LOCAL authorities have not generally been proactive or entrepreneurial in local economic development, according to Ms Carmel Coyle, director of the centre of education at the National College of Industrial Relations.
She was one of the speakers at a weekend European Inter regional Co operation and Development conference in Limerick, sponsored by the EU.
It was the first time that senior EU officials had come to Ireland to discuss the future of structural funding directly with local representatives and other development bodies.
Ms Coyle, a former civil servant and academic, said that a survey this year had shown that 82 per cent of local authorities had not undertaken any analysis of local industry or business in the context of developments taking place in the EU. "The same survey", she added, "highlighted the low level of co operation between the local authorities and local trade, industry or educational agencies. Only 22 per cent of them indicated that there had be en any co operation with such bodies."
Mr Tom O'Donnell, former MEP and chairman of the Shannon based Centre for International Co operation, which was joint director of the conference, said that Limerick County Council and Shannon Development had been actively involved in inter regional co operation for some years.
Mr Guy Durant, Head of the EC Regional Policy and Cohesion Section, said the conference had produced valuable recommendations which would be taken into account and would influence the Commission's thinking on the future development of inter regional co operation on Europe.
The Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Mr Gay Mitchell, said that in common with communities all over Europe Ireland was afflicted with "this cancer of long term unemployment".
About 60 per cent of the unemployed in Ireland had been out of work for over a year.
Once the opportunity of a substantial job was offered to those most in need, "then a community is halfway towards winning the battle against the other social problems of our day - substance abuse, crime and social exclusion", he said.