Setting The Record Straight – Mayor Jim Quinlan

I would, firstly, like to state that I would normally allow online debates regarding Cobh Town Council to continue without my involvement as if I was to get involved in such debates it could,quite literally, become in itself a full-time job. I do, however, appreciate that people have a right to express their views in this manner and I do try to keep abreast of the opinions expressed on local forums of this nature. For personal reasons, I do not have a Facebook page but when necessary I have communicated messages and updates on this forum and I would like to thank Cobh Edition for their co-operation in doing so. Having said all that, and having been made aware of recent comments about myself and my fellow councillors, I feel compelled to make the following statement.

I would, firstly, like to address the awarding of the Autumn planting contract. The awarding of such contracts is done by the town manager under advice from the town engineer and after a tender process has been completed. The tender process is subject to scrutiny by an auditor and ,therefore, I have been informed that pricing is the bottom line. The elected representatives of Cobh Town Council are in no way involved in this process and are not consulted with at any point during this process and I am not even entitled to see the figures involved. I will no doubt be accused of “passing the buck” with this comment but these are the facts. Whether the elected representatives should be more involved in such decisions is a debate for another day but I can assure you that if we were there may have been a different result in this case. I am as disappointed as any of you that a local business man, who is a personal friend of mine, did not get the aforementioned contract. As the man in question will I’m sure testify, the first I heard that he had not received the contract was when he told me himself. I expressed my dissatisfaction to “the powers that be” at that time but at that stage a legally binding contract had been awarded. I have already expressed my regret personally and I repeat that regret publicly now. Considering my contact details are in the public domain I am surprised that those who are very upset and annoyed by this situation have not contacted me directly for clarification.

I would now like to respond to the alleged lack of involvement/support by myself and the elected representatives of Cobh Town Council to Cobh Tidy Towns. I’m not going to go into detail here regarding my own personal support for the fantastic efforts of these volunteers ,however, I would like to suggest to any of you who doubt this support to ask the members of that committee if they feel that I have supported their efforts. Cobh Town Council also makes an annual financial contribution to the Tidy Towns Committee and continues to supply materials,such as paint, whenever requested to do so. We do not underestimate the enormous contribution that these volunteers make to the appearance of our town.  Also, I don’t think that I have made a public appearance or speech in the last three months without praising the work of these wonderful volunteers and I will continue to do so. I am, as you all are, very proud that Cobh Tidy Towns Committee members have been invited to this year’s awards. This success reflects what can be achieved with a positive, “can do” attitude and this positivity is only damaged by unfair and ill-informed commentary.

I would also like to respond to the contributor who would like to know how much town councillors are earning. These earnings are no mystery. There is complete transparency on this issue. Councillors’ earnings are annually published in the national media. However, in the interests of further transparency I have no problem in stating that my weekly pay as a councillor is €45.71 for which I am grateful but which any reasonable person will agree is not exorbitant. I would have no problem emailing this contributor a copy of my most recent payslip if my word does not suffice. I would also add that in this year’s council budget Cobh Town Councillors forfeited all additional expenses (conference, travel etc…) in order to maximise our contributions to local volunteer groups, sporting clubs and residents associations. This was considered necessary as a result of continued government cuts to local authorities.

As I have already said, I normally refrain from getting involved in debates of this nature. However, when you are someone who makes significant personal sacrifices to serve those who have elected you and you are faced with such comments, it is difficult to always remain silent. I’m sure my response will be met with some further criticism but I do hope that it will be regarded by most as a sincere and honest response to some legitimate, and some unfair comments.When mistakes are made, which they inevitably are, it is important that elected representatives are held to account but unnecessarily negative and ill-informed public commentary (which can sometimes be of a personal nature) does nothing to enhance our town or the relationships within it.  I would encourage anyone who would like further clarification on any of these issues (or any other council related issues) to contact me personally at jquinlan09@gmail.com or leave a message on 087 7834448 and I will be more than happy to deal with any queries in person.

Kind regards,
Cllr. Jim Quinlan