Why Paul Lawless got it wrong over so-called Mayo 'vanity project'

by Dr. Richard Martin

Mayo TD Paul Lawless is in the news again.

This time he is opposing the proposed €2.15 million refurbishment of the council chamber and foyer.

According to Paul, it is a "vanity project divorced from the reality facing families and businesses across the county" and that the proposal is "ivory tower politics - lectures on prudence delivered from plush chambers, paid for by people who cannot get a home."

Such is Paul’s wrath that he has formally written to the Public Accounts Committee to request that Mayo County Council be called before it to account for the expenditure. In his letter to PAC, he has queried what cost-benefit analysis has been put forward to justify the €2.15 million borrowing for the refurbishment.

Not only has he written to PAC, he has also set up an online petition to stop the project from going ahead. As I write the online petition has 274 signatures. I think that says it all really.

Of course all of this is just craven populist politics. A little bit of scrutiny and objective rational thinking will quickly unravel his position.

Firstly, does the chamber and ground floor of the council need an upgrade? Yes, it does. Why?

It is the most dilapidated chamber in the country. Roscommon and Leitrim, for example, have state of the art council buildings and facilities. Why should Mayo fall behind?

Also, Paul is misleading the public when he says that the chamber “is typically used once a month for council meetings” and the chamber is more or less an empty vacant room outside of council meetings.

His stance is that the project is nothing more or less than a white elephant. It’s not. It’s used for SPC meetings. It’s used for civic receptions. And as it stands it’s not fit for purpose.

There are accessibility issues in the chamber, there is no ventilation, and the acoustics are poor. All of these need to be remedied.

Fire safety improvements are needed in the council chamber and building to bring it into line with modern legislation.

I would hope that Paul Lawless understands the importance of fire safety in public buildings and that these upgrades aren’t merely aesthetic. They are a legal requirement.

The refurbishment will also entail energy-efficiency upgrades.

These upgrades usually entail advanced ventilation systems, energy efficient lighting and controls, solar PV panels, high performance insulation and replacement of heating systems with low-carbon systems (e.g. heat pumps).

These upgrades aim to typically achieve 60-70% or more energy reduction in public buildings which is in compliance with Ireland’s national climate policy.

Public sector buildings (hospitals, schools and county councils, etc.) all must significantly reduce energy use and emissions by 2030 and they must achieve 51% reduction in greenhouse-gas emissions by 2030 and 50% improvement in energy efficiency by 2030.

This means that the proposed refurbishment of the council chamber and foyer is not just merely aesthetic, it is also necessary by law.

So in effect Paul Lawless doesn’t understand or is unaware of the targets from the national climate framework led by the Department of Environment, Climate and Communications and the Public Sector Climate Action Mandate.

Another crucial point is that by upgrading the building and making it more energy efficient it means that the energy costs are substantially decreased going forward.

By taking a full measure and doing a proper renovation, it will save money in the long run.

It’s clear from reading Paul’s statement to The Connaught Telegraph that he doesn’t understand the funding process. The project will not cost €2.15 million. It will cost €4.1 million. There are two loans.

The first is a loan of €2.15 million for the refurbishment of the council chamber and ground floor areas. The second is a loan of €1.95 million for energy retrofit works under the SEAI Pathfinder programme.

The €2.15 million loan is a loan that will be repaid over 30 years. The €1.95 million loan is funded by government and the council.

It is not a case as Paul suggests that Mayo County Council can just decide to not proceed with the works and then use that money to build playgrounds and houses.

The housing budget in Mayo County Council is split into two main parts:

1. Housing revenue (operations, maintenance, HAP, grants and admin) - €38.8 million

2. Housing Capital programme (build/acquire housing, etc.) - €34.8 million

So roughly between €73-74 million was spent on housing in Mayo in 2025. When it’s looked at from that perspective, the monies being spent on the council chamber is paltry by comparison.

I attended the council meeting when the refurbishment was discussed. A few usual suspects played to the gallery. Councillor Deirdre Lawless made no contribution.

The broad consensus amongst senior members of the chamber was to proceed. There wasn’t even a vote.

It is one of four capital projects that Mayo County Council are undertaking and all four require loans. Mayo County Council have borrowed €4.7 million to develop the Castlebar Sports Campus in Knockaphunta, €2 million for derelict sites CPO, and €4 million for pathfinder projects.

The council chamber and foyer renovation is necessary not just from a functional perspective but also from the twin legal perspective - fire safety and the national climate policy.

We discussed this on The Connaught Telegraph ‘All-Ireland Whinger’ podcast last week. Aidan Crowley, Caoimhín Rowland and I. Aidan was in agreement with me and felt that Paul Lawless’s utterances were “populist”.

He made the following valid point. TDs have a basic salary of €117,113 per year. After that they can claim expenses. In 2023, TDs claimed roughly €6 million in expenses.

If as Paul Lawless feels that “Public money should serve public priorities, not political comfort” would he not be better served by refusing to claim his TD expenses and petition the rest of his Dáil colleagues to do likewise. If he is a man of the people he should lead by example. He is in politics to make a difference, “not political comfort”.

A TD earns twice the average workers yearly salary of €53,000. Surely, he could afford to live on his base yearly salary of €117,113 and not claim expenses in solidarity with the common man.

Somehow, I don’t see that happening. Aidan Crowley is one of the sharpest political commentators around. And fairest. Crowley 1. Lawless 0.

Don’t believe the naysayers and merchants of doom and gloom. There is a housing crisis. But the wheel is turning.

Sixty-four social housing units will be built on the Lawn Park site behind McHale Road. Thirteen social housing units will be built on Ellison Street. There will be a major development at the entrance to Rowan Drive with well over 100 units being built there.

Change, real change is happening all around the county. Last Friday, Minister Darragh Calleary in Ballinrobe turned the sod on four new developments representing 14 new social homes.

Councillor Damien Ryan, the FF whip and leader of FF in the council chamber, was also present. At one stage he quipped about had Lawless brought his petition.

The battlelines are being drawn for the contest ahead. Senior members of the council like Damian Ryan and Al McDonnell have little time for populist posturing and playing to the gallery.

Given the party’s history and traditions in the county, there has to be a FF seat in south Mayo.

Time will tell.