Time now for Taoiseach to honour commitment to reinstate town councils

SIR,

As the new government confronts many challenges, particularly those begotten of the terrible Corona Virus, it is only fair that we would wish An Taoiseach, Micheál Martin, and the Ministers success in their efforts to restore our economic well-being and our good health at many and varied levels as individuals and as society

It is also fair, I think, to ask that Mr Martin would give effect to commitments made some years prior to becoming Taoiseach.

In 2017 he called for the reintroduction of town councils and said that they never should have been abolished. He sated that their being done away with by the Fine Gael/Labour coalition resulted in the devastation of civic participation right across the country.

He said that the abolition of town councils had effectively slashed Ireland’s democratic representation. He further said, and I quote: “Fianna Fáil has put forward a suite of measures to reshape our local government structures and to empower communities and citizens across Ireland”.

The lack of local democracy is devastating for Killarney, a prime and international tourist town. All meaningful authority is now vested in the county council and the municipal area council has no executive authority because it does not have the right to raise its own finance or determine its own projects.

The dis-empowerment of Killarney will have a severe adverse impact not just on Killarney town but also on the significantly large area that it serves and services.

Taoiseach, you have, I believe, two years to bring your commitment to the reform of local government to fruition. We look forward in eager anticipation to you honouring that 2017 promise, Sincerely,

Michael Gleeson [Cllr], Clasheen,

Killarney

Taoiseach Micheál Martin called for the reintroduction of town councils in 2017 whilst in opposition.