Fears of favouritism as Dublin included in regional assembly

The inclusion of Dublin into a new Midland and Eastern Regional Assembly will require a "balancing act" to avoid fears of favouritism over other counties, according to a current regional director.

As of yesterday, three new regional assemblies – Midland and Eastern, Northern and Western, and Southern regional assemblies – will come into effect following a radical overhaul by the Department of Environment and Local Government. They will replace the functions formerly carried out by eight regional authorities, as well as the two existent regional assemblies – Border, Midland and Western (BMW), and Southern and Eastern assemblies.

Although the move has passed off largely without incident, the recategorisation of Dublin’s four local authorities alongside those of smaller counties such as Laois and Longford has made some public representatives fearful that a vast swathe of regional European Union funding within the midlands area may now be directed towards the capital.

"There is going to have to be a balancing act done to ensure that the needs of the midlands region are adequately met in this new process, and that's going to take time," said Gerry Finn, director of the soon-to-be defunct Border, Midland and Western Regional Assembly.

“There will be elected representatives on the assemblies, and it will be a matter for that assembly as to how it works . . .

“The midlands region will be able to articulate its concerns in developing economic and spatial strategies,” said Mr Finn, who took over his new role as director of the new Northern and Western assembly yesterday.

Longford councillor Mick Cahill said: "I was in the previous [BMW] assembly when we wrote to the Minister back in February 2013, and we outlined what our concerns were at the time.

"One of the big concerns was that we're not a natural fit with the Dublin region," the Fianna Fáil councillor said.