AILG Executive Director Tommy Moylan travelled to Brussels last week for a series of strategic meetings with Irish Members of the European Parliament, representatives of the European Committee of the Regions (CoR), the Irish Regions Office, the Local Government Association (LGA) Brussels Office and other key European stakeholders. The visit formed part of AILG’s preparations in advance of Ireland’s forthcoming Presidency of the Council of the European Union and reflects the Association’s commitment to strengthening its engagement at European level on behalf of Ireland’s 949 elected local authority members.
The programme of meetings focused on positioning local government at the centre of European policy discussions and exploring new opportunities for collaboration in areas including local democracy, regional development, citizen engagement, governance, research, training and capacity-building. Particular emphasis was placed on the significant programme of local government reform currently underway in Ireland through the Local Democracy Taskforce and how AILG intends to further develop its policy, research and education functions to better support councillors in their increasingly complex leadership and governance roles. Discussions also explored opportunities for participation in European research networks, knowledge-sharing initiatives and EU funding programmes that could support future AILG projects and strengthen local government capacity in Ireland.
The visit also provided an important opportunity to reinforce AILG’s growing international partnerships, including its work through the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe, the Committee of the Regions, the Irish Regions Office in Brussels, the Association’s strategic partnership with Maynooth University and ICLRD, and its expanding collaboration with NILGA and the wider UK local government family through the UK Local Government Forum. AILG looks forward to building on the strong relationships developed during the visit and working closely with European partners throughout Ireland’s EU Presidency to ensure that the voice of Irish local government is represented in discussions on the future of local democracy, subsidiarity and multi-level governance across Europe.
