by Sarah Coleman and Alan Jacques
PRÍOMH Chomhairleoir and Fianna Fáil Cllr Catherine Slattery says she has resigned from a mayoral implementation committee, which helps review progress and ensure the delivery of the mayoral programme.
The resignation is the latest in a series of clashes and incidents within the chamber and halls of Limerick City and County Council which another councillor has said “wouldn’t be acceptable in a créche”.
The comments came after an abrupt early end was brought to the March full meeting of the Council on Monday.
During the full meeting, Cllr Slattery unexpectedly left Council chambers citing comments she alleged the Mayor made towards her.
These alleged comments were in relation to the implementation committee Cllr Slattery has now resigned from, and the attendance of members at those meetings.
Upon her return to the meeting after a number of adjournments on Monday evening, she asked the Mayor before the chamber to repeat his alleged comments, which she said “made me feel disrespected and demeaned to an extent that I had to abandon my role as Príomh Chomhairleoir and leave the chamber”.
“To proceed with this meeting, I want you to apologise and withdraw your comment,” she said.
In response, the Mayor suggested that the meeting be adjourned, saying he did not want “accusations going out into the public domain about me or meetings that I chair”, refuting the comments as “unsubstantiated”.
Speaking to reporters earlier this week, the Mayor said: “If there’s any complaint, I’m not aware of it, it hasn’t been brought to my attention by the HR team here in the office.”
The Mayor has since told the Limerick Post that, following advice by the council’s Ethics Officer, “I should not be breaching the confidentiality of any complaint raised against or by me to the Ethics Registrar. I expect others setting standards in public office to fully respect that too.”
“Words matter,” the Mayor added. “Reputations are at stake here and it is only appropriate for all stakeholders to be giving fully accurate accounts of what has been happening.”
Regarding her decision to resign from the committee, the Príomh Chomhairleoir claimed that “anything that happened” within the implementation committee meetings “was confidential anyway, so my presence wasn’t required because I couldn’t speak to my colleagues about what was spoken about in that room, or his implementation plan, or his advisory group or anything like that.”
“I was wasting a full day when I work full time and when I had plenty of things to be doing for constituents sitting in a room that my opinion wasn’t wanted”.
“People hearing this might think I overreacted,” Cllr Slattery added, but “with everything that’s gone since I was elected, it all just came to a head for me, and that’s why I got upset and walked out of the meeting.”
The Fianna Fáil councillor spoke of her difficult relationship with Limerick’s first citizen, going as far as to say: “I voted for the man, but I’m sorry I did now.”
Despite the challenges Cllr Slattery says she has faced, she is keen to emphasise that she is continuing to work for her community and constituents.
When asked how the Mayor and counsellors now move forward, she suggested the issue is not for elected representatives to resolve.
She claimed that: “I’m only a mere counsellor, he’s the Mayor of Limerick, so leave him sort that out.”
“I am made of strong stuff but there’s only so much picking away at a person that you can do, he has done that to me,” she claims.
“Now I’m still going strong, and I’ll still run for election next time, and hopefully I’m elected.