*Staff and elected members of Clare County Council were briefed of the changes on Monday.
STRUCTURAL CHANGES to Clare County Council will put a stronger focus on housing delivery and activation with rural development no longer a standalone directorate.
Chief Executive of Clare County Council, Gordon Daly’s plans for a new structure of the local authority were unveiled to staff shortly after 10:30 on Monday morning with elected members briefed on the plans at 2pm on Monday afternoon.
As first reported by The Clare Echo, Daly is putting a renewed focus on housing which is resulting in the creation of directorates specifically for housing and planning.
Daly’s successor Pat Dowling had organised Clare County Council into six directorates, Economic Development, Finance and Support Services, Physical Development, Rural Development, Social Development and Tourism Development.
While six directorates will remain, the structural changes see mergers. Economic and Rural Development will merge into the one directorate which becomes Planning, Economic, Rural & Community Development, this will be led by Jason Murphy. He had been the Director of Social Development and will also be responsible for the Ennis Municipal District. Falling under this bracket is the Ennis 2040 DAC where Padraic McElwee continues as interim Chief Operating Officer. Leonore O’Neill leads the Rural and Community Development section with seven members, Joan Tarmey is responsible for Town Centre first while Seán Lenihan remains in the Ennis MD as senior engineer.
Social Development has been disbanded with its functions of housing, estate management, Ukrainian Services, and sports and recreation services moving to different units.
Housing Delivery, Infrastructure Provision & Land Activation is a brand new directorate which will be headed up by Alan Farrell. This directorate will include Capital Infrastructure Delivery which was formerly the Project Management Office. Senior engineer Adrian Headd will lead the new housing delivery section of this directorate assisted by a team of five engineers. Derelict sites fall under the land activation aspect with senior executive officer Carmel Greene and Anne Griffin responsible here.
Physical Development becomes Transportation, Climate Action, Recreation, Environmental & Emergency Services. Former interim Chief Executive Carmel Kirby will head up this Directorate and moves from the Ennis MD to the West Clare MD as part of the change. Pillars of this unit include transport, mobility, health and safety led by senior engineer Cyril Feeney, climate action, environment and water services led by Paddy Tiernan who also moves out of the Ennis MD, Fire Service, Building Control and Major Emergency Management led by Chief Fire Officer Adrian Kelly. Both the Ennistymon LEA and Kilrush LEA also fall under this Directorate where Eoin Troy and John O’Malley remain as senior executive officers.
Tourism’s directorate has been rebranded to Tourism, Festivals, Libraries & Cultural Services where Siobhán McNulty remains as Director of Service. She moves from the Ennistymon LEA to the Killaloe MD as part of the change. Geraldine O’Rourke is the Acting COO of the Clare Tourism Development DAC which has experienced change with the exits of Stephen Hanley and Eoin Flanagan in recent weeks. Tourism Officer, Deirdre O’Shea heads up the tourism, festivals and events section with County Librarian Helen Walsh fronting Libraries, Arts and Cultural Services.
Noeleen Fitzgerald remains as the Director of Service for finance but takes on responsibility for the Shannon Municipal District. The directorate is now Finance, Investment & Enterprise instead of Finance and Support Services with many services from the Economic Development added to this portfolio. Fitzgerald’s colleagues in finance continue in their posts, Enteprise and Investment will be headed up by Bernie Haugh, Head of ICT Urban McMahon leads Digital Transformation with Suzie Clifford and Tom Mellett remaining as SEO and senior executive engineer in the Shannon MD.
People & Culture, Corporate Services, Governance, ICT & Digital Services is the final directorate and is headed up by Director of Service, Ann Reynolds who had been responsible for Rural Development and the Killaloe MD. Monica Meehan, John Corry and Alfie Jones lead the various units of this section.
Strategic policy committees are expected to remain unchanged despite the structural overhaul.
