It’s not every day that Bunreacht na hÉireann makes an appearance at a local government meeting. But last Monday, Independent councillor Frank Durcan walked up to the top bench at the February meeting of Mayo County Council and left a copy of the Irish Constitution in front of county secretary John Condon, asking him where in the Constitution it refers to privacy.
The Castlebar-based councillor was speaking at the meeting after he was refused information he requested under the Freedom of Information Act. The councillor had made the request to find out how much money was paid to retired senior officials of the council and what works they carried out for the council in the past five years. Cllr Durcan said that the reason he was refused the information was that it was unconstitutional and would break privacy legislation. So he wanted to know where in the Constitution it said that.
County secretary John Condon told the meeting that the reason Cllr Durcan was refused the information was that it was unconstitutional because privacy is an implied right and had been ruled on at the highest level by the Supreme Court.
Cllr Durcan also told the meeting that he had asked Cathaoirleach John Cribben to find out the information under the powers that the Cathaoirleach has, but the Cathaoirleach did not. Mr Condon said that if the Cathaoirleach had got the information and given it to Cllr Durcan, it could have serious implications as Cllr Durcan was not authorised to have it.
The county secretary went on to say that Cllr Durcan was in breach of his responsibilities as a councillor under the code of conduct for councillors as per the Local Government Act 2001, by looking for preferential treatment in relation to a Freedom of Information request. Cllr Durcan refuted this, but the county secretary told him that he had a personal interest because he had made the request in the first place and was now looking for preferential treatment.
Fine Gael councillor Tom Connolly interrupted Cllr Durcan saying: “You’re back here raking over old muck, that’s all you’re doing.” To which Cllr Durcan responded: “I’ve been elected every time by the people of Castlebar when I went for election.” Cllr Connolly replied, “So have I”. Cllr Durcan then said to Cllr Connolly: “I’m not here for the money though,” to which Cllr Connolly replied, “Well neither am I”.
Earlier Cllr Durcan had asked about another Freedom of Information request he had made in relation to the quarries which are providing materials for the walkway between Newport and Mulranny, some of which, he said, had no planning permission and one of which he could find no trace of in the Companies Record. Director of services for Mayo County Council Peter Hynes told Cllr Durcan that when all the information was compiled it would be forwarded to Cllr Durcan, but there was a problem at the minute because the name of one of the companies supplied by Cllr Durcan looked to be incorrect. Cllr Durcan also said that elected members should not have to pay for Freedom of Information requests.
