Galway City and County

Galway Chamber’s missions is to make Galway the leading place to live, work and do business. Businesses and people are attracted to Galway for a variety of reasons.

Galway has a unique location on Galway Bay with Connemara to the West. A lively vibrant city centre with traditional medieval streets attracts tourists and locals alike year round. The city contains extensive shopping and business facilities.

Galway is a vibrant, diverse city. As the largest urban centre in the West, is also a key driver of economic development and competitiveness in the region and the city has the potential to drive growth at a national level.

Galway in Numbers

  • There are 75,529 people living in Galway City, a further 62,238 people live within 30 minutes’ drive of the City centre.
  • 25% of Galway City’s population are students indicating a high level of education within the City.
  • Galway employs one third of the country’s 25,000 medical device employees and the West accounts f0r 39% of regional distribution of medical devices.
  • Galway is home to 4 of the top 5 ICT companies – IBM, SAP, Oracle and Cisco.
  • The drop in the unemployment rate in Galway from 14.4% in 2012 to 11.9% in 2013 has had a positive impact on customer spending.

Economy

Galway has a strong local economy with complementary business sectors, including manufacturing industry, tourism, retail and distribution, education, healthcare, and services that include financial, cultural, construction and professional.

Medical Device Sector

  • Galway employs one third of the country’s 25,000 medical device employees and the West accounts f0r 39% of regional distribution of medical devices.
  • There is a significant cluster of medical device companies with Medtronic and Boston Scientific being the largest MNC employers.
  • Boston Scientific Ireland Ltd employs 2,800 individuals and Medtronic Vascular Galway Ltd. employs 1,882 individuals.
  • The medical device cluster in Galway occurs through university-industry linkages, a continuous development of a skilled labour pool, international reputation through the success of Boston Scientific and Medtronic, the growth of supplier firms and knowledge transfers establishing new start-ups.
  • The medical device companies within this cluster are supported by such organisations as Enterprise Ireland, IDA Ireland, Udaras na Gaeltachta, Local Enterprise Office Galway, GMIT and NUI Galway.

Download Galway Technology Map MEDTECHMAP

ICT Sector

  • There are 196 ICT organisations in Galway.
  • Galway is home to 4 of the top 5 ICT companies – IBM, SAP, Oracle and Cisco.
  • There are 90 ICT organisations in Galway City, as categorised by NACE (Rev.2) Codes, with a further 106 ICT companies based in County Galway.
  • Growing indigenous SME ICT companies have real potential to grow a vibrant ICT cluster.
  • There are 2,229 science, research, engineering and technology professionals in Galway City and County in 2011.
  • There are 917 science, engineering and technology associate professionals in Galway City and County in 2011.
  • Some 72.8% of households in the Galway city region have broadband connectivity compared to 63.8% nationally.
  • Galway has a foothold in the growing cloud computing market through SMEs.
  • There is a significant research infrastructure in Galway City – INSIGHT at NUI Galway.
  • There is an array of ICT education provision and incubation support.

Download Galway Technology Map GALWAYTECHMAP

Retail Sector

  • The drop in the unemployment rate in Galway from 14.4% in 2012 to 11.9% in 2013 has had a positive impact on customer spending.
  • Eyre Square Centre incorporates over 60 local and national shops and attracts approximately 185,000 visitors per week.
  • In 2014, Galway’s retailers experienced a more profitable year than 2013.
  • Galway County has a vacancy rate of 15.1%.
  • The Galway Continental Market for example has proven to be an attraction for shoppers with 607,000 visitors to the market over its 32 days duration.
  • Galway city is above the national average regarding services, health and social, construction and financial units.
  • Shop Street had the lowest vacancy rate at 3.0%.

The marine sector is already an important sector for Galway City and County being located in an area with extensive coastline. This sector which already includes a range of activities in Galway Harbour, marine research at the Marine Institute in Oranmore linked with the environmental, marine and energy research at the Ryan Institute NUIG, local fishing, aquaculture and water based recreational activities. The potential for

water-based tourism has been demonstrated by the momentum created in the city during the hosting of the Volvo Ocean Race stops in 2009 and 2012.

The current proposals for a re-development and extension of Galway Harbour includes for reclamation of 27 ha, construction of commercial quays deepwater port facilities, provision of marina and aqua sport facilities. This project has the potential to contribute to both tourism and enterprise in the local economy. It is acknowledged that such a development could have strategic importance for the city.

The creative/cultural sector which includes for creative goods and services is continuing to grow globally. The sector accounts for 1 in every 10 jobs in the West Region with a significant amount of those employed in the sector based in Galway City and County

Music, visual and performing arts as being the main employer with craft, film and photography following. The festival calendar for the city generates significant revenue with the big three – The Galway Races, the Arts Festival and the Film Fleadh alone generating almost a €100m in revenue in 2010

This sector is likely to be embellished further with the preparation of the City Council’s

Strategy on Culture which will springboard Galway City’s bid to become a European

Capital of Culture in 2020. If chosen there will be many economic, social and cultural benefits for Galway.

The food sector like the general economy is beginning to grow. Of particular interest in

Galway are the speciality and artisan foods sector and those that are associated with the

hospitality sector. These have been a catalyst in the promotion of food through the recently established food festivals, and the expansion from the iconic Church Lane market at St. Nicholas’ Church to the Christmas and occasional neighbourhood farmer markets at other location including Woodquay.

Useful Reading

Galway City Council Draft Development Plan 2017 – 2023

Visualising key data for Galway City and County – www.galwaydashboard.ie

Economic Baseline Summary Overview – Galway City

Economic Baseline Summary Overview – Galway County