Report calls for major increase in regional autonomy throughout Ireland

The Dublin-Belfast “corridor” should be developed as a city region as part of a drive to devolve power into new regional authorities from central government, the Irish Cities 2070 group says.

The group, backed by the Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland and the Irish Academy of Engineering, argues that greater regional autonomy will be needed throughout the State as the population expands in coming decades.

The proposal includes new all-island structures that would see Dublin-Belfast organised on a regional basis, similar to Copenhagen-Malmö in Denmark, with a new body established to promote development of the corridor.

A draft paper for the 2070 group by architect James Pike says another option is to create a “strong, better-balanced” region in the northwest of the island, building on current cross-Border co-operation between councils in Donegal and Derry/Strabane.

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Such moves could be executed under the authority of the Dáil and Northern Assembly, the draft says. But local government structures in the North would require some realignment and cross-Border institutions would be reinforced to co-ordinate tax collection and infrastructure provision.

The 2070 group, a body of architects and planners, argues against high centralisation and weak local governance in the State’s administrative system, saying only 9 per cent of public spending is delivered locally in contrast to the 41 per cent OECD average. Such spending in Denmark, a country of similar size to Ireland, amounts to 65 per cent of the total.

At present the State’s three regional assemblies – for the Northern and Western, Eastern and Midlands, and Southern regions – are used to source EU regional funds and promote co-ordinated public services.

The 2070 group’s idea is to reorganise such bodies and fortify their powers to move away from loose, unwieldy structures which have too great a geographical spread and not enough powers to be effective.

‘Unfit for purpose’

David Browne, another architect in the 2070 group, says current regional structures are unfit for purpose, arguing that the status quo is not working.

“The reason behind these [new] regions is really from studying best practice across Europe, this is what makes their societies work better than ours is working,” he says.

“So we’re not coming from a political perspective at all. We’re just saying: ‘Look, this is how good governance works.’”

The Pike draft paper says regions should be “geographically coherent” and have populations of at least some 700,000.

“The ideal form of regional governance would be to follow the EU model with an elected assembly and a governor with executive powers, responsible for spending at least 40 per cent of all tax raised in the region,” the paper says.

“Right-sized regional authorities are needed to give them the ability to meet statutory duties and take on a wider range of powers.”

Services possible to administration in this way include primary health and social care, primary and secondary education, policing, infrastructure and planning – with the proportion of general taxation allocated to regions “closely related” to the rollout of functions.