The Fianna Fáil party on Mayo County Council is preparing to go for the proverbial jugular in the aftermath of exclusive revelations in The Connaught Telegraph that the authority wants to shed 152 staff members in the coming months.
The seven-strong lobby served a petition on the Cathaoirleach, Fine Gael Councillor Michael Burke, to hold a special public meeting to discuss the full implications of the planned redundancies and redeployments.
In what is evolving into a fascinating political chess game, the move was initiated by senior FF party members, Councillor Micheál McNamara and Councillor Damian Ryan.
The petition, handed to Councillor Burke last Thursday evening, was signed by three other FF members (Councillor Jimmy Maloney, Councillor Annie May Reape, Councillor Blackie Gavin) and three Independent elected representatives, Councillor Michael Kilcoyne, Councillor Michael Holmes and Councillor Richard Finn.
It was also signed by Sinn Fein Councillor Gerry Murray, who publicly called on Fine Gael to convene the meeting, and Councillor Rose Conway Walsh.
When contacted, Councillor Burke said he had a number of days to consider the request.
"My initial feeling is that the issue does not warrant a special meeting at this time because the core issue relates to voluntary redundancies and redeployments that will not come into effect for some time. There is no urgency as this point."
His views are consistent with those expressed by his party whip, Councillor Joe Mellett, although other Fine Gael members contacted by this newspaper were in favour of having the special meeting.
Councillor Mellett said holding a meeting at this stage may not be beneficial as labour relations talks had only been initiated.
He further stated the council faced a shortfall of €9 million in 2011 and if €6 million can be achieved by voluntary redundancies and redeployments, then the council is entitled to explore such an option.
Councillor Mellett made it clear he is not opposed to a special meeting, but that the timing of it is wrong.
"As an employer myself, I am fully aware of the difficulties businesses throughout the county are experiencing and Mayo County Council is not immune from such difficulties," he added.
In the event of Councillor Burke rejecting the petition handed to him by Councillor Ryan, then it is automatically referred to the executive officers of the authority for consideration
The problem for Fine Gael, as the majority party on the council, agreeing to the holding of the special meeting is the fact it provides a platform to opposition parties to launch a political attack on Taoiseach Enda Kenny over the council's proposals.
It is understood Fianna Fáil is planning to table a motion at the special meeting calling for an urgent meeting with Deputy Kenny in a bid to reverse the decision.
A further motion calling on the elected council members to support the four trade unions in opposing the job cuts could also present problems for some members sitting on the Fine Gael benches in view of their unwavering support of the authority's executive.
However, it would represent political suicide by Fine Gael to be seen not to embrace the holding of the special meeting, particularly in view of the party's decision to convene a special meeting last month to ratify the co-option of John O'Hara and ensure he met the deadline enabling him to vote in the Senate elections.

 

FLEXIBILITY
There is particular disappointment among many of the 31 councillors that no mention was made of the dossier issued to the four public sector unions at the last statutory meeting on April 11 despite it being circulated to SIPTU, TEEU, IMPACT and LAPO on March 23.
A number of Fine Gael councillors contacted by The Connaught Telegraph confirmed they supported the holding of the special meeting in order to bring full clarity and transparency to the process as well as outlining the impact on services in each of the six electoral areas.
Councillor Cyril Burke and Councillor Seamus Weir said they favoured the holding of such a meeting while Councillor Eugene McCormack stated he had no objection in principle but would like the matter debated
However, one outspoken member of the party, Councillor Peter Flynn, said he is not convinced such a meeting will achieve anything.
The Westport-based representative said: "The fact of the matter is that the council is left with no choice due to capital funding being cut from €100 million to €25 million, the level of planning activity decreasing by 80 per cent since 2007 and investment in housing and water services being completely halted.
"It led to a situation in which people were in jobs and not working to the capacities. Something had to give and the council could not afford to do nothing. In the private sector, the cuts would have been greater than 10 per cent.
"It also has to be taken into account that the trade unions have done nobody any favours because of their extreme views. If they showed more flexibility, they would not be in the position in which they now find themselves."
He wondered at the logic of appointing special financial advisors in 2001 and asked what role was being played by the council's HR division.
Councillor Flynn said it was time for senior officials of the authority to 'stand up and be counted' by securing new opportunities to safeguard the future of the council.
"We should be seeking to centralise non-council services into the authority because it is the right thing to do.
"Unfortunately, the council is now on the brink of bankruptcy due to the fact it is carrying an overdraft of €10 million. I don't think elected members can do too much about that."
Knockmore Fine Gael Councillor Seamus Weir said a special meeting was urgently required to thrash out the issues.
Castlebar Fine Gael Councillor Cyril Burke stated the holding of a public meeting was the right thing to do in the present circumstances.
Fianna Fáil Councillor Damian Ryan denied his party's actions were politically motivated in any respect.
"We are doing it for the good of the people of the county who want to know how public services will be undermined by the council's actions. There are questions to be answered in that regard. We also want to know why lower paid grades are the hardest hit," he explained.
Independent Councillor Michael Holmes said he was very disappointed to learn of the job losses second hand.
"We are entitled to get a full breakdown of the proposals and how they will impinge on existing services. The details are very vague at this point," he added.