Mayor furious at threat of town council axing

NEWLY elected Mayor of Kilkee, Councillor Claire Haugh, is furious the 111-year-old town council may cease to exist in 2014 if local government reforms result in small town councils being abolished.

Kilkee Town Council held a special meeting on Tuesday to discuss the implications of the bodies’ demise.
“One hundred and eleven years later, Phil Hogan has decided enough is enough. ‘Lads off ye go, the curtain is going to fall and that’s it’. I’m very peeved off about all of that. We had a special meeting this week about local government reform. Everybody had an input into it. We’re in a limbo at the minute as regards what the future of the town councils will be,” Mayor Haugh told The Clare Champion.
She is convinced Kilkee will be a poorer place if the town council is disbanded by the time the June 2014 elections come around.
“Some of the smaller councils will not survive. That’s my understanding. I think it’s a shame because the town council is a voice for smaller towns. We’re the voice of the people of Kilkee as far as I’m concerned. We bring the concerns of the town to the county council’s attention, to TDs or to county councillors. We’re at the coal face of politics in the town. There’s nine of us sitting there and everybody in the town knows us personally. If they’ve a problem, they’ll meet me or one of my colleagues and tell us what the problem is. It would be a great shame if our town council doesn’t survive all of this reform,” the five-time town mayor commented.
“I was talking to some business people in the town this morning and they were astounded to think that the town council will be abolished. They said ‘this is the voice of Kilkee. We can’t let this happen. Do yer best to make sure that the town council is retained.’ But our best may not be enough,” she said.
All town councillors must have a consultative form filled and returned by the end of this week.
“We’ve got a very comprehensive form to fill out and have in by Friday at 4pm. I only got my form last Friday. We should have got them six or eight months ago. Ridiculous, absolutely ridiculous. How anybody is going to have all that information collated, in that timeframe, I don’t know. The Government is to make a decision, we’re led to believe, in early July before the Dáil breaks for the summer recess. I don’t have any great faith that we’re going to survive this, particularly the smaller town councils,” Councillor Haugh stated before adding that she believes some reform is needed.
“Reform is necessary in any organisation but getting rid of the town council in total is something that I would not agree with. I know our role is representational and we haven’t an awful lot of power but you meet people along the way and you might do something very minor, which is huge to them. I think that kind of service won’t be around if we’re not here,” Councillor Haugh concluded.
Her deputy mayor is Councillor Mary Owens.
Established in 1901 following an initiative by Fr Patrick Hogan, the first meeting of the then Kilkee Town Commissioners was held on August 1 of that year. The commissioners was established under the terms of the 1854 Town Council Commissioners Ireland Act.