Hosted by UCC's Department of Government, the event attracted a large attendance. The political system was represented by Deputies Ciaran Lynch, Joanna Tuffy, Michael Fitzpatrick and Noel O’Flynn as well as by Senator Jerry Buttimer and Councillors Mary Shields, Catherine Clancy, Mick Finn, John Buttimer and Kenneth O’Flynn. Formal presentations were delivered by UCC’s Dr Aodh Quinlivan and Brendan O’Sullivan plus Dr Brid Quinn from the University of Limerick and Tom Ryan, Director of the Municipal Authorities of Ireland.
Dr Quinlivan argued that while the concept of directly elected mayors is a sound one, we need to proceed with caution and engage in a proper debate. Experiences from the UK and the US, in particular, are mixed. Brendan O’Sullivan stressed the need for the relationship between elected councillors and professional planners to be developed and strengthened. Dr Quinn called for increased opportunities for citizen input into the local government system and Tom Ryan warned that the abolition of Town Councils would be short-sighted and misguided.
More than a dozen students and other interested parties then made submissions to the committee on a variety of topics relating to local government. The Executive MBA class was well represented as was the BSc Government IV class. Closing the proceedings, Dr Quinlivan thanked the committee for their historic visit, the first occasion that this Oireachtas Committee has met outside of Dublin.
Picture: Tom Ryan, Dr Brid Quinn, Brendan O’Sullivan and Dr Aodh Quinlivan.
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