Taoiseach wants town councils re-established in three years
The Taoiseach wants to re-establish town councils across the country within three years, saying there would have been a more immediate community response to floods in Midleton if the local council had been in place.Under austerity-era cuts, 80 town councils were abolished across the country, but Micheál Martin, in an interview with the Irish Examiner, said: “I certainly think we can re-establish a number of [town] councils or create new ones, because the population is changing.”While he declined to identify specific towns which would have councils re-established, he said: “Originally, my impulse was democratic and I like how France has a mayor in every village. There’s a sense of representation at all levels.”Mr Martin said from his own experience in Cork, “towns like Kinsale grew significantly in the ’80s and ’90s through having good, visionary town councils who had plans for their area, commitment to their area — Skibbereen, Clonakilty, Midleton”.The Taoiseach in Midleton earlier this year with minister of state at the Office of Public Works, Kevin ‘Boxer’ Moran, inspecting the progress of flood relief works in the town.He added: “I’m very clear on the benefits of this. I can recall when I went down to the floods in Midleton, not this year but the previous flood a couple of years ago, people were really lamenting the lack of an urban council and a base there that could have been the first point of response to the floods.”Mr Martin also hit out at civil servants who sometimes see town councils as just “another irritant”.“[That] annoys me at times. Democracy matters and it’s also an opportunity for people to have their first taste of representation. But above all, it’s about community.”Examining the re-establishment of town councils was agreed within the programme for government, with the Coalition formally establishing a local democracy taskforce in June.The taskforce itself is due to consider whether or not to devolve more decision-making powers to councillors, as well as whether there is a need to rebalance powers from the local authority executive to elected reps.It is also looking at whether or not to provide greater powers to councillors over the development and implementation of local authority budgets.Asked if the expansion will happen in the next three to four years, Mr Martin said: “That would be my hope.”He added that town councils allow local people “to plan properly for their town or area and doing so, in a proactive way”.Town councils were abolished in 2014 by the Fine Gael-Labour coalition as a cost-saving measure, with many being replaced by municipal districts which are built in as part of city and county councils.There have been some attempts to restore town councils, with former Labour leader Brendan Howlin introducing a bill in 2019 to bring them back.Mr Howlin was public expenditure minister in 2014 when they were abolished, and he later said he regretted the decision to remove the local councils.He said the needs of local towns were not being “sufficiently met” by the arrangements of municipal districts.At the time of their abolition, there were 684 town council seats, 60 borough council seats, and 130 city council seats.Light rail for Cork During the interview, Mr Martin also said the Coalition wants to begin the development of light rail in Cork City.Mr Martin acknowledged that the public consultation is underway and there are issues around Ballintemple which need “to be resolved”.However, he said: “In my view, we shouldn’t wait forever to get started.”The rail is set to run for 18km, between Ballincollig and Mahon Point, with a total of 25 stops along the way, including at Munster Technology University’s Bishopstown campus, Cork University Hospital, University College Cork, Kent train station, the docklands, Blackrock, and Mahon.Taskforce must 'reimagine' the city The Taoiseach also spoke on a proposed taskforce on Cork City, saying it must be focused on “reimagining” the city’s core to entice people to live on shopping and commercial streets.He added the taskforce must have “clear objectives” to pursue, while stressing that he has focused on developing Cork City since first becoming Taoiseach in 2020.
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