The Mayor of Galway Cllr Padraig Conneely has warned that he will “stay in the chamber” of City Hall “until midnight” tomorrow, if that’s what it takes to get the event licence for the Macnas parade passed.
Apocolopolis, the Macnas parade for this year, takes place on Sunday at 10pm. However it requires an event licence to go ahead. Councillors always grant it and it was due to be passed at last Monday’s meeting.
However the licence was not discussed as the meeting imploded into acrimony after only 15 minutes. Independent Cllr Daniel Callanan demanded that the Mayor address allegations that he had had a clamp removed for his car and did not have to pay a fine.
An argument ensued and councillors voted for Cllr Callanan to leave. He refused and Mayor Conneely adjourned the meeting. As a result, a second meeting to deal with the licence and other matters on the council agenda takes place in City Hall tomorrow at 4pm.
Mayor Conneely has vowed to stay for as long as is necessary to get the licence passed. He said: “No misguided filibustering or unwarranted obstruction by Cllr Callanan will deter me as mayor from granting the event licence for the Macnas Parade.”
