Congress of Local and Regional Authorities
In October last year I was selected as a substitute member for Ireland for the Congress of Local and Regional Authorites, in Strasbourg. Ireland has four full members who are delegates to Congress and on the 24th March, I was invited to replace a full member who couldn’t attend the 28th Session (24 to 26 March).
The 28th session included debates on the response of local and regional authorities to migration flows, in the presence of Mayors of Lampedusa (Italy), Calais (France) and Siirt (Turkey). It also held debates on the ‘responses to radicalism in Europe’s cities and regions: fighting terrorism, anti-Semitism, Islamophobia and hate speech’ and ‘Cities and towns against terrorism’ with the participation of the Mayor of Kobane, Syria, Mustapha Abdi.
Congress members also discussed ‘The United Kingdom: prospects for devolution’, ‘Scotland in the aftermath of the 18 September 2014 referendum’ and ‘The regional dimension of the process of decentralisation in Ukraine’.
There were a number of reports debated for adoption also, including ‘Guaranteeing Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) people’s rights: a responsibility for Europe’s towns and cities’ and ‘Jewish cemeteries, the responsibility of local authorities’.
The session was also attended by 15 youth delegates, who were invited to take part in all the debates and meetings.
