Council differences undermine Mullingar Accord

THE Mullingar Accord, a pre-election pact agreed between the leaders of Fine Gael and Labour, has come unstuck in Cork County Council.

Relations between the parties on the largest local authority in Ireland have been strained in recent months, but they worsened considerably yesterday when Labour backed the candidacy of a Fianna Fáil member to fill a vacancy on the governing body of the National University of Ireland, voting against a FG councillor in the process.

All four members of the Labour Party present for the vote, (Cllr Paula Desmond was absent) backed FF’s Cllr Mark O’Keeffe, who lost out to FG’s Cllr Derry Canty.