Dr. Br?d Quinn:

As a proud Limerick woman, I was going to recommend that model. On the lessons learned, a large amount of work was done by the implementation advisory group, IAG, and the document produced is comprehensive. As the draft legislation has meandered its way towards completion, if I dare say that, many changes have occurred. Some of those are getting good publicity in Limerick and some are disappointing people.

Which comes first, the chicken or the egg? I have heard the Minister speak at a number of gatherings and he keeps coming back to the mandate, the means and the mechanism. People will have to work on all three together. The mandate is the electoral bit and resources are the means. From the international literature, Council of Europe reviews and so on, resourcing is a significant and serious element. The real question for Dublin is what mechanisms will be put in place, how will the four existing local authorities fit into those, etc.

We learned from the Limerick example that much of the criticism of the local government system criticised the lack of joined-up government. This is true of more than just Ireland. Some of the innovations in the Limerick model, for example, the consultation process with the national level, the advisory implementation group and the 2040 delivery board, bring together different aspects of local government.

If a mayoral model is to succeed in Limerick or Dublin, it must bring together the different actors in local government and State agencies and have them working together. Otherwise, it is doomed to a lack of success.