A FARCE is how one councillor described the first full meeting of the new joint local authority for Limerick, after a three and a half hour meeting only dealt with a fraction of the agenda.
The meeting broke up acrimoniously after councillors failed to reach and decide on important items on the agenda, including motions calling for a reduction in the Local Property Tax and building a new HQ for the city’s Civil Defence.
Cathaoirleach, Kevin Sheahan(FF) used his authority to call a halt to proceedings when it became apparent that a discussion on the LPT was likely to go on for a long time and only a fraction of the agenda had been covered.
Cllr Sheahan said that it was “not feasible to do our business this way – we can’t sit here until 9pm every time”.
Along with the council members, local authority staff have to stay until the business of the council is finished.
Elections to various committees were also on the agenda and when the meeting learned that it will take months for the process of setting up the special committees (SPCs) for dealing with matters such as the environment and housing, Cllr Maurice Quinlivin (SF) said: “It’s a shambles – we were elected last May and we still don’t have SPCs”
Cllr John Sheahan (FG) described the situation of needing another meeting to finish one agenda as “a farce”.
