About Us
Who are the Sligo PPN?
Sligo Public Participation Network was founded in 2014 through the Local Government Act. It allows communities within County Sligo to participate in policies and decision-making.
The Sligo PPN is a network of community, voluntary, social inclusion, and environmental groups that based in County Sligo. Our members are people who volunteer or work in the community. The Sligo PPN has more than 500 member groups and includes community-based groups, organisations, associations, clubs, societies, and charities.
The PPN is the main way that Sligo County Council and other Local Authorities connect with these groups.
Whenever the Local Authorities needs people to participate in consultations or policy-making decisions, they ask the PPN to select these people these people by holding elections amongst its PPN community representatives.
The Role of the Sligo PPN
- To facilitate and contribute opportunities for networking, communication, and information sharing.
- To coordinate and support the representation of the community, voluntary, social inclusion and environmental sectors in local decision making.
- To provide a link between the Local Authority and Community groups to promote better consultation and engagement.
- To acknowledge and promote the contribution the community, voluntary, social inclusion and environmental groups make to society.
- To support individual members of the PPN to develop their capacity to do their own work and participate effectively in the activities of the PPN.
- To provide opportunities for registered groups to raise issues for their community.
- To improve democracy through the promotion and development of deliberative and participatory democracy.
Structure
The Plenary
The Plenary is made up of all the independent member groups of the Sligo PPN. They meet twice a year to review the operations of the PPN and establish the agenda for the upcoming period. It is the main decision-making body of the PPN. Each member group has voting rights in the Plenary. Together they approve PPN representatives and policies.
The Secretariat
The Secretariat is elected by the PPN members. It is an administrative body and its roles include:
- Overseeing the day-to-day operations of the PPN
- Ensuring that the decisions taken by the Plenary are carried out
- Acting as a point of contact for the PPN for the Local Authority, other PPNs, and others
- Communicating with all PPN members regularly and working to spread the word about all PPN events.
It is made up of a representative from each of the three Municipal Districts in Sligo (Sligo – Drumcliff, Borough of Sligo and Ballymote, and Tubbercurry) and at least two representatives from each of the Colleges (Environmental, Social Inclusion, Community and Voluntary).
The PPN Representatives
The PPN Member Groups elect PPN Representatives to participate in and make contributions to Local Authority Boards or Committee. They are elected for a fixed term and are required to represent the views of their College (Environmental, Social Inclusion, Community and Voluntary). In doing this, they represent the PPN as a whole, their own Municipal District/area, their College, and their group.
The Member Groups
All member groups belong to the Sligo PPN, which is organised into three Colleges: Community & Voluntary, Social Inclusion, and Environmental.
Community & Voluntary
For organisations who want to improve the quality of life and overall wellbeing of their community
Social Inclusion
For organisations who work to promote equality, inclusion, and human rights for groups such as ethnic minorities, older adults, and people with a disability.
Environmental
For organisations that aim to protect or sustain the environment through environmental eduction, protecting wildlife, and sustainable planning
Resource & Support Workers
Our PPN staff support all the Member Groups, PPN Representatives, the PPN Secretariat. Additionally, they promote the PPN and help to develop the Strategic Plan.
Governance Documents
Sligo PPN is governed by a series of policies and procedures to ensure we operate in a fair and transparent way on behalf of the Sligo Community. Our Governance documents can be found here.