Galway has been named as a City of Film by the United Nations heritage body.

Galway joins more than 60 cities worldwide - including Sydney, Seoul, Shanghai, Montreal, Buenos Aires, Berlin and Edinburgh.

Galway's twin city of Bradford in the UK was the first city to be awarded the title back in 2009.

The status brings the highest internationally recognised standard of excellence in the creative industries to Galway.

The title also includes membership of UNESCO's Creative Cities Network. Galway is now one of only five cities in the world to achieve this status.

The UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova made the announcement from Paris today.

Galway Film Centre, along with Galway city and county councils, drove the bid process which started two years ago.

Following an evaluation process, 63 cities worldwide were shortlisted, with 20 making the final selection.

The UNESCO Creative Cities Network seeks to develop international cooperation with cities that have identified creativity as a factor for development.

Galway city and county already have a growing film and TV industry, worth in the region of €72m to the local economy, and employing over 600 people full time.

The announcement comes on the back of a successful week for the Galway Film Centre, which held its annual film and TV seminar on Thursday and Friday.

Speaking in response to the announcement, the mayor of Galway Councillor Donal Lyons said: "I am absolutely thrilled on behalf of the city of Galway and would like to thank and congratulate everyone who has been involved in this successful bid."

"This is fantastic news for the film, TV, artistic and cultural community, and of course the city and region as a whole."

"It reflects so positively on Galway's strong heritage of film and acknowledges our current level of creative activity, pointing to a bright future for the production, promotion and appreciation of film in Galway and the West," he added.