Councillor to resign if pitch named after ex-colleague

Date Published: 29-Nov-2012

BY DARA BRADLEY

A bitter political row is brewing over recommendations to name pitches in Mervue after a former politician who served the city for decades.

City Councillor Declan McDonnell has threatened to resign his seat if Jimmy O’Sullivan Park is renamed after a former mayor, the late Bridie O’Flaherty.

Cllr McDonnell, a former Progressive, and now Independent elected representative, said he will step down as an elected representative if Jimmy O’Sullivan Park is renamed after former mayor O’Flaherty, who was also a PD.

City Councillor Padraig Conneely (FG) made a recommendation at a recent Council meeting that the two new training grass and sand areas and 200 metre running track at Mervue should be dedicated to Bridie O’Flaherty.

Cllr Conneely said the former Progressive Democrats public representative led a campaign in the late 1970s to ensure the grounds at Fahy’s Field and the adjacent field known as Jimmy O’Sullivan Park, were retained as green areas for the benefit of the local community.

He said she ‘stood alone’ in the face of opposition to her plans to save the fields for recreational and amenity usage – the area had been earmarked for residential area. His recommendation was supported by other councilors.

But, Cllr McDonnell told the Galway City Tribune that he would resign his seat if the name of O’Sullivan Park is changed “ because it is an insult to the family and the people of Mervue and it will divide the community.”

“Bridie O’Flaherty was never involved in soccer; she proposed that Fahy’s Field be used to build a secondary school and then a month later she proposed that it be for recreation and amenity. They’re the facts. She did a lot of good for Galway, as did many others, but why not name a street after her or an estate or why not name something else that isn’t already named after someone else,” said Cllr McDonnell.

For more on this story, see the Galway City Tribune.