‘Mayor’s Secretary’ a demotion for Mairéad

Bradley Bytes – A sort of political column by Dara Bradley

Mairéad Farrell is petite. And she’s fresh faced – looks old enough to be in about fifth class in primary school. She’s the antithesis of what you expect your City or County Councillor to be.

She’s a woman. She has a full head of hair, which is not greying, as far as we can make out. She also has a friendly smile, another rare commodity among councillors.

(She doesn’t look like a gouger-Shinner type either.)

Given that she doesn’t fit the aging, balding/greying, rotund, male stereotype of what an elected representative should be, it’s no wonder the Sinn Féin newbie is not getting recognition for having been elected to the City Council.

Mairéad, one of three new Shinners on the Council, was at a function recently in her capacity as a Galway City Councillor.

Someone at the function mistook her for Mayor Donal Lyons’ secretary.

When Mairéad said she wasn’t, this person kept digging and asked her what it is that Mairéad does.

“I’m a City Councillor,” she said, which brought on an “awkward silence” from her inquisitor.

Don’t worry Mairéad, after a few more years of weary meetings in the Council chamber, you’ll soon look and sound as miserable as the rest of them. You’ll be unmistakeable then.

Dáil despair for Dev Óg

We’ve told you before about Éamon Ó Cuív getting more and more exasperated by the Dáil not working. And it’s worse he’s getting.

Recently he complained Government TDs weren’t listening to him. He argued he might as well not bother going into the chamber and instead should just stick his speech up on the internet – save everyone the bother.

But seeing as they weren’t listening, they haven’t yet implemented his suggestion.

Now he’s barking at Environment Minister Alan Kelly’s refusal to answer questions in the Dáil.

“I thank the Minister for his reply which was full of generalities about which I did not particularly ask. When I received such an answer when I was a Minister, I tended to say, ‘That is not what the Deputy asked. Will you just give the answer to the question he asked’.”

Seems logical – but not to civil servants who draft replies to parliamentary questions.

Dev Óg asked a simple question about funding for Galway islands. It required a simple answer: Pretty much yes or no.

The reply, 335 words, said everything but answer the question that was asked.

No wonder Dev Óg is gone cracked.

For more, read this week’s Galway City Tribune.