MEETINGS

Members’ Meetings We provide a bi-monthly forum that is open to all Councillors to exchange information, share experiences, and voice their opinions and concerns. Delegates that have been nominated by their Council will receive meeting invitations and papers, but all Councillors are welcome to attend. Councillors that would like to join us should send an email request to office@nac-ni.org so that they can be added to the guest mailing list. Note - only officially nominated Council Delegates can vote, make decisions, or be elected on to the Executive Committee

Minutes of Meeting

The National Association of Councillors, Northern Ireland Region, Annual General Meeting 2019 took place on Friday 4 October 2019 at the Glenavon House Hotel in Cookstown. Following the elections in May the NAC Officers were delighted to welcome back the NAC Delegates that have retained their seats and also to welcome, for the first time, all newly elected NAC Delegates. Invited guests were also in attendance from: • National Association of Councillors UK • Northern Ireland Local Government Association (NILGA) • Association of Irish Local Government (AILG) • Local Authorities Members Association (LAMA) Our highly acclaimed guest speaker, ANDREA WINDERS of DISRUPTIEVE provided a dynamic presentation on the Regeneration of Towns and Villages. As an Urban Disruptor, Andrea shared her unique method for approaching failing areas, applying disruption, whether physical, digital or other, and she gave details of a live project in the UK. Andrea is available for discussions or meetings with councils and she can be contacted by email at andrea.winders@disruptieve.com

National Association of Councillors AGM 2019

L to R – Cllr Micheál Anglim LAMA, Cllr Brian Nelson NAC UK, Andrea Winders Disruptieve, Cllr Mick Cahill AILG, Ald Michael Henderson NAC NI, Cllr Frances Burton NILGA, Cllr Terry Shannon LAMA, Cllr Joe Boyle NAC NI

NAC AGM 2020 The Annual General Meeting of the National Association of Councillors took place on Friday 2 October 2020 at the Glenavon House Hotel in Cookstown. In line with the restrictions this year, the NAC Executive Committee decided not to invite guests from outside of the region, which included our colleagues from the NAC UK and representatives from our counterpart organisations in Southern Ireland, the AILG (Association of Irish Local Government) and LAMA (Local Authority Members Association). However, we have continued to keep in touch with officers from all these organisations over recent months and we will carry on with building upon the strong relationships that we have formed. We did have guests in attendance from the Northern Ireland Local Government Association (NILGA) and this included the NILGA Chief Executive, Mr Derek McCallan; Cllr Frances Burton, Office Bearer and Elected Member Development Chair and Ms Fiona Douglas, Regional Development Manager. See Gallery for pictures from this event.

NAC NI Annual General Meeting 2021 This event took place on Friday 15 October 2021 at the Glenavon Hotel in Cookstown with invited guests from NAC UK, NILGA, AILG and LAMA in attendance. An on-line message from the Communities Minister, Ms Dierdre Hargey, MLA was played to attendees and whilst Senator Mark Daly was unable to join us, he provided an interesting overview of his background and work at the Senate of Ireland. The new Executive Committee (EC) was formed with a change of Chair to Cllr Terry Andrews, Senior Vice Chair is now Ald Alan McDowell, Junior Vice Chair is now Cllr Valerie Harte, Women’s Representative is Cllr Hazel Legge, and Ald Michael Henderson has subsequently been retained as a Co- opted Committee Member, all other EC members remain unchanged. Full details of the NAC Executive Committee are available on the About Us page of our website. During the event Long Service Awards were presented to six councillors that have each served for over 32 years. Photographs taken on the day can be viewed on the Gallery Page of the NAC website. Click here for Minister Hargey’s address.

NAC UK Conferences Update - October 2021 The NAC UK’s first conference since February 2020 took place at the beginning of October 2021 in Carlisle. The NAC General Secretary, Cllr Brian Nelson welcomed the NAC NI Chair, Ald Tommy Sandford and the NAC National Vice Chair, Cllr Charlie Casey along with Cllr Terry Andrews and Cllr Robert Burgess of the NAC NI Executive Committee to the event, which examined the governments ‘levelling up’ agenda and the many challenges that will be faced when providing services in the post-covid era. The next conference and the National AGM will take place on 26 to 28 November 2021 in Lytham Saint Annes. The conference title is Environment/Climate Emergency.

NILGOSC Presentation – September 2021 The NAC Chair, Alderman Tommy Sandford and the NAC Secretary, Councillor Joe Boyle welcomed Ruth Benson from the NILGOSC to the NAC Members’ Meeting on 15 September 2021. Ruth delivered a very informative presentation and answered questions put forward by the NAC Members. A copy of the NILGOSC presentation can be viewed by clicking here

MEETINGS UPDATE DECEMBER 2021 In 2021 the NAC in NI completed their series of six scheduled Members’ Meetings. Due to the strict Covid-19 restrictions at the start of the year, the first three meetings in January, March and May were held by Zoom and in keeping with the NAC members preferences the following two in meetings in July and September were held in-person at hospitality venues in the Mid Ulster region being a central location for all. At these meetings it was noted that a hybrid format would allow members that are unable to travel to participate and subsequently the NAC’s final meeting for 2021 was held in the Armagh City Hotel with the functionality for members to join-in by Zoom. As we move forward into 2022, the NAC are unsure what the future will bring in terms of the pandemic, but dates have been set for the next series of meetings with a view to holding these in hybrid format.

Members’ Meeting 16 November 2022 Members’ Meeting 20 July 2022 Members’ Meeting 25 May 2022 Members’ Meeting 16 March 2022 Members’ Meeting 26 January 2022 Members’ Meeting 17 November 2021