The Abolition of local Town Councils – by Michael Martin

In May of this year Cobh Town Council will meet for the last time. The Mayor, Councillor John Mulvihill Jnr by that time will have performed at least a couple of hundred civic duties. Attending launches of community group activities, visiting schools, hospitals and workplaces. Turning up to endorse people led initiatives, adding value to local and community efforts every day, every evening in every corner and location in Cobh. He will have given talks and speeches of encouragement, he will have acknowledged the work and dedication of ordinary people in the charitable and voluntary sectors of population of Cobh. He will have listened carefully to the concerns of the business community and offered assistance to those trying to steer their way through red tape and bureaucracy in order to provide jobs and create employment. Like Sinead Sheppard and Jim Quinlan before him, John when wearing his chain of office will have put the best foot forward and represented our town to the very best of his ability. These previous mayors and the all the councillors who have served on Cobh Town Council over the years have, for the most part, tried to do a good job in representing the interests of those of us that live and work here.

For most of the time, people do not see the work of the local councillors. The public are generally not present when they argue with County Council officials about the delays in road improvements and the agonising waits for social housing. People probably don’t know about the extensive heated arguments that are fielded against cuts the Cork County Council authority propose every year. Or the monumental arguments that have to be made to keep rates at an affordable level in the town. They don’t see councillors sitting up at night writing proposals and papers to counteract the vested interest suggestions being made at County level which are often detrimental to the citizens of Cobh. Most of the time, the failings of the County Council are placed on the shoulders of the local Councillors who have no control whatsoever over the budgets and executive decisions that are made in their name. The elected representatives of the local council have little authority and minimal influence in the acquisition of the funds and resources that trickle down from government through the hungry filter of County Council priorities. But what they have in spades, what they do better than anybody else, is represent our views and voice our concerns to these higher authorities. They say it like we would, they fight for our rights in the confined capacity that they are afforded. And although they can only win a few of the fights they have on our behalf, they at least are there.

With the abolition of the local town council this representation that we now have (however small it might be) will be gone. Instead of the nine local town council and two county representatives that we have now, we will be reduced to two or three if we are lucky. And then those two or three will be a tiny minority in the council that governs and divvies out the hard stretched resources to the biggest county in Ireland. Cobh has much to be concerned about. It is a reality that different political party members locally might have had rivalries and arguments. But by and large with exception of one or two of them, they all worked in what they believed were the very best interests of the town. The loss of local representation will have a devastating impact on all of us. We should be wary. We should be careful. The loss of the local town council is a reduction in our democratic rights. It is a step backwards in how local people can engage with the authorities that make decisions that affect our lives in so many ways.