Opposition Failing on City Council

13th Jan 2009

Opposition Failing on City Council
Alan Ger

There's a certain irony to Fine Gael's calls for a culling of the public service when their own city councilors in Cork recently advocated a pay hike for the Lord Mayor.

Current Lord Mayor Brian Bermingham received 897 first preference votes in the 2004 elections.

At a time when buzzwords like "restraint" are bandied about by politicians in respect of public service pay it is hugely important that they apply the same to themselves to show not only solidarity but credibility.

Socially conscious questions that have not been asked seriously since the early nineties are finally being heard once again: do you really need to be paid what you're paid? Does anyone deserve €102,500 for occupying a proud and important but relatively powerless office with the social life of an A-list celebrity?

The dogs on the street know that the public service is riddled with some appalling inefficiencies and a tendency to treat taxpayers' money like water in a toilet cistern but the workers' watchdogs have a point:

Lord Mayor Terrence MacSweeney who died on hunger strike.

Why sack diligent teachers, gardaí, nurses or even vital admin staff who earn €25,000-32,000 when you can shave the equivalent off the super sized salaries of a tribe of top brass? Many civil servants have openly admitted in the media that they are overpaid. Reading between the lines of their statements, unions will stomach pay cuts as long as those at the top take a credible cut too.

Now better paid than many heads in Europe, including Spain's Prime minister Jose Zapatero, Lord Mayor's €102,500 salary is topped up with some tasty expense allowances and a car.

This is an office that has been occupied by great men such as Terrence McSweeney and Tomás MacCurtain who gave their lives for what they believed in. Politicians like talking but these patriots showed that they could walk-the-walk too.

Cork needs a strong political opposition to fight its corner as we head into very tough times and should, like the Kinsale boys and their fantastic teachers, be leading the battle.

We really hope local politicians are up to the task.

Cork City Council Local Election Results 2004
Many people are not aware of who their local councilors are, especially younger people who mainly use the internet for their news below we list them with their party affiliation and the number of first preference votes they got in the last local elections.

It may surprise you that it can take as little as 500 votes to get elected in certain constituencies. Tony Fitzgerald of Fianna Fáil managed to get elected in North West with just 474 first preference votes. Constituencies have an average of about 15,000 registered voters. Cork South East is the largest with 20,064 voters and Cork Nort East the smallest with 13,501 voters.

The party breakdown is as follows:
FF (11), FG (6), LAB (5), Greens (1), Sinn Fein (2), Socialists (1), Progressive Democrats (1), Independents (1).

Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and Labour have a 22 strong member voting pact on Cork City Council which allows them to rotate the Lord Mayorship between them. The votes regarding the Lord Mayor's pay was passed by 22 votes to 7.

Slippery paths ahead for city councillors with plenty space at City Hall.

Cork North Central
Mick Barry (SOC) 1,390
Catherine Clancy (LAB) 902
Gary O'Flynn (FF) 1,112
Damian Wallace (FF) 1,059
Patricia Gosch (FG) 775

Cork North West
Jonathan O'Brien (SF) 1,150
Dave McCarthy (FF) 1,112
Colm Burke (FG) 884
Michael O'Connell (LAB) 712
Tony Fitzgerald (FF) 474

Cork North East
Mairin Quill (PD) 1,169
Tim Brosnan (FF) 1,022
John Kelleher (LAB) 1,000
Dara Murphy (FG) 728
Annette Spillane (SF) 601

Cork South East
Deirdre Clune (FG) 2,307
Donal Counihan (FF) 1,429
Chris O'Leary (GR) 1,086
Denis O'Flynn (LAB) 1,337
Terry Shannon (FF) 1,351
Jim Corr (FG) 1,002

Cork South West
Jerry Buttimer (FG) 1,968
Fergal Dennehy (FF) 1,408
Mary Shields (FF) 1,104
Brian Bermingham (FG) 897
Michael Ahern (LAB) 1,015

Cork South Central
Con O'Connell (IND) 1,564
Ciaran Lynch (LAB) 1,226
Sean Martin1 (FF) 1,191
Tom O'Driscoll (FF) 1,131
Denis Cregan (FG) 840