Unfortunate word war further exposes political senstivities in west Mayo right now

It’s probably not the end of the matter

A POLITICAL VIEWPOINT BY THE TALLYMAN

A word war has broken out in Westport.

It concerns the term 'unfortunate' in the minutes of a meeting of the West Mayo Municipal District.

It was used to describe the inability of a number of elected members to attend a workshop on what has now developed into a controversial local land deal.

The issue was broached by Fine Gael Councillor Peter Flynn who insisted that the minutes of meetings are not designed to include commentary.

Which begs one to ask the question how anybody could record an accurate meeting of the West Mayo Municipal District in view of the amount of commentary and strong opinion uttered by some of the elected members these days during the course of what many believe are long-winded affairs.

However, a point further made by Councillor Flynn – and supported by Councillor Johnny O'Malley - was that no resolution was adopted to hold the workshop in the first place, thus there was nothing unfortunate about members not going.

It is, to say the least, unfortunate that such sensitivities over the use of a word are playing out over a matter that would seem trivial in the normal course of public life.

So one is tempted to ask what is going on here?

What has happened or is happening to leave two councillors up in arms in such circumstances.

In fairness to the council, it has agreed to omit the word from the minutes.

But Tallyman suspects this is not the last we are going to hear on this land deal issue and the fallout from it.

On a different note, there has been much political comment over Ursula von der Leyen speaking out about her shameful treatment in Turkey in what has become known as the Sofagate debacle.

The EU president was left standing awkwardly when the only two chairs set up for a photo opportunity in Ankara with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and European Council President Charles Michel.

“I felt hurt and I felt alone as a woman and as a European,” she said.

The fact she has spoken out should, one hopes, ensure that it never happens again.

But the episode served to underline that a great deal of ignorance and stupidity towards women still exists in the higher echelons of political life.

That's totally unacceptable.