FORMER mayor, Cllr Kevin Kiely has warned his fellow councillors to avoid resorting to “parish pump politics” in moves to resolve the Ballinacurra Green Lane issue at a specially convened meeting on Monday next.
Speaking to the Limerick Post, the northside councillor admitted that he had withdrawn his consent to the implementation of Section 140 of the Local Government Act,
which he initially signed with two of his Fine Gael colleagues, Cllr Pat Kennedy and Cllr Jim Long.
In effect, Section 140, which requires three signatures and is sent to the city manager, means that if a vote against the rollout of the Ballinacurra Green Route is carried on Monday, the city manager cannot use his executive powers to proceed with the project. However, with Cllr Kiely’s withdrawal, it appears that the Section 140 Notice is now invalid.
Not so, says Cllr Jim Long.
“Cllr Kennedy and I claim, that when sent, there were three signatures which makes the notice a bone fide one,” Cllr Long argues.
With both Cllr Kiely and Cllr Long predicting that the result of a vote on the controversial issue next Monday will be extremely close, any move by the city manager to “legally obstruct the councillors’ function,” will, according to Cllr Long, “have to be tackled.”
Justifying his change of mind in relation to his original opposition to the southside green route, Cllr Kiely said that on reflection, he took into consideration the €5million and 40 jobs the project would bring to the city
“The allocation we have can only be used for green routes, paths, lighting systems etc and if the money is not used for the bus lane project, we will not be able to go to the government for further road grants – we have to see the bigger picture for the city. I’m only sorry that the issue wasn’t dealt with in my mayoralty – I wouldn’t allow any one to put pressure on me, which is what is happening to Mayor Maria Byrne. When you are mayor, you are mayor for the whole of the city.”
Conceding that a resolution of the issue on Monday will “open up wounds and will go down to the wire when it goes to vote,” Cllr Kiely said there is spreading unease within the Fine Gael group but that councillors must act for the greater good of the whole city
The Mayor, who is an O’Connell Avenue resident has submitted a motion that “a more appropriate route be pursued and prioritised for the Southern Green Route.
