Council of European Municipalities and Regions (CEMR)
European section of United Cities and Local Governments


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Climate and energy transition

Weekly Focus - 06.05.2011

How Irish local authorities fought the cold and snowfall
Irish local authorities played a crucial role in dealing with the prolonged cold and unusually heavy snowfall that occurred in December 2010, thanks to their individual emergency response plans and to their.taking the lead in the national multi-agency response within each county.
 
The National Emergency Coordination Committee (NECC), which orchestrated the national multi-agency response, had three primary objectives during the weather-induced crisis: (1) using a multi-level governance approach to tackle the consequences of the severe weather conditions, (2) keeping the primary road network open and ensuring that public transport continue functioning, and (3) providing the public with accurate and up-to-date information.
 
These objectives were primarily implemented by local authorities, which mobilised close to 20 000 local authority workers who toiled to keep the roads open. Local governments in Ireland are responsibility for nearly 5 500 kilometres of national primary and secondary roads, and while these only represent 6% of the total road network, they account for 45% of all traffic and are key inter-city routes for business, work and social travel.
 
Moreover, local authorities communicated to the public using social networking sites such as Twitter and their own government websites so as to provide timely and relevant information on road conditions and water supply. This notably allowed for local authority staff to free-up their focus and respond to the crisis in a more effective and efficient way.
 
Local authorities in Ireland and CEMR
 
The Council of European Municipalities and Regions (CEMR) has two associate member organisations in Ireland: the Institute of Public Administration (IPA) and the Local Government Management Agency (LGMA).
 
IPA is an Irish national centre specialised in the development of best practices in public administration and management and is headed by a director general, Brian Cawley. It provides education and training for civil servants, a consultancy service specialised in public sector development and a centre for research on public service administration and management.
 
Indeed, IPA aims at helping administrations perform to their maximum capability by identifying problems, developing approaches and achieving well-informed solutions to best tackle these issues.
 
Headed by Paul McSweeney, the chief executive officer designate, LGMA is the product of the Local Government Management Services Board (LGMSB) merging with the Local Government Computer Services Board (LGCSB).
 
Once officially launched, LGMA will be a national centre for the provision and coordination of a range of services and support required by local authorities in staff negotiations, human resources and other such management services.
 
LGMA and IPA work together to identify emerging training requirements in the local authority sector so as to develop and implement training courses that correspond to the sector's requirements.
 
Local and regional government in Ireland
 
Ireland is a unitary state composed of 80 municipalities (boroughs and towns), five cities, 29 counties and eight regions.
 
 
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