WHO’S the boss in Limerick City and County Council? Don’t ask me, I’m no wiser than most.
The impression was given from top Council brass in recent weeks that they aren’t all playing from the one dugout.
Even Mayor John Moran and Director General Dr Pat Daly didn’t seem to know who was in charge when it was put to them at the recent full Council meeting.
The question of “Who’s the gaffer?” rang through the chamber halls. An excellent question.
- External Walls: Up to €8,000 Grant
- Attic: Up to €1,500 Grant
- Cavity Walls: Up to €1,700 Grant
- Internal Dry Lining: Up to €4,500 Grant
We’re a good year and a half into the Council term and nobody seems any the wiser. Don’t panic though, they have a cunning plan.
You guessed it, they’re going to hold another behind-closed-doors meeting. Just don’t count on a cushty lunch break.
In fairness, Dr Daly – who made it clear at the recent meeting that he is definitely not Julius Caesar – is kept busy writing internal emails to staff members apologising for the royal proclamations in the media from Mayor Moran.
A private meeting should definitely get everyone back on the same page.
It certainly worked when they made poor JP McManus and the International Rugby Experience cohort appear before them to explain their rejection of the billionaire’s generous gift of the €30million International Rugby Experience (IRE).
But, of course, isn’t it better to have discussions for the people by the people without the people?
Never mind live streaming local authority meetings, just unlocking the door might be a start.
At the very least, I hope Fianna Fáil’s Kieran O’Hanlon is in better form when they hold their behind-closed-doors powwow than he was last week.
“You have direct access to ministers, Mayor, we don’t. It would be nice to know we’re getting results as a result of having a directly-elected Mayor,” Cllr O’Hanlon hit out.
Fine Gael councillor John Sheahan appeared to be almost as fed up of the carry on in the Council chamber as he is of the Limerick Post reporting on it, telling the recent full meeting that councillors are “getting slightly tired of opening the Post and it’s all about the ‘them and us’ in relation to the executive versus the Mayor and the councillors versus the Mayor, and I’m sick to my teeth of it. We’re facing an Armageddon crisis if this thing isn’t sorted.”
In the words of one Roman emperor, “in the end, it is impossible not to become what others believe you are”.
– Local Democracy Reporting Scheme