Speech
delivered at special dinner to mark the abolition of Carrickmacross Town
Council
Carrickmacross,
Saturday 12 April 2014
Ladies and
gentleman, it is a genuine pleasure for me to be with you tonight although in
some ways it is a sad occasion. When I receive an invitation to speak at a
conference or a seminar, I usually take my time, weigh up the pros and cons
and, ultimately, accept some of the invitations and reject others. As my wife
will confirm, I had no hesitation in accepting this invitation. There are two reasons for this. First, I was
intrigued at the prospect of speaking at what is effectively a funeral or a
wake for a public institution.
Secondly, I
accepted because of the issue concerned – I am, and always have been, a firm
believer in local self-government, local democracy and the principle of
subsidiarity. Accordingly I am appalled at the decision to abolish town
councils. As a country I believe we will be all the poorer. Essentially what we
are witnessing is a disgusting power grab by central government – it is about power, it is about control and it is about greed.
When I am not
reading about local government, my nose is usually stuck in a book of crime
fiction. There is a Dutch crime writer called de Wetering who has written the
following words – ‘Greed is a fat demon with a small mouth and whatever you
feed it is never enough.’ I think central government and the Custom House will
not be satisfied until local government is completely obliterated.
Greed is also a
kind of fear – fear of losing control.
Since
the founding legislation of 1898 we have moved from over 600 local authorities
to 114 and now down to 31. Colm McCarthy recommended a number of 22 local
authorities in the Bord Snip Report. Where is it going to end? How is
it the case that local government lacks protection in Bunreacht na hÉireann?
The Seanad, a marginally relevant institution, could not be abolished
without reference to the people. Yet, a
whole tier of local democracy and 83 directly
elected councils, can be removed through legislation without reference to
the people.
The Council of
Europe report from 2013, entitled ‘Local Democracy in Ireland’ slammed Ireland
for its lack of constitutional protection for sub-national government and
correctly claimed that it was indicative of a fundamental lack of respect for local government. This lack of respect has
existed and thrived since the foundation of the state with government after
government prioritising intense centralisation over local democracy.
Where is the evidence that big is better? I can accept arguments about efficiencies and economies of scale
if they are soundly based on evidence but not if they are built on nothing. The
international evidence refutes the
notion that a smaller number of larger local authorities yields improvements,
savings and efficiencies. Instead the evidence
from other jurisdictions that have been down this road clearly points to the
fact that structural reform and the redrawing of local authority boundaries is
not a cost-free exercise and frequently results in dis-economies of scale,
especially with one-off costs arising from amalgamations.
We
cannot and should not be fooled by the concept of municipal districts. Firstly,
these are not political institutions or organs of democracy if there are no
specific elections to them. Secondly, with no link between revenue raising and
expenditure then municipal districts will not be legitimate as local government
entities. In other words, if Minister Hogan’s grand plan is to create municipal
districts with no rating function - but they will be part of a county council
which has a rating function - then let us call the municipal districts what
they are – glorified county council
area committees.
In
truth, town councils have been on a life support system for some time and it
has been a long-term strategic aim of the Custom House to get rid of them. Back
in the year 2000 I spoke at an AMAI seminar in Inchydoney following the
publication of a local government bill that removed water and sanitary
functions from town councils. I predicted then that town councils would be
abolished inside 10 years. I was a bit out on my time-frame but the trend was
an obvious one. I also argued in Inchydoney that water services would be
nationalised before eventually being privatised.
Let us
recall the fine words of Fine Gael’s New
Politics document in 2010 - ‘We are committed to building strong local
government. The over-centralisation of government in Ireland is, in our view,
inefficient and fundamentally incompatible with a healthy Republic’. Well, if
it was incompatible with a healthy Republic in 2010 it sure as hell is
incompatible in 2014. Are there many centralisation
success stories in Ireland? Has Irish Water had a good start? What about the
student grant scheme operated through SUSI? I wish someone would explain to the
students in my university who had to withdraw from education last year due to
non-payment of their grant that centralisation works? Has the driving license
process improved with centralisation?
Why are
we not debating these issues? Why have town councils died without a discussion?
The national media is complicit in this and their refusal to address local
government issues is shameful. Of course, the national media is Dublin-based
and they do not care one iota about town councils. There is only one town
council in Dublin, in Balbriggan. This was a former Town Commissioners and its
abolition means nothing to Dubliners. Predictably,
the media has failed to engage with the issue and the only matter which is
suddenly gaining some traction in the media is the directly elected mayor for
the capital.
In my
opinion towns matter and towns which
have a local council are healthier and stronger than those without. I am
acutely aware of the fact that I am in Patrick Kavanagh country and in one of
his famous poems, ‘Lines Written on a
Seat on the Grand Canal’ Kavanagh refers to the mythology of towns.
Something
which is a fact rather than a myth is that town councils have been the most
efficient element within the local government system in terms of being
self-financing and maintaining commercial rates at a lower level that their
county council counterparts. Removing the rating power from towns will lead to
an increase in commercial rates for the hard-pressed business people in the
towns of Ireland.
Town or
municipal councils should be at the heart of our local government system. The
very nature of local government is that civic society is up close and personal.
Local councils and the services they provide have a far more immediate,
continuous and comprehensive impact on our daily lives than many issues which
dominate nationally. Local councils and councillors have to deal
with a range of issues and factors that are not of their making and for which
they may have no formal responsibility.
These issues
include migration, multi-culturalism, homelessness, social exclusion and other
social problems such as drug addiction, prostitution, and petty crime. Many of
the social problems faced by Irish communities today are most sharply evident
in urban settings and towns. Sub-county authorities should be strengthened to
address these problems. Instead they are being destroyed.
Again I turn
to Patrick Kavanagh who wrote the following words in his poem, ‘Literary Adventure’
It's as
simple as that, it's a matter
Of walking
with the little gods, the ignored
Who are so
seldom asked to write the letter
Containing
the word.
No need for
Art anymore
When Authority whispers like Tyranny
We live
in a dangerous time when the tyranny of central government means that not only
can you be ignored but you can be removed from history without debate.
I thank
you for the warm welcome you have afforded me tonight. I hope to return in
happier times when some new, improved version of Carrickmacross Town Council
will be created; a local authority which will drive the local economy and which
will be a jewel in the crown of County Monaghan which – after all – is God’s
own country. Thank you.
