MAYOR John Moran was quizzed by councillors on whether he instigated a motion of no confidence against Príomh Chomhairleoir of Limerick City and County Council, Cllr Catherine Slattery.
The Fianna Fáil woman said at last week’s adjourned mayoral fund meeting that she has worked hard to put Limerick first, and has made attempts to work with the directly-elected Mayor.
However, Cllr Slattery claimed her efforts have proven “futile”.
“I have felt bullied, intimidated, and harassed by you,” she told Mayor Moran.
“Is this because I’m a woman? Can I ask you Mayor, am I the only one within the organisation who has made a complaint about you with the HR department of the Council?” she asked.
The City East representative also wanted to know whether the first citizen made calls seeking support for a vote of no confidence in her as the Príomh Chomhairleoir.
The Mayor said the first he had heard about the motion was through a request from a journalist.
“You can ask the journalist where he got the information if you wish,” he replied.
Fine Gael councillor John Sheahan took the view that someone was “lying” in the chamber, pledging he was going to find out in the public interest who it was. Cllr Sheahan warned the Mayor that he needed to be very clear on the issue.
“I have told you the first I heard that somebody was contemplating a motion of no confidence was from a journalist when I was asked whether I would like to comment,” he told Cllr Sheahan.
The Mayor told Cllr Slattery: “You accused me of not showing you respect. I think you should reflect on that email and the treatment you had in that email. With all respect, I represent everybody in Limerick and you are the Príomh Chomhairleoir in this chamber, you represent all the councillors in this chamber.”
“If I receive an email from somebody with a sentiment that maybe I don’t appreciate, I know how I would respond. When I saw an email to you in respect to this, I saw how you responded.”
Cllr Slattery confirmed to the chamber that the email the Mayor was referring to was “sent around” from a councillor not in the chamber at the time.
“She’s online,” Independent councillor Ursula Gavan commented.
Fianna Fáil councillor Michael Collins wanted to know “she” was.
“Can I ask whoever ‘she’ is online that instigated that, maybe she might like to answer the question,” Cllr Collins suggested.
Former Labour councillor Elena Secas, who resigned from the party this past week, said she sent an email to councillors, the Mayor, and the director general Dr Pat Daly as a general plea to come together and try and find common ground on their problems.
“I got only a couple of responses to that email, one of them which came from the Príomh Chomhairleoir left me speechless,” Cllr Secas said.
Cllr Collins still wasn’t finished with Mayor Moran, asking about who allegedly tried to orchestrate the motion of no confidence in Cllr Slattery.
He told Cllr Gavan to be “truthful and fair” to the Council and tell them who she was referring to and “let the person own up”.
Cllr Secas, Cllr Gavan told Cllr Collins, was not trying to orchestrate a vote of no confidence.
“She wasn’t happy with the tone of the email sent to her and I think somebody behind the scenes went behind her back to address it,” Cllr Gavan claimed.
Later in the meeting, Cllr Slattery told Cllr Secas that she did not at any time consider her the instigator of the alleged vote.
– Local Democracy Reporting Scheme