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Staff Profiles

Dr. Mark Callanan, BA (UCD), MA (Bruges), PhD (UCC)

Position: Public Policy Specialist
Email: mcallanan@ipa.ie
Telephone: 240 3632

Mark is responsible for providing a range of services to local authorities and central government. This includes delivery of the European Information Service to local government, a tailored consultancy service designed to keep local authorities informed on the latest EU developments in legislation and funding opportunities. Mark is also involved in the IPA’s Certificate in Local Government Studies and Diploma in Local Government Studies, a lecturer on the IPA’s BA in Public Management, co-editor of the standard text on Irish local government, entitled Local Government in Ireland: Inside Out, and editor of a quarterly newsletter Local Authority Times. He recently conducted a national review of the operation of Strategic Policy Committees in local government, and drafted a handbook on local government for newly elected members, published by the DEHLG following the 2004 local elections. He is a frequent speaker at conferences on local government matters, and has published widely on both EU and local government matters.

Mark is a member of the high-level Local Government Customer Services Group, set up by the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government in May 2003, containing representatives from the DEHLG, local councillors, county and city managers, directors of service, the LGMSB, and the IPA, to examine a number of issues related to local government, including service indicators, corporate planning, customer surveys and complaints and redress systems. Part of Mark’s contribution to the Group has involved undertaking research into best practice in both Ireland and abroad in these areas. To date, the Group has produced a number of important documents: Delivering Value for People: Service Indicators in Local Authorities; guidelines for local authorities in the preparation of corporate plans; guidelines for local authorities on internal complaints systems; and guidelines for local authorities on consulting customers on service delivery.

In 2000, Mark drafted a Procedures Manual on the implementation and administration of EU Structural and Cohesion Funds in Ireland for the Department of Finance, which details the role of public agencies (Government Departments, regional assemblies, local authorities and state agencies) in the 2000-2006 National Development Plan, and covers arrangements for monitoring and evaluation, payment and drawdown of Structural Funds, financial control and auditing, information and publicity requirements, and requirements specific to Cohesion Fund projects. In 2004, he completed a report on Ireland’s experience on managing the EU Cohesion Fund for the Department of Finance. Mark has also designed and run a training course for civil servants participating in EU Council of Ministers working group meetings in Brussels, which involves a simulation of a working group meeting. This course, designed to give an insight into the practical difficulties of such meetings, has been held a number of times in Ireland, as well as for civil servants in each of the ten new member states of the EU.

Since 2005, Mark has been working on a futures project for the public service. This project is examining trends and drivers of change within the public services over the coming years. This involves analysing some of the challenges for public service providers on the horizon, and assessing how ready the public service is to cope with different eventualities. Ultimately, the project is aimed at provoking thinking about long-term trends, including demographic, societal, economic, technological, environmental, and workplace trends, and how these may impact on public service provision.

List of previous work done

Prior to joining the IPA in 1997, Mark worked for Deloitte & Touche in Brussels, and worked on a number of feasibility studies and programme evaluations for the European Commission.

List of publications/reports

Publications:
  • Local Government in Ireland: Inside Out, Dublin: Institute of Public Administration, 2003 (co-editor and contributor)
  • The Local Government Act 2001, Dublin: Thompson Round Hall, 2002
  • “Institutionalizing Participation and Governance: New Participative Structures in Local Government in Ireland”, in Public Administration, vol. 83, no. 4
  • “Motives for Measuring Local Government Services: Own Initiative or Top Down?”, in H. Reynaert, K. Steyvers, P. Delwit, and J.-B. Pilet (eds.) Revolution or Renovation?: Reforming Local Politics in Europe, Brugge: Vanden Broele, 2005
  • “Local and Regional Government in Transition”, in N. Collins and T. Cradden (eds.) Political Issues in Ireland Today, Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2004
  • “Managing Multiple Relationships and Demands: Trends and Developments in Local Government Management Abroad”, in Administration, vol. 54, nos. 1 and 2, 2006
  • “The Mayoralty in the Republic of Ireland”, in J. Garrard (ed.) Heads of the Local State, Past and Present, Ashgate, (forthcoming, with M. MacCarthaigh)
  • “Recycling the Local State: Continuity and Adaptation in Irish Local Government”, in K. Hayward and M. MacCarthaigh (eds.) Recycling the State, IEP, (forthcoming)
  • “Municipal Reforms in Ireland”, in B. Dollery, J. Garcea, and E. LeSage (eds.) Comparative Municipal Reforms, Edward Elgar Publishing, (forthcoming, with M. MacCarthaigh)
  • “The White Paper on Governance: The Challenge for Central and Local Government”, in Administration, vol. 50, no. 1, 2002
  • Local Government and the Elected Member, Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, 2004 (researcher and drafter of handbook for new Councillors)

Reports:

  • Service Indicators in Local Authorities, Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, 2004 (researcher and drafter of report)
  • Procedures Manual on the Implementation and Administration of EU Structural and Cohesion Funds in Ireland, Department of Finance, 2000
  • The Cohesion Fund in Ireland, Department of Finance, 2004
  • Guidelines for Local Authorities in the Preparation of Corporate Plans for 2004-2009, Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, 2004 (researcher and drafter of report)
  • Review of the Operation of Strategic Policy Committees in Local Government, Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, 2004 (review of new participative structures in local government, including recommendations)
  • Customer Consultation: Guidelines for Local Authorities, Local Government Customer Service Group, Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, 2005 (researcher and drafter of report)
  • Customer Complaints: Guidelines for Local Authorities, Local Government Customer Service Group, Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, 2005 (researcher and drafter of report)
  • Towards Sustainable Local Communities: Guidelines on Local Agenda 21, Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, 2001 (co-contributor)
  • Local Authority Times, Institute of Public Administration (editor and various contributions)
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57-61 Lansdowne Road
Ballsbridge, Dublin 4
Tel: +353 1 240 3600
Fax: +353 1 668 9135

Vergemount Hall,
Clonskeagh, Dublin 4
Tel: +353 1 240 3600
Fax: +353 1 269 8644

Registration no: 21087