership in the regulations for Local Community Safety Partnerships: the relevant local authority, An Garda Síochána, the HSE and Tusla.

All other members of the Local Community Safety Partnership are nominated via the National Office for Community Safety to the Minister for appointment based on one or more of the following criteria:

(a) representing local community and voluntary bodies,

(b) representing local community interests, or

(c) otherwise possessing relevant experience or expertise.

These members will be selected by the Chief Executive of Galway City Council in consultation with the National Office for Community Safety, who will consider local demographics and other factors to give the broadest of representation across community safety sectoral interests, demographic and community interests in the Local Community Safety Partnership administrative area, and to achieving the best community safety outcomes for that area. These members will be appointed by the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration for a term of three years.

Membership of the Galway City Local Community Safety Partnership will be managed proactively to ensure compliance with requirements, but also to ensure a broad representation and the effective operation of the Safety Partnership. 

Galway City Local Community Safety Partnership Meetings

The Galway City Local Community Safety Partnership meetings are to be held at least once per quarter but can meet as often as considered necessary to conduct its work effectively.  In addition, the Safety Partnership is required to hold at least one closed meeting per year for elected representatives (TDs and Councillors), and a second open public meeting.

Galway City Community Safety Plan

The Galway City Local Community Safety Partnership will develop a Community Safety Plan which meets the needs of the local community. It will set out the actions to be taken to improve community safety and allow communities to hold local services accountable for implementation of the plan. 

Legislation and Regulations 

 

Galway City Local Community Safety Partnership Contact Details:

General: Email: communitysafety@galwaycity.ie 

Coordinator: Kelly Slattery Email:  Kelly.slattery@galwaycity.ie T: (091) 536 301  M: (087) 6604063

Administrator: Chelsea McConn Joyce Email:  Chelsea.mcconnjoyce@galwaycity.ie