On the 25th of February Citizens will go to the polls to elect a new government. Some will be hoping that this election will bring an end to the corruption, secrecy and deceipt of politicians and the powerlessness of the people. Many others are not so sure. Over the last few months I have asked the people I meet in my everyday life who they think should lead the next government. There was a suprising unity in the responses I got; “they’re all the same” and “things will never change”.
At the present rate they might be right. Whilst everyone is pointing to big government in Dublin and hoping that with a change in the Dail will come a change in politics, few are scrutinising the breeding grounds of modern Irish political cronyism, the institutions of local government. It is through the doors of town and county halls that most national politicians walk when first entering politics. It is within the four walls of town and county chambers that they learn the habits and behaviours that will travel with them into national and even European parliaments.
At the invitation of a number of local town councillors and community activists, People Before Profit Dundalk sent a representative to observe the carry on in the Dundalk town chamber last Tuesday night. At the time the councillors did not inform us of their concerns but simply asked us to observe and report back to them what we thought regarding the conduct of the meeting.
What our representative witnessed was an affront to local democracy and an insult to the people of Dundalk who elected the group of councillors who sat in the chamber last Tuesday night. Firstly, the chair and vice chair were not present. Where were they? Maybe they were too busy canvassing for the national elections. In their stead a temporary chair and vice were nominated and accepted.
From this point onwards our representative reported that goings on in the chamber became surreal, akin to a Kafka play. Through the determined efforts of the chair and unelected town officials councillors were prevented from asking questions relating to the motions on the agenda. Orlan Herr was shot down when trying to get clarification on aspects of the Go Travel plan. Councillor Herr had been trying to discuss important child safety aspects of proposed cycle lanes. Similarly, Councillor Eamonn O’Boyle was in a quite vindictive fashion prevented from making inquiries regarding a notorious fly tipping area near St Nicholas’ avenue. Not only were reasonable questions relating to issues on the agenda silenced but agenda motions put forward by councillors prior to the meeting were not even placed on the official agenda.
After the council meeting our representative met up with a number of councillors who expressed their concern that the council is not functioning as it should. Motions are being forced through without appropriate levels of examination and understanding. Unelected officials of the council appear to be dictating the agenda and the happenings within the council chamber itself.
Clearly the local democratic systems of Dundalk are broken. Instead of informed debate, in depth discussion and examination of the issues at hand, decisions are being made in an ad hoc manner and those who do wish to inquire further are belittled within the council chamber. Instead of the concerns of the public and their representatives having a rightful place on the agenda of local democratic meetings, the raising of such concerns appears to be at the whim of unelected officials.
It is People Before Profit Dundalk’s intention to have representatives in attendance at all town council monthly meetings from this point forward. Let this be a warning to all those involved in such meetings that we will publicise from the rooftops any behaviours that prevents fair inquiry or disempowers councillors that have been directly elected by the people of Dundalk.
At the present rate they might be right. Whilst everyone is pointing to big government in Dublin and hoping that with a change in the Dail will come a change in politics, few are scrutinising the breeding grounds of modern Irish political cronyism, the institutions of local government. It is through the doors of town and county halls that most national politicians walk when first entering politics. It is within the four walls of town and county chambers that they learn the habits and behaviours that will travel with them into national and even European parliaments.
At the invitation of a number of local town councillors and community activists, People Before Profit Dundalk sent a representative to observe the carry on in the Dundalk town chamber last Tuesday night. At the time the councillors did not inform us of their concerns but simply asked us to observe and report back to them what we thought regarding the conduct of the meeting.
What our representative witnessed was an affront to local democracy and an insult to the people of Dundalk who elected the group of councillors who sat in the chamber last Tuesday night. Firstly, the chair and vice chair were not present. Where were they? Maybe they were too busy canvassing for the national elections. In their stead a temporary chair and vice were nominated and accepted.
From this point onwards our representative reported that goings on in the chamber became surreal, akin to a Kafka play. Through the determined efforts of the chair and unelected town officials councillors were prevented from asking questions relating to the motions on the agenda. Orlan Herr was shot down when trying to get clarification on aspects of the Go Travel plan. Councillor Herr had been trying to discuss important child safety aspects of proposed cycle lanes. Similarly, Councillor Eamonn O’Boyle was in a quite vindictive fashion prevented from making inquiries regarding a notorious fly tipping area near St Nicholas’ avenue. Not only were reasonable questions relating to issues on the agenda silenced but agenda motions put forward by councillors prior to the meeting were not even placed on the official agenda.
After the council meeting our representative met up with a number of councillors who expressed their concern that the council is not functioning as it should. Motions are being forced through without appropriate levels of examination and understanding. Unelected officials of the council appear to be dictating the agenda and the happenings within the council chamber itself.
Clearly the local democratic systems of Dundalk are broken. Instead of informed debate, in depth discussion and examination of the issues at hand, decisions are being made in an ad hoc manner and those who do wish to inquire further are belittled within the council chamber. Instead of the concerns of the public and their representatives having a rightful place on the agenda of local democratic meetings, the raising of such concerns appears to be at the whim of unelected officials.
It is People Before Profit Dundalk’s intention to have representatives in attendance at all town council monthly meetings from this point forward. Let this be a warning to all those involved in such meetings that we will publicise from the rooftops any behaviours that prevents fair inquiry or disempowers councillors that have been directly elected by the people of Dundalk.
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