With three days to go to polling, the lack of debate and sheer depth of ignorance about the referendum to give constitutional recognition to local government should be a cause of concern to its political promoters. But political leaders are far more preoccupied with the outcome of the vote for their parties in the European and local elections. The Twentieth Amendment of the Constitution Bill 1999, which voters will be asked to approve or reject on a third green ballot paper on Friday, may not satisfy the appetite of those who customarily enjoy the blood sport of politics; but the careless way in which it has been presented to voters should not take away from its fundamental importance.
This amendment proposes to insert a new Article 28 (a) into the Constitution, obliging the State to recognise the role of local government 100 years after its establishment. The five-part amendment also guarantees that local elections shall be held at least every five years, rather than at the whim of the Government-of-the-day. Though elections are supposed to be held every five years, the current combination of law and Ministerial direction has led to their postponement on a regular basis. The last local elections were held eight years ago in 1991. Over the past twenty years, in fact, local elections were held only in 1979, 1985, 1991 and 1999.
Notwithstanding the Government's cavalier attitude to the referendum, there are some compelling reasons why voters should approve this amendment. Apart from the President and the Dail, which are provided for in the Constitution, local government is the only other democratic institution elected by direct vote of all the people. The recognition of its role and status has been recommended by various reports over the years, including the Barrington Report, the Constitution Review Group, the All-Party Committee on the Constitution, and the recent reports on local government by the Chambers of Commerce of Ireland and the Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Environment and Local Government.
The Constitution Review Group, in its report in 1996, found that rights to local self-government are constitutionally recognised in most western European countries, including Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Spain, Portugal, Sweden and Switzerland. With the exception of the United Kingdom, Ireland has the largest local authorities in western Europe in terms of average population per local authority area.
The proponents of this referendum argue that local government in Ireland has suffered as a result of its lack of constitutional protection. The Government's repeated postponement of local elections over the last twenty years and the abolition of the main source of local government revenue, domestic rates, during a general election campaign are good examples. Opponents of the amendment fear that the constitutional recognition of local government, which appears general and worthy, could possibly be interpreted by the courts as preventing central government from exercising reasonable and desirable controls over local authorities in such areas as finance and misconduct. It will not, apparently, change the system whereby casual vacancies are filled by co-option rather than bye-election. But, these issues have not been debated during the campaign.
Despite the lack of public awareness about the amendment and the Referendum Commission's inability to fill that democratic void on this occasion, the electorate should vote "Yes" on Friday.