Decentralisation - A serial election gimmick

Fianna Fáil’s decentralisation plans are probably the longest-running saga in Irish politics.

The Jack Lynch Government first announced plans for decentralisation in the 1960s.

As minister for finance, Charlie McCreevy announced the current round of decentralisation in the budget of December 1999. Some 10,300 civil servants were to be transferred from Dublin, but the locations to which they would be moved were not announced initially, leading to some shameless politicking.