Galway County Councillors have voted to reject a controversial report, recommending the merging of the Galway city and county councils.

A review into local Government recommended in October that the two local authorities in Galway should merge to form the “Greater Galway Authority”.

The 5-person review committee examined a number of options, including a boundary extension for Galway city, maintaining the status quo or full merger, and concluded that the city and county councils should merge.

However, at a special meeting held at County Hall last night, Galway County Councillors voted to reject such a proposal, and are calling on local Oireachtas members to support their bid to maintain the current structures.

Cathaoirleach of Galway County Council, Councillor Michael Connolly, believes this is an attempt to further erode the local authority in Galway, which has already seen a one-third cut in its budget since 2008.