All Things Ireland: Outcomes from COP-27

A Christmas gift for frustrated planners, on the 20th December the Office of the Planning Regulator published the second part of its review of An Bord Pleanála. Welcomed by the Irish Planning Institute, the report contains 23 recommendations ranging from organisational decision-making, communications, and governance arrangements of case files. Read the full report here!

With a proposed hotel room tax due before Dublin City Council’s Finance Committee this week, Minister for Enterprise Simon Coveney commented that any required legislation would entail appropriate assessment.

Cork City Council and the Cork LGBTI+ Inter-Agency Group hosted the Global Rainbow Cities Network Policy Conference from the 17th to 19th of January 2023, with 28 delegates from the 20 Rainbow Cities Network across the world in Cork.

‘Northwest in the City’, a Dublin-based event on February 9th, aims to promote the Northwest and spotlight the many positive transformational changes made in recent years. You can register here!

Creative Ireland are delighted to announce that applications are now open for the Creative Ireland Creative Economic Fund 2023. The Creative Communities Economic Action Fund 2023 seeks to continue the work undertaken in the first round of funding to develop creative economies at local level.

Regions in Focus 2023. Hosted by the Association of Irish Regions (AIR), this is the first Regional Seminar and Training Event and aims to explore the role of regions in navigating present and future challenges. Click here to register for the 2 day conference in Monaghan between February 7th-9th.

Westmeath County Council hosted a seminar aiming to increase the number and diversity of women in Irish local government. Find out more about the See her elected here.

The most important private collection of Irish history material in public hands, with over 100,000 items spanning 400 years, read more about how Mayo County Council exhibits the Jackie Clarke Collection.

Locals Encouraged To Drop Into Community Living Rooms. To help provide a network of friendly drop-in locations for people across north Dublin, Fingal County Council has today launched a pilot initiative at three key centres that will give a welcoming and comfortable environment where people can feel at ease and at home.

In a wide-ranging interview with the Irish Times, Dublin City Council chief executive Owen Keegan starts his final 9 months as Chief Executive with an intense focus on housing, outlining plans for the Council to acquire surplus land from institutional/religious groups, and rezone further land for housing. Read the full interview here!

Read the ICSH Social Housing Autumn/Winter 2022 newsletter, which includes coverage of our Biennial Finance & Development Conference 2022, the Building on Success: A Financial Roadmap for the AHB Sector publication.

Housing Finance Agency (HFA) is set to fund Mayo County Council to begin a pilot, in collaboration with housing solutions platform, Homebuyer’s Hero, aimed at turning some of Mayo’s 9,166 vacant properties back into homes. Starting with a pool of 30-50, you can read more about the pilot from the HFA here.

A further bundle of projects under the social housing Public Private Partnership (PPP) Programme is expected to deliver almost 600 new social homes across nine sites in Cork, Kildare, Monaghan, Sligo and Wicklow.

November 2022 Homelessness Report sheds light on the concentration of adults in emergency accommodation in the greater Dublin area.

Newly published, the Historic and Archaeological Heritage Bill 2023 modernises laws underpinning the protection of our archaeological heritage.

Two senior county council officials hammered home the impacts of climate change on Cork County’s roads, as rainfall in the last three months has had a severe impact on the condition of Cork’s 12 000km of roads.

Finally, according to an analysis from energy consultants Baringa, just over a third of Irish electricity was generated by wind last year, new data shows.

Annual results for Local Enterprise Offices (LEOs) for 2022 showed that LEO’s supported companies to create 7,870 new jobs in 2022, a 10% increase since 2021.

March 5th is the new deadline for whether Ministers will call a fresh election, as the Democratic Unionist party continues to block power-sharing at Stormont in protest at post-Brexit trading arrangements.

Belfast City Council launched a new consultation on whether the city needs a dedicated building for organisations representing the LGBTQIA+ community.

The Executive Office will receive the £10,500 tariff (£5,900 from 1 January 2023) and ‘thank you’ payments from DLUHC and will distribute this funding to Northern Irish councils.

With Dublin City Council recently establishing an Active Travel Network Office to deliver a programme of improved walking and cycle infrastructure across the city, this blog from Dublin City Architects explore the potentials of Active Travel infrastructure.