Mayor pleads for silence amid chamber rumpus

EVENTUALLY the din became too much for Mayor of Clare Pat Daly. Attempting to chair the December Clare County Council meeting, which was held on Monday on the third floor of the viewing area at Shannon Airport, Councillor Daly issued an impassioned appeal.

His desperate plea wasn’t linked to any views he might have on the separation of Shannon Airport from the Dublin Airport Authority on the prevailing economic climate in Clare.

Instead, he had to beg his council colleagues to zip it and return to their seats. The council meeting started at 3.45pm and had been preceded by a delegation of Shannon ratepayers, who made an informed presentation to the councillors. However, during this presentation, some of the councillors’ concentration was irrevocably disturbed at the sight and scent of a tea, coffee and confectionery stand, which was wheeled into the room. Once the stand arrived, the councillors’ game face was gone. Their interest in rates was gazumped by a fascination with the pile of confectionery eyeing them. As soon as the visiting delegation had uttered their parting words, several councillors joined the stampede for the refreshments.

Although the actual county council meeting had now started, many of the councillors didn’t notice as they sipped, munched and gossiped away the next 10 minutes.

“The people down the back, will ye come into the meeting please,” Councillor Daly implored as the cacophony of sound eclipsed the noise of any aircraft. In fact, there wasn’t any action on the runway, which must have sounded like a monastery compared to the bedlam going down in the viewing area.

“Ye can have yere scones and tea tomorrow,” the Mayor of Clare suggested, as some of the councillors trudged back to their seats, weighed down by their cargo of tea, coffee and pastries.

How they were hungry in the first place could only be solved by a pertinent motion. The majority of councillors had attended the launch of the Shannon Town Plan in The Limestone Café less than an hour beforehand. While there, they were never going to starve either, as there was a liberally piled refreshment stand present. The county council meeting did eventually settle, with no more refreshment stands arriving to wrestle with the councillors’ alert nostrils.