News & Views

Following a report of the Working Group on Citizens Engagement with Local Government which in 2014, local authorities were directed to establish Public Participation Networks (PPNs). This report recommended greater inputs and contributions by local communities into decision-making at local government level. Subsequently, the Local Government Reform Act 2014 created the basis for the formal establishment of PPNs which are now operational in all local authority areas in Ireland.  

This legal and statutory aspect of PPNs is most important, as it ensures that the PPN model of participatory democracy is enshrined in the legislation that directs the work of local authorities. Rather than being an optional extra, it is now mandatory that local authorities use PPNs to fill places reserved for the community and voluntary sector, environmental sector, and the social inclusion sector on structures such as the Strategic Policy Committees of local authorities in Ireland. 

• There are 31 PPNs in Ireland (one for each of the 31 County/City Councils in Ireland) 

• There are over 21,000 member groups affiliated to these PPNs  

• 4 of the 31 PPNs have over 1,000 member groups 

• It is estimated that there are more than 750,000 people involved in the PPN member groups across Ireland.  

The number of member groups at a national level has increased by over 20% in the last 4-5 years; this reflects groups’ growing interest in becoming more involved in a structure which provides a clear point of contact between their work on the ground and the local authority for their area. PPNs also provide opportunities for the PPN member groups within local authority areas to come together to discuss issues of common interest and concern and to decide priority matters to be raised with local authorities and other relevant agencies; the PPN Plenary meetings which generally take place twice every year and at other PPN run events are a perfect example of this. Through this process, PPNs generate a greater sense of solidarity and connection between the hundreds (and, in some cases, thousands) of community-based groups affiliated with individual PPNs. 

The primary purpose of PPNs lies in participation and representation, enabling PPN member groups to be heard and to impact the formal decision-making structures of local authorities. The PPN is now the main way that local authorities connect with groups active in their area. When a local authority needs people to participate in consultations or sit on committees such as Strategic Policy Committees (SPCs) and Local Community Development Committees it is obliged to call on the PPN to select representatives from within its membership to sit on these committees. PPNs provide facilitate the two-way flow of information between the local authority and their member groups to influence policy development and the delivery of services to the wider community.  

Across Ireland, there are currently 378 PPN Representatives sitting on SPCs, which are the main subcommittees of local authorities and are concerned with matters like housing, planning, climate action, transport, and economic development. This is quite an achievement with an average of 12-13 PPN Representative members from the community and voluntary sector, environmental sector, and social inclusion sector within the SPCs of the 31 local authorities. 

In addition to their participation and representation role there are also three other significant functions undertaken by PPNs:  

1. Networking and information sharing – PPNs bring together groups in their area around issues of common interest and concern and by producing regular newsletters on matters of interest to PPN member groups, like funding and developmental opportunities, forthcoming events, and so forth. 
2. Training and capacity building – PPNs provide training opportunities relating to the roles and responsibilities of PPN Representatives on SPCs and PPN Secretariats, as well as other topics in which PPN members require training and support; this training often delivered in conjunction with organisations like The Wheel, Social Justice Ireland, and the Carmichael Centre.  
3. Consultation and community engagement – PPNs are an ideal way to facilitate consulatation and engagement; there is growing evidence that their collective membership of over 21,000 member groups is increasingly used to consult with the nonprofit sector in Ireland on a range of different issues. 

PPNs are funded through a combination of central Government funding via the Department of Rural and Community Development, and funding received from local authorities. The allocation from DRCD to each PPN in 2025 is €100,540 and the local authorities contribute a further €30,000 per annum in their local authority area.

Local authorities also sometimes provide office space to PPNs. Of the 31 PPNs: 

• 19 are hosted by local authorities 

• 8 by community-based organisations (such as Local Development Companies)  

• 4 by independent PPN companies.  

Each PPN is independent and, while PPN host-organisations employ PPN workers, it is the PPN Plenary (the collective of PPN member-groups within individual PPNs) and the PPN Secretariat (who look after the affairs of the PPN between PPN Plenary meetings) who are responsible for decision making and work planning within each PPN. Each PPN has two paid workers: a PPN Co-ordinator and a PPN Administrator. 

When they are working well, PPNs are an excellent model for participatory democracy. Ireland is very fortunate in having these particularly clear links and points-of-contact between local government and civic society. As time goes on it has becom clear that PPNs, with their large number of member groups, are an ideal mechanism for civic society to be represented within other forums and inter-agency structures.  

In addition to the SPCs (Strategic Policy Committees) of local authorities, PPNs also function as the mechanism for the representation of civic society and community-based groups within bodies such as Local Community Safety Partnerships (previously Joint Policing Committees), Local Sports Partnerships, Local Development Companies, County Childcare Committees, and Local Link transport companies. In addition to strengthening their role within PPN areas in the Republic of Ireland, PPNs also maintain that this model of participatory democracy has strong potential for transferral to other countries and jurisdictions.  

PPNs would be interested in exploring the extension of the PPN model into Northern Ireland where there is currently no mechanism for civic society to be statutorily involved in local government. As well as the benefits to participatory democracy which accompanies this representation on local authority committees, the establishment of PPN-type structures in Northern Ireland could have significant cross-community and reconciliation benefits; it would bring together groups and individuals from different ethnic and religious backgrounds within District/City Council areas in Northern Ireland.  

PPNs in the Republic of Ireland are ready and willing to work with colleagues in Northern Ireland to explore ways in which participatory and deliberative democracy and the involvement of civic society in decision making structures can become more of a reality in Northern Ireland.