A request by Ballina Chamber of Commerce for €20,000 worth of funding for a number of promotional projects for the town, from Ballina Town Council’s budget of €40,000 for tourism promotion, angered Ballina Méara, Cllr Mary Kelly this week. Town clerk Carmel Murphy outlined a request from the Chamber to the members of the town council for a number of projects the Chamber were looking to promote in the town over the coming year. The projects included the launch of the redeveloped Pearse Street, the promotion of the Jackie Clarke Library, the All-Ireland pipe band competition, a monthly e-zine with news and events from the town, and the continued promotion of Ballina as the salmon capital of Ireland.
“This is all in place already, they are looking for €20,000 for a number of projects we have been working on and they are going to take over,” Méara Kelly told the meeting. “They should have consulted with the members or the Méara at least.”
Cllr Mark Winters told the Méara, “What you see is a list of proposals that the Chamber would like to do in conjunction with the town council. You will get a breakdown of the cost of each proposal as it comes up.” Town manager Paddy Mahon agreed with Cllr Winters, stating that it was a list of proposals and that as part of the budget for the year the members requested a breakdown of how the money would be spent and that he met with the Chamber to discuss the promotion of the town.
Méara Kelly then asked Cllr Winters if he had a position in the Chamber, to which Cllr Winters replied that he did. Méara Kelly then informed Cllr Winters that she believed he had a conflict of interest in this item.
Independent councillor Gerry Ginty told the meeting that he never held the Chamber of Commerce in high regard in the past but he was willing to work with anyone who was working towards the betterment of the town. “I’d walk with the Devil out of hell for the betterment of this town,” he said. Cllr Michelle Mulherin said that she, like the Méara, had some disquiet with the way that the proposals were just presented to the members of the council. Cllr Johnny O’Malley told the meeting that while the Chamber did have a lot of good ideas, it didn’t mean that the elected councillors don’t have good ideas that should be looked at also before a large amount of funding is given out. He also said that the council should be looking at putting money aside to try to bring the Fleadh back to Ballina and some way of positioning the Jackie Clarke Library nationally at the heart of the centenary celebrations of the 1916 rising.
Méara Kelly told the meeting that all she was looking for was some courtesy from the Chamber on the issue. Town manager Paddy Mahon said that he wouldn’t apologise for meeting with anyone who was looking to promote the town and that what the members had was only a proposed breakdown of where the money would be spent.
