Council faces disbanding over failure to agree budget

DUBLIN City Council has obtained a temporary reprieve after it faced abolition following the failure of councillors to agree on a budget for 2003.

The city manager, John Fitzgerald, formally notified the Minister for Environment, Martin Cullen, earlier this week that the local authority had been unable to adopt estimates for the coming year.

Dublin City Council is threatened with disbandment after a meeting on Sunday when its members opposed a proposed increase in refuse charges as part of the 2003 budget.