Clare County Council shortlisted for Chambers Ireland Awards

ENNIS, Ireland - Aug. 18, 2014 - PRLog -- Two Clare County Council projects have been shortlisted for Excellence in Local Government Awards.

"Ennis 2020 - Planning Beyond" and "Management of Risk: An opportunity for continuous Improvement" have been nominated in the ‘Best Practice in Citizen Engagement’ and ‘Local Authority Innovation' categories respectively.

Ennis 2020 is a partnership initiative between Ennis Town Council and the Department of Politics and Public Administration / UL Practicum at the University of Limerick. The main objective of the project has been to support the development of a participatory plan for Ennis as a hub town in line with the National Spatial Strategy. The project has facilitated residents and other users of Ennis to contribute their thinking on the future of the town and its hinterland.

"Management of Risk: An opportunity for continuous Improvement" comprises an Occupational Health & Safety Management System and an Enterprise Risk Management Framework, both aimed at identifying risk in the organisation and putting in place appropriate mitigation measures in order to maintain the highest standards of health and safety and risk management throughout the Council's operations. The nomination follows a number of months after Clare County Council received the overall Local Authority Award at the NISO National Safety Awards 2013 as well as being presented with the OHSAS 18001 standard by the National Standards Authority of Ireland (NSAI) earlier this year.

The Chambers Ireland Excellence in Local Government Awards are held in association with the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government and sponsored by AECOM, EirGrid, The European Recycling Platform, Fáilte Ireland and Tipperary Crystal.  There will be a total of 13 awards presented across a variety of categories including: Supporting Active Communities; Local Authority Innovation; Health & Wellbeing and Local Authority Economic Efficiencies. A special award will also be presented for Local Authority of the Year.

Announcing the shortlist, Ian Talbot, Chief Executive, Chambers Ireland said, “Local Authorities have undergone significant changes in recent years but one constant is the standard of work being carried out across the country on a daily basis. We are proud to host these awards to recognise best practice in Local Government and I would like to congratulate everyone who applied and, in particular, those on the shortlist.”

The Awards will take place on Thursday 13th November in the Ballsbridge Hotel, Dublin.