Fingal County Council’s ‘Our Balbriggan’ project was recently short-listed for a top European award by The Innovation in Politics Institute, a Vienna-based organisation which works on a nonpartisan, pan-European level to enable politicians from different countries to share best practice, to network and to build bridges.The ‘Our Balbriggan’ project was one of 10 finalists in the Democracy category which honours political work that increases participation of citizens in opinion forming and decision making. The other finalists are from Ukraine (2), Poland (2), Lithuania, Belgium, Switzerland, France and Italy. The winners this year were CSO Anti Corription Headquarters in Ukraine who established the first digital tool to monitor the funds allocated from the national budget for local repairs, across all of the Ukraine.The Our Balbriggan project saw 25% of the town’s population involved in the consultation process which led to the publication of the Our Balbriggan Rejuvenation Plan and a commitment to delivering 93 action items with the aim of creating a vibrant, inspiring place, where residents to want to live, relax, and work.The Innovation in Politics Awards are for the best political projects from across Europe and there are nine categories with the winners being selected by a jury of more than 1,000 European citizens who award their points in an online evaluation procedure that marks each project on its levels of innovation, participation and sustainability. The winners in each category will be announced on December 3.The ‘Our Balbriggan’ project was nominated for the Innovation in Politics Awards by local councillors, Cllr Grainne Maguire and Cllr Tony Murphy, both of whom are members of the Balbriggan Leadership Group which has been charged with developing a long-term socio-economic strategy for the town.They, along with Cllr Séana Ó Rodaigh, Cllr Tom O’Leary and Cllr Karen Power, represent the Balbriggan Electoral Area on Fingal County Council. In 2019 the Our Balbriggan project won an Excellence in Local Government Award for Best Practice in Citizen Engagement and an Excellence in Public Relations Award for Best Public Sector Campaign.Please note the photos were taken prior to the introduction of Covd-19 restrictions.