Kilcoyne predicts demise of county councils

AN Independent Castlebar-based councillor has predicted the demise of county councils after a damning report labelled Ireland ‘one of the most centralised countries in Europe.

Cllr Michael Kilcoyne said the findings of a new report by The Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe (CLRAE) were further signs of the ‘further erosion’ of local authorities.

The report, which followed an independent examination by CLRAE found Ireland to be compliant in eight out of 20 principles of the European Charter of Local Self Government.

It declares that ‘although Ireland is a solid democracy, it remains one of the most centralised countries in Europe’ and ‘there is still a lot to be done before local self-government in Ireland is on par with other European countries’.  

Ireland was found to have one of the lowest scores under the Local Autonomy Index (LAI), with Irish local government scoring a rank just above Hungary, the Russian Federation and Moldova.

The report also noted that Ireland’s position has remained the same over time and was not affected by the local government reforms in 2014, which saw the abolition of 80 town councils.

Speaking to The Mayo News yesterday (Monday), Cllr Kilcoyne predicted that county councils would be replaced by regional councils ‘within the next ten or fifteen years’.

First elected to Castlebar Town Council in 1999, Cllr Kilcoyne said that county councillors had been stripped of various powers, particularly in relation to planning.

He also called for the reinstatement of Westport, Castlebar and Ballina Town Councils, which were replaced by Westport-Belmullet, Castlebar and Ballina Municipal district councils.

“My view is why should our people be deprived of this decision making. What I’m saying is that unelected officials make the decisions really, so that they are not accountable to the people,” said Cllr Kilcoyne.

Among the report’s findings, the Council of Europe expressed concerns about the state of Irish local democracy in various areas.

This included ‘limited democratic decision making powers’ of local authorities, noting the ‘imbalance in power between elected councillors and chief executives in local authorities’.

The report also said that Irish local authorities had ‘insufficient financial resources and autonomy’.

While noting that some functions had been transferred to local authorities, it found that local authorities ‘do not manage a substantial share of public affairs under their own responsibilities’.

The Association of Irish Local Government (AILG) had called on the government to conduct to ‘an immediate and urgent fundamental review’ of Ireland’s local government system to bring the country in line ‘with European norms’.

Fianna Fáil promised to reinstate town councils if elected as far back as 2017.