Is it a Mayor, is it a taxi driver or is it a Bord Failte rep?

Our city mayor, Frank Fahy, is a busy man.

If he’s not opening events and making speeches in an official capacity as first citizen, he’s doing the ‘day job’, taxiing fares about the city in his taxi.

It’s the height of the tourist and festival season so the bould Frankeen is busy on both fronts, with the chain and behind the wheel.

We hear Frank was officiating at an event recently that was attended by a crowd of Yanks, who were delighted to meet the Galway equivalent of New York’s Mayor Bloomberg. They were wowed by the accessibility of our first citizen. The mayor made his speech, talked Blarney to the US visitors and then made his excuses and left.

What the Yanks didn’t know is he had to go to work on the rank. Hours later, minus his chain, Frank arrived in his taxi back at the venue he had left earlier. And who was he picking up? His American friends, that’s who.

They were a bit bemused that Irish mayors are so poorly paid that they have to double-job in taxis – it’s just a ceremonial role, and not a ‘job’ as such like US city mayors. Rumour has it they took pity on him, and tipped generously.

Imagine being worse than Irish Water

Irish Water is probably held in as much esteem with the Irish people as the Black and Tans. So if you’re told to act more like Irish Water, you must be fairly bad.

But such is the lot of the Health Service Executive (HSE). It’s such a dysfunctional organisation that it has been asked by West of Ireland city and county councillors to be more like Irish Water.

Our elected members haven’t aimed too high, and asked the HSE to be more like Revenue, which is widely accepted to be efficient in its workings. No, our elected members have set the bar as low as possible, and asked the HSE to be more like Irish Water . . . and still it can’t meet that standard.

At the latest HSE West Regional Forum meeting, councillors praised Irish Water for setting up a local reps’ ‘hot-line’. This phone line allowed elected representatives to make representations to Irish Water on behalf of their constituents. For months, forum members having been asking the HSE to set up a similar line for queries about constituents’ medical cards . . . but for months they’ve been ignored, leading several members to wish the HSE could take a leaf out of Irish Water’s book.

See also:

The Pot, the Kettle and the Green Party

Derek vs Mike: the B-list bunfight

Boyle Sports turns into Baloneysports