OPINION: Disempowerment dressed up as reform

On June 1, 2014, the Local Government Reform Act 2014 came into being. The act marked ‘the most far-reaching change in structures, functions, operational arrangements and governance in the Irish local government system’ since 1899, proclaimed then Local Government Minister, Phil Hogan. “The changes that are being made are radical, but they are necessary to bring our local government system up to date and to provide the kind of service our citizens and communities deserve,” he said.
Fast forward a decade. Has this radical reform transformed local government in Ireland for the better? You’d better believe it has not.

Power play
Under the act, the number of local authorities was slashed from 114 to 31. A full 80 town councils were dissolved. The number of councillors to be elected across the country under the new structures was nearly halved.
“These changes,” declared Hogan, “will eliminate duplication by ensuring more streamlined structures and the resources that were previously absorbed by these structures and processes will now be freed-up to improve front-line services and to enhance the quality of life in local communities.”
Ten years, on we are still laughing. Else we’d just cry.
Big Phil certainly didn’t have the empowerment of local communities in mind when he decided to strip them of power, with, if I recall correctly, little or no public consultation. Oh, the irony! So much power in the hands of so few. What could possibly go wrong?
Minister of State for Heritage and Electoral Reform Malcolm Noonan said it best recently: “The abolition of borough and town councils was a political stroke that undermined local accountability.” (If only the Greens were in government now, eh?)

Autonomy curtailed
In 2023, a report by the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe adopted concluded that Ireland ranks only above Hungary and Moldova when it comes to power in local authorities and councils, noting that ‘although Ireland is a solid democracy, it remains one of the most centralised countries in Europe’.
County councils in Ireland primarily focus on services like planning, infrastructure and roads. Their role in housing is limited to implementing national government policy (a fact apparently lost on several of our recent local election candidates). This contrasts with countries like Sweden and Denmark, where local authorities have substantial control over services like education, healthcare and policing, allowing for more responsive, tailored governance for local populations.
County councils have barely any fiscal autonomy either, relying heavily on central government funding – aside from commercial rates, parking charges and local property tax, the revenue from which is insufficient to deliver necessary services, despite commercial rates crippling many small businesses. The centralised distribution of funds like car parking charges in Mayo is also often a bone of contention.
When our Mayo town councils were abolished, hub towns like Ballina and Westport found themselves with a much broader geographical remit. Six councillors, for example, cover a huge area in North Mayo. This leads to disconnect between them and constituents, makes it harder for citizens to meaningfully engage and influence local governance. The smaller communities lose out the most.
Countries like France and Italy have a more granular local government structure, with a higher number of smaller municipalities – a bit like we had eleven years ago – allowing for a closer relationship between citizens and their local representatives. In Mayo, the delivery of projects frequently boils down not to need, but to who is shouting louder, and to whom.

Communities cut off
Barriers to public participation in local governance and the wholesale disempowerment of communities are highly frustrating. Some mechanisms do exist. Public Participation Networks, for example, were introduced to enhance community engagement, and they do valuable work, but ultimately they are toothless, lacking the influence to create real change.
There is a perceived lack of transparency within local authorities, including in Mayo, on how and by whom big decisions are made, which projects are advanced and how, and how funding and grants are awarded. Answers and explanations can be opaque at best, fuelling suspicion and undermining trust. Communities who know their own areas best and can deliver agile, innovative solutions when supported, are instead disempowered and disenfranchised.
And while citizens in Mayo might feel disempowered by the local authority, the council itself lacks autonomy when it comes to delivering one-size-fits-all national policies like housing at a local level, which is surely a source of frustration in turn.
Local elections are one of the few avenues for direct citizen engagement in local governance, but low voter turnout says it all, proving the lack of public interest and confidence in county councils.

Broken system
In contrast, participatory governance models in countries like Spain – for example, Barcelona’s Citizen and Tourism Council, which was instrumental in the decision to abolish short-term holiday lets to free up housing – involve citizens more directly in decision-making processes through participatory budgeting and regular public forums, which not only enhances transparency and accountability but also fosters a sense of ownership and engagement among citizens. One wonders what such a forum could achieve in Mayo.
And worst of all, there is little political appetite to change the system here. Devolution of power to local councils (and specifically, democratically elected councillors, not unelected officials) to make the decisions that reflect the needs of their communities is not even on the agenda.
The centralisation of power, lack of transparency, political patronage and community disempowerment are all factors that contribute to what is, in Ireland, a fundamentally broken system. Good work, Phil!