Politics

Ireland amongst weakest in Europe for local government power

Only three nations out of 46 in the Council of Europe were deemed to have local governments with less autonomy

The representative body for councillors said too much power had been given to chief executives, such as outgoing Dublin City Council chief executive Owen Keegan (pictured), and away from elected representative. Picture: Bryan Meade

Hungary, Russia and Moldova are the only states among the 46 members of the Council of Europe with weaker local governments than Ireland according to a draft report by the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities.

The report by the watchdog for local authorities across the continent found that despite local government reforms in 2014, Ireland has remained amongst the weakest in terms of providing autonomy to local governments.

The draft report found that local ...