The body of a young man in his 20s was discovered in the bushes in front of Galway city hall on Monday.
He was pronounced dead at the scene at brought to University Hospital Galway where a postmortem examination will be carried out.
Gardaí say they are not treating the death of the young man, whose name has yet to be released, as suspicious.
The city council meeting that was scheduled to take place on Monday afternoon had to be deferred because of the discovery.
The meeting was meant to start at 2pm, but Mayor Niall McNelis decided to defer it to a later date out of respect.
According to the Irish Times the young man was from Galway and known to Gardaí here.
He had returned to the city late last week and was engaging with local housing services.
Galway city council extended its sympathies to the family and friends of the deceased man.
Though its not known if the man was homeless, the spot where he was found is regularly used by people sleeping rough on the council’s grounds.
Mayor McNelis said that he was shocked and saddened by the death of the young man.
With winter closing in and the nights getting colder, Mayor McNelis said it is crucial that people sleeping rough be engaged with to offer every possible shelter and support.
He said that he has written to Housing Minister Eoghan Murphy to visit Galway and meet with the people working on the frontlines of homelessness services.
The letter also asked the Department to make every necessary resource available to the council and homelessness agencies this season.
