Council can’t hit disruptive members in the pocket

BY CIARAN TIERNEY

A decision by Galway City Council to punish members financially if they disrupt meetings of the local authority has been abandoned after legal advice was obtained from a leading barrister.

Councillors voted 8-7 in February to suspend the renumeration or privileges of a Council member, or to direct that services be withdrawn, in cases where he or she was found to be unruly at a meeting at City Hall.

However, following the receipt of legal opinion from leading Dublin-based barrister Stephen Dodd, Acting City Manager Joe O’Neill said that they had no right under Irish law to do so.

Mr Dodd said the local authority did not have the statutory power to suspend payments to members, but he referred to the option of excluding members from meetings as well as their obligations under the Code of Conduct for the City Council.

Following a vote last night, the City Council will continue to ask members of the public who wish to attend meetings for identification, in the wake of a number of controversies at City Hall over the past year.

Cllr Colette Connolly (Labour) claimed it was “outrageous” to request identification from members of the public who wished to attend Monday night meetings at City Hall.

“This is sending out the wrong message and I would like to know how much legal advice is costing us,” she said.

Three private security men were on duty outside last night’s meeting and asked each member of the public entering the building to provide ID before the commencement of the monthly meeting.

Cllr Padraig Conneely (FG) also questioned the cost of the legal advice and said the issue had been handled “very, very badly” by officials.

Cllr Peter Keane (FF), who proposed the original sanctions on unruly members in February, said he was disappointed the Council did not have the power to punish members financially.

“Let us not forget that the majority of the Councillors voted to change the way we do business,” he said. “We failed to conduct the big, white elephant in the room, which is how we do our business. The battle may be lost, but the war certainly isn’t.”

Read more in today’s Connacht Sentinel