An attempt to pass a motion of no confidence in the Government’s handling of the economic crisis failed to get a chance to be heard at Monday’s city council meeting.
The motion was raised by Independent councillor Catherine Connolly, who condemned the Government “for the drastic consequences which the cuts in local authority funding are having on the provisions of services/housing at local level”.
Her motion also condemned the current coalition for “failing to hold those responsible for the current economic crisis to account and for demanding that those who are not in any way responsible...bail out banks and developers”.
She concluded her motion by calling on the Galway City Council to endorse “a public construction program” as a way of dealing with the economic crisis.
Council chamber rules state that eight or more councillors must vote to approve the discussion of a motion before it can be debated and then adopted or rejected.
However the Mayor of Galway Cllr Declan McDonnell said Cllr Connolly’s motion was “not urgent business” and that he was not even going to hold a vote on whether it should be discussed or not.
“I beg to differ Mayor,” Fine Gael councillor Brian Walsh said in response to Mayor McDonnell’s remarks. “In talking to people on the housing waiting list, and those who are suffering from the economic downturn, they would find this issue to be very urgent.”
Cllr Connolly agreed and said she was entitled to bring this motion to the table and at least have it voted on.
Mayor McDonnell said he would abandon the meeting if this continued. However he added that the council meeting of May 31 is dedicated to councillors’ motions and that Cllr Connolly could raise the matter then.
