Seanad call for probe into the death of City Council tenant

A Galway Senator has urged every member of the Seanad to read to a book by a former Galway City Council employee which alleges the abuse of power by officials and the background story surrounding the eviction of the late Bríd Cummins.

Senator Trevor Ó Clochartaigh used his allotted time in the Seanad on the first day back after the holidays to call for a debate around the powers of CEOs in local authorities.

In Abuse of Power: Because Councils Can, Julie Grace outlines the scandal that has become known as the ‘Bríd Cummins’ Affair’. A former journalist with mental health problems, Ms Cummins fought eviction by Galway City Council and was subsequently found dead in her flat the night officials turned up looking to take back the keys of her home.

It also chronicles the author’s own struggle with officials in City Hall. She was Tenant Liaison Officer with the Council in September 2003 when she was first asked to accompany a neighbour of Ms Cummins to the offices of the local authority’s solicitors to help take out an injunction against Ms Cummins.

She refused, believing it morally unethical to provide the Council’s legal team to a private citizen. She also refused to sign off on a statement made by a former neighbour of Ms Cummins that was to be used in evidence in the Council’s eviction case.

Ms Grace believed the statement was an off-the-record solicited rant from an unreliable witness made years after she had left a flat and who did not want it used in court. The statement was used to paint a picture of Ms Cummins’ alleged anti-social behaviour.

Six months after the first incident, Ms Grace was let go. She had been the Council’s first liaison officer, a role she had developed for seven years. Funding was obtained to expand and develop the role and three positions were created.

“The main question is whether the Minister has a role in investigating the issues highlighted there . . . the power of CEOs and unelected people in local authorities is the core issue we should debate because a number of the characters who appear in the book have gone on to much bigger and better things in Irish Water and have become CEOs of other county councils in this State,” he told the Seanad.

“…Whereas this poor woman suffered very badly at the hands of the local authority, as is alleged in the book, the people who instigated that have gone on to much bigger and better things and have been rewarded for their work.”

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