President’s Address
President's Address
Cllr. Gail Dunne is a member of Wicklow County Council, representing the Wicklow Town district and was elected President of the AILG at the Annual General Meeting which was held in Limerick on the 4th of October 2023.
Speaking following his election as President, Cllr. Dunne stated that it was a massive privilege to have been elected by members across Ireland, to the position of National President of the Association of Irish Local Government (AILG). He said “The AILG trains and pioneers capacity building and policy development for locally elected representatives so they can serve their communities to the highest standard possible. I am humbled, honoured and privileged to assume the role of President for the Association for the year (2023-24).
I am deeply grateful to my predecessor, Cllr. Pat Fitzpatrick, for his leadership and outstanding contributions to AILG during his presidency, and the members of the Executive Committee and Board of 2022-2023. I am inspired by their commitment to AILG and all of their achievements. Indeed, the growth of AILG has been propelled collectively by the individuals and all the past presidents and past members of the AILG Board and Executive Committee.
I look forward to continuing this important work towards fulfilling the mission of the Association. In this endeavour, I am joined by Cllr. Jason Murphy as Vice President and I look forward to working with him and the incoming Executive committee. I am confident that we will be steadfast in addressing the pressing challenges in local government, and in the next year our accomplishments will be many. As we head towards the milestone of 125 years of Local Government in Ireland, the AILG and its predecessor associations have worked tirelessly to develop, support, and give a voice to Ireland’s Local Authority Elected Members, helping them to respond to massive changes and challenges that have taken place in local government.
As Councillors, we have a long history and involvement in local government and I have great respect for the contribution of the elected members in our democratic local government system. I will continue to ensure that the voice of the Councillor remains to the forefront on local government issues at all times.”