Return of town councils receives a thumbs down in Mayo's east/south municipal district
THE creation of a two tier system with the return of town councils has been rejected by councillors in south and east Mayo.
A third of the county's elected representatives - 10 - are in the Claremorris-Swinford Municipal District (MD). And they gave a thumbs down to any suggestion that town councils may be re-established when the matter got an airing at their monthly meeting.
Councillor Richard Finn said the municipal districts system had turned out to be 'one of the smartest moves' made in local politics for many years.
Yet, there has been a lot of talk around the return of town councils and innuendo that the Taoiseach supports this.
His colleague Councillor Damien Ryan sits on a committee looking at reform of local government and he asked him to bring the message back: the people in country areas, towns and villages, do not support their return as it would definitely reduce the amount of funding coming to the municipal areas.
He didn't mind the town councils, he added, but they cannot take from the rural areas.
Under the town council system, the MD didn't have one, with town authorities sitting in Ballina, Castlebar and Westport.
Asking them to support reinstating town councils was like asking turkeys to vote for Christmas, Councillor Neil Cruise commented. If this happened, everything would be centralised.
What they needed was to strength the MDs and give everyone a fair crack of the whip.
Had town councils been effective they would not have been abolished, noted Councillor Damien Ryan.
You can't have a two tier system, he added. Rural and urban has to be equal.
What is needed is to reinforce the MDs. Devolution of finance and power is what has an impact, he said. Funding is the issue and 10% of the council's central budget needs to go to the MDs.
Councillor Gerry Murray said it seems serious consideration is being given to the return of town councils. If that happened, with current population thresholds it would mean two tier government in Castlebar, Westport and Ballina.
To ensure a level playing field, the criteria would have to change to ensure no MD was without a town council, meaning Caremorris would have to get one.
Councillor Ryan said the political commentary is not helpful at this stage.
The taskforce's terms of reference do not include the return of town councils. It needed to be let do its work and see their report.
Councillor Patsy O'Brien said he wasn't against town councils being reinstated but was against any funding available to MDs being withheld. If they came back they would hold rateable payments in their areas, starving the rural areas.
This, he said, is being driven by top level politicians who felt the town councils produced future candidates for the Dáil, etc. There is now a lack of a pool of people coming through.
Councillor Alma Gallagher said in terms of balanced rural development, it is essential that all rural communities get an equal bite of the cherry, highlighting areas like active travel.