At its meeting this month the members of Sligo County Council unanimously supported a motion tabled by Cllr Declan Bree welcoming the commitment in the Programme for Government to abolish the position of County Manager.

Speaking to the motion Cllr Bree said “Every citizen who believes in the concept of democracy and local self government will welcome the commitment in the new Programme for Government, to abolish the position of County Manager.

“The commitment states ‘We will abolish the position of County Manager and replace it with that of Chief Executive, with a limited range of executive functions.’ Cllr Bree said that the primary function of the Chief Executive will be to facilitate the implementation of democratically decided policy.”

“Local Government, as it is normally known in the rest of Europe, does not exist in Ireland.   At best we have a system of local administration, through which centrally appointed County and City Managers make the executive decisions for our cities, counties and towns.   This system was established in the 19th century when we were still the subjects of a foreign monarch.   In my view this is no longer appropriate for the citizens of a modern republic.

“The fact is that elected councillors in Ireland have very little power.   In recent years elected councillors have lost powers over road plans, waste management plans, waste charges, and many planning functions.  Even the decisive role which councils once had over their Annual Budget and over County Development Plans has been greatly diminished.” said Cllr Bree.

“On many councils, the Manager and his/her senior officials are the “local government”, and the councillors function as a kind of “opposition” in the council chamber.  In fact the power of City and County Managers has been greatly increased in recent years and in many cases they act as the agents of Central Government.     

“The management system as operated in this country has contributed to an extremely weak local political system.  Managers do not have a political mandate to represent the local community while local elected representatives do not have the responsibilities or structures to optimise a strong local leadership role. 

“This local democratic weakness in turn reinforces the tendency for local communities and politicians alike to turn to central government to deal with issues which should be dealt with locally.

“I believe that the powers and authority of local councils should come from the people.  This means that the will of the elected representatives of the people, should, subject to law, take precedence in the conduct of the Council’s business.” said Cllr Bree.