Waterford councillors urge D’Arcy to resign

A WATERFORD city councillor who was censored by his colleagues when he leaked a traveller accommodation plan has now been encouraged by a party colleague to resign.

Fine Gael councillor, Jim D’Arcy, had been told he is no longer considered to be part of the “pact” which is made up of members of Fine Gael, Labour and three Independents.

Now, party colleague and party chief whip, Hillary Quinlan, said he should resign. His comments came in the course of the city council meeting, a proportion of which was taken up by the fall-out from the leaking of the report.

Cha O’Neill accused him of using the matter as his excuse for resigning from the Traveller Accommodation Committee. And Cllr Mary Roche was also critical of Mr D’Arcy, alleging he had brought the council into disrepute.

Earlier this month, Cllr D’Arcy informed his constituents that a plan was about to be adopted, which would see three bungalows for travellers built on a site between the Killure Road and the Williamstown Road. Further group housing is planned for a site on the Green Road and at Carrickpherish.

He has also made public, draft details of the Traveller Accommodation Programme for 2005 ­ 2008, which reveals that over the next three years a further 30 families will have to be accommodated by the local authority.

He has no regrets. “I was the Ward 2 representative on that committee. I have since resigned from that committee. I informed the people and I thought I did the right thing. I would still have informed the people as I think they had a right to know,” he said.