Opportunity for Inclusive Council Missed in County Hall – Cllr Kieran McCarthy

Sinn Féin have expressed their disappointment at the agreement between Fianna Fáil, Labour and a number of Independents for control of key Council positions on Cork County Council.

Speaking after the County Council AGM, Sinn Féin , Cllr. Kieran McCarthy expressed his concern that the arrangement excludes critical voices and his fear that it may see an extension of Fianna Fáil inspired austerity.

Cllr. McCarthy said: “I am very disappointed that Fianna Fáil, Labour, and Independents have seen fit to exclude critical voices today, and I think that a real opportunity has been missed here. We offered our alternative to this form of pact. We argued for positions and the mayoralty to be allocated on the basis of Party Strength, respecting what the people had voted for, along the D’Hondt method. Under our mechanism all parties and groups would have had representation according to their vote. We believe it could have been the beginning of a new era of transparency, and inclusiveness in County Hall.

“However, we have been excluded, largely as we refused to agree to blindly commit to passing Austerity Budgets for the next five years. People have already suffered too much from cutbacks to services, in particular in areas such as Housing. We believe it is very bad practice, and senseless, to blindly sign off on five years’ worth of budgets without knowing what will be in those budgets.

“We will not be swayed by any amount of positions, or offers of chains, in to passing Austerity Budgets locally, which will hurt the people we represent.

“I am also concerned as to what this will suggest about the policies the Council will adopt over the coming years. We need to know from the Independents, and from Labour, if they committed to supporting budgets in exchange for these positions.

“Fianna Fáil’s track record at a National Level, and at a local level, is there for everyone to see. It was under Fianna Fáil that the current Austerity Policies were initiated.

“I am disappointed at some of the Independents. It seems clear to me that many people voted for independent candidates on the basis that they represented an alternative and a challenge to the cutbacks agenda, so I would think that many people who voted for independents in Cork will be very disappointed if they are falling in with an agreement which sees them supporting austerity budgets, but we shall see.

“I am disappointed that we are in this position, however, we will continue to fight tooth and nail for our alternative, for a better way.”