THERE was a jeer from the guests when the Minister for the Environment, Noel Dempsey referred to joint members of both the Oireachtas and local authorities as a dying breed. He was launching From Ballot Box to Council Chamber, a guide to last June's local elections which lists all 883 county and town councillors, edited by Liam Kenny. Local elections tested the waters and FF did very well thank you, but the turnout of just under 51 per cent was very disappointing, he said. Why didn't more people vote? It was significant that the areas with the smallest electorate had the greatest turnout, which gave a message about public representatives being close to their community. He believed that one councillor for 40,000 people was better than five for 100,000.
The minister left the many councillors, deputies and senators present in no doubt about his passion for reform. Talks had to take place to halt the slide in participation. He didn't mind giving local councillors power, but they had to use it responsibly and take decisions that would not always be popular.
The chairman of the General Council of County Councils, which published the guide, Monaghan councillor, Patsy Treanor, told guests (who included senators Liam Cosgrave, Ann Ormonde and Fintan Coogan and deputies Cecilia Keaveney, Dan Neville and Caoimhghin O Caolain), that the fall in turnout in suburban areas was alarming, and no system of government could prosper when, as in some parts of Dublin, upwards of two-thirds of the electorate failed to vote. He wondered how some parts of the north-west achieved in excess of 75 per cent.
Renagh Holohan can be contacted at rholohan@irish-times.ie