Councils still at odds over Cork boundary

Cork city and county councils are still in dispute over Cork’s boundary alteration, which will be presented to Government today.

With some legal issues still outstanding, county councillors yesterday sought legal advice on some of the raft of legal advice previously provided to them.

The Implementation Oversight Group (IOG), which is overseeing the boundary extension that benefits the city, puts its recommendations to the Government today.

However, some councillors continued to insist yesterday that the process was “a farce”, while others are still seeking a judicial review — which is a non-runner.

Most councillors, however, accepted “the horse has already bolted”.

At a meeting yesterday in County Hall, some Fianna Fáil councillors described the agreed deal as a farce.

Some councillors sought support to get a judicial review on the boundary extension process, which was not forthcoming from the majority.

However, they did win widespread support from other parties, especially Sinn Féin, for their demand that the Government hold a plebiscite in the areas which will be ceded to the city council.

Ballincollig-based Fianna Fáil councillor Daithí Ó Donnabhain demanded an “80-page document” on legal advice prepared by senior counsel Michael McDowell be provided immediately to councillors. His call was echoed by several of his party colleagues, including Bob Ryan, Padraig O’Sullivan, and Bernard Moynihan.

However, they were told by assistant county manager Clodagh Henehan, deputising for chief executive Tim Lucey, that she would have to get legal advice on releasing the McDowell document.

The council’s director of corporate services, Niall Healy, said the situation was complicated because County Hall has various pieces of legal advice and did not have a synopsis of all of them.

Fianna Fáil councillors persisted in seeking it immediately, but eventually settled for a promise by officials they would act as quickly as possible to provide any of the legal advice they could, and a special meeting would be held within seven days.

Fianna Fáil councillor Frank O’Flynn said that, at a recent meeting between city and county council delegations, two different maps of the proposed boundary extension were circulated. He said the one provided to city councillors was different to the one given to county councillors and wanted to know how this had happened.

The map provided to city councillors showed the county council would cede Ballincollig, Tower, Blarney, Cork Airport, and Glanmire to the city council.

It emerged yesterday, however, that this was not a fully agreed deal.

Ms Henehan said there was still some discussion on “tweaking the boundary” in areas around Hop Island, near Rochestown and at Inniscarra, Monard, Cork Airport and Glanmire.

Councillor Padraig O’Sullivan said he was concerned the decision was already made by the IOG. Independent councillor Kevin Conway maintained that Blarney and Tower were “sacrificial lambs” offered to prevent the city taking over the rates-lucrative areas of Cattigtwohill and Little Island.

Fianna Fáil councillor Joe Carroll said: “If I accept that somewhere like Cloghroe is in Cork City then I can be called an idiot. Why isn’t Passage [West] not part of Cork City? Obviously they don’t want it.”

Meanwhile, Labour councillor Cathal Rasmussen said that, whatever deal was done, there was also fall-out on the transfer of personnel to the city council and, as yet, an unknown reduction in county council seats.

Solidarity councillor Joe Harris said there were “hundreds of hidden implications” of an extended city boundary, such as the possibility of increased car insurance and house insurance.