LABOUR Party councillor Elena Secas has questioned the relevance of a proposal to ban circuses with animals from performing on publicly-owned lands in Limerick.
The motion tabled by Fine Gael councillor Daniel Butler for this Tuesday’s meeting of Limerick Council, was supported by Mayor Michael Sheahan, who asked for it to be deferred so councillors could be briefed “to weigh up the pros and cons”.
If passed, the proposal would ensure that circuses that use animals would no longer be granted a licence to perform on Council-owned lands. Eleven Irish local authorities have already passed similar motions.
When Cllr. Secas asked about the relevance of the proposal as circuses do not currently use Council lands in Limerick, Cllr Butler said it would prevent animal circuses from ever using publicly-owned land in future.
Independent councillor John Gilligan, who is opposed to the motion, retorted, “We don’t have a Circus SPC (Strategic Policy Committee).”
“We have enough clowns though,” quipped Cllr Kevin Sheahan.
Fianna Fail councillor Eddie Ryan also voiced his opposition to the proposal. While his party colleague Michael Collins was keen to deal with the issue at this week’s meeting in County Hall. He claimed he had been “bombarded by emails” on the matter.
“I’m an animal lover. I’ve been at many circuses, but none as good as today’s, and I’ve never seen an animal treated badly,” said Cllr Collins.
Sinn Fein councillor Seamus Browne claimed that they did not have all the information on this issue and suggested a briefing from the ISPCA would be helpful.
The motion was deferred to the next Planning SPC meeting.
