Power Monopoly: Central/Local Government relations in Ireland

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With local elections approaching in May of this year, now is a good time to examine the way Ireland has built its strcuture of government and how it differs from the European norm.

Compared to the other countries of the European Union, Ireland's Local Authorities raise a far lower level of revenue, control a far lower level of general expenditure, and generally exercise far less power and autonomy compared to state and local governments on the continent and in the United Kingdom.

At Social Justice Ireland's 2018 Social Policy Conference, Dr. Theresa Reidy of University College Cork presented her paper Power Monopoly: Central - local relations in Ireland. The video of her presentation can be viewed below, and the full paper can be read here.

In this excellent paper, Dr. Reidy diagnoses the problem of the centralisation mentality in Ireland, compares Ireland's local government situation to our European peers on a number of metrics, and examines the arguments on whether or not this type of centralisation matters and what effects it has.

Theresa Reidy, UCC - Power Monopoly: Central – local relations in Ireland