TENSIONS BETWEEN county councillors in the Ennis Municipal District are reaching new heights.
Tuesday’s meeting of the Ennis MD had to be adjourned as the two-hour limit for a meeting under standing orders was met with councillors failing to get through the agenda as the bulk of the gathering was dominated with a debate on spending of the General Municipal Allocation (GMA).
A tetchy atmosphere has been evident at recent sittings of the Ennis MD with a divide emerging between those who have spoken out against plans for the Ennis 2040 Strategy and those who have opted to back the private company and management of Clare County Council.
In March, councillors voted on a margin of 4-3 in favour of proceeding with the construction of a temporary car park and the demolition of the cottages. Mayor of the Ennis MD, Cllr Clare Colleran Molloy (FF), Deputy Mayor, Cllr Mary Howard (FG), Cllr Ann Norton (IND) and Cllr Paul Murphy (FG) backed the plans with Cllr Johnny Flynn (FG), Cllr Tom O’Callaghan (FF) and Cllr Pat Daly (FF) voicing opposition to the Francis Street and Abbey Street developments.
This hostility became evident as a divide once again emerged this week. An agreement has been in place among Ennis MD councillors where all seven must be in agreement in order for their GMA to be passed on a monthly basis.
Providing the source of the debate for Tuesday was the absence of the Clare Show which Cllr O’Callaghan wished to five some GMA funding towards. He claimed that at the end of an in-camera workshop that, “it was clearly stated that the late applications can be considered, sadly it isn’t on the list” for what he labelled a “clerical error”. He said, “it is well known that my family has been involved in the equine industry for many years, it is an industry that needs support. It is important that everyone is treated equally, I am very disappointed that it is not on this list”.
A full breakdown of funding that hasn’t been drawn down from the GMA was sought by Cllr O’Callaghan. He then asked that his GMA be taken separately to other councillors which would go against the existing agreement
O’Callaghan’s colleague in Clarecastle, Cllr Murphy was first to reply, “I’m going to call a spade a spade,” he began. “We sat down at a workshop, they were agreed, the Co Show wasn’t on the list. If we’ve to sit down for every late applicant, that is more meetings and I know Cllr O’Callaghan has given out about more meetings. Do you want to call a special meeting for one application, that’s more meetings Tom”.
In a lengthy address, Cllr Norton insinuated that Cllr O’Callaghan’s inexperience was coming to the fore. “I’ve listened to what Cllr O’Callaghan has said, I can understand the fact he has been deputised into the role, the majority of us are working together for the past nine years, thankfully we work very well together, we do have our disagreements but overall we work for the betterment of the Ennis MD”.
She continued, “He said he spent the last week working really hard for the Co Show, I appreciate that but I know since Jan I’ve been working extremely hard for all of the different organisations that have applications in, I’ve made sure they’ve got their applications and they are there when we need them to be there. We did sit down for a number of hours two weeks ago and discussed each and every application that was in, we did agree late applications would be looked at and that is something we have done for the past nine years”.
Communication levels didn’t exist between councillors over the past week, Cllr Norton added. “There is a risk that funding would be taken away from people which was very disappointing, all of explanations were clearly given, we should be passing this wholeheartedly and be delighted to be in a position to be able to help and fund these organisations and charities without this type of conversation, I think it is a bad reflection on councillors that cannot see forward with this”.
Disappointment was also voiced by Cllr Howard who said their workshop lasted for two and a half hours. “We said we’d meet again to discuss late applications, I don’t know what is wrong with your hearing because I said that to you,” she commented. A “system of honour” has been in existence” since the establishment of the Ennis MD in 2014 and the Ennis Town Council before that, Howard commented.
She argued that Cllr O’Callaghan wanting to take his money out of the pot put groups like the Ennis Brass Band, Clarecastle Tidy Towns, disabled and age friendly parking and works in Hermitage at risk.
Ennis MD’s GMA was “scant” in the eyes of Cllr Flynn. He said it was imperative councillors knew the amount of unspent money from the GMA.
Unity is needed among the councillors, Cllr Daly believed. “I recall when there was no allocation for many years, it was a welcome thing when it arrived and it’s important we support our communities. It is great we get X amount of money and we can allocate it to our own choice. There was a mix-up, we should get it out of the way, it is a late application, we should call a meeting and give them the application if the money is available. It’s important that the seven of us are on the same road, we should be working together on this”.
Mayor Colleran Molloy said the stance of Cllr O’Callaghan was “disappointing”. She said, “To my mind, you have undone in one foul swoop the honorary goodwill that has existed for nine years. Nobody will coerce you into a decision, you want to take your pro-rate share out of this so we have to go back to the drawing board, I also want to state that you have indicated there are a lot of meetings and that you prefer virtual meetings”.
Responding to his colleagues, Cllr O’Callaghan took particular aim at remarks from Cllr Howard that he was trying to cut funding from community groups, “it is disingenuous to list out community groups and suggest I’m putting a gun to the head”.
Senior executive officer, Leonore O’Neill advised the meeting that monies still available from 2022 were to be assigned for capital works but had not been ring-fenced for particular projects.
After receiving a commitment that late applications would be considered, Cllr O’Callaghan who again reiterated his call for “full transparency” and the amount of funding not drawn down since 2022 agreed that the GMA could be adopted for the May meeting.
