Logo-shy FF candidate tops for tabling questions

THERE may be a question mark over the absence of his party logo from his election literature.

But there’s no question about who asked the most questions during the lifetime of Cork City Council.

Fianna Fáil Cllr Tim Brosnan got the answer he wanted to a question he submitted to city manager Joe Gavin for written reply on Monday.

Mr Brosnan, who is under fire for issuing local election literature without any reference to his party, asked Mr Gavin to confirm the number of manager’s questions tabled by each councillor during the June 2004 to June 2009 term of the council.

Each of the 31 elected members is entitled to table one question for written answer by the manager at every council meeting, held fortnightly.

The reply showed that Mr Brosnan asked more than any other councillor.

Of more than 1,100 questions answered by the manager since June 2004, 95 were tabled by Mr Brosnan, putting him in poll position.

Fellow Fianna Fáil Cllr Sean Martin was second with 92 questions. Socialist Party Cllr Mick Barry asked 72 and Labour’s Catherine Clancy asked 69.

But if you combine the 60 questions asked by Fine Gael’s Jerry Buttimer before he took up his Seanad seat, with the 35 tabled by his brother John, who was co-opted on to the council to take his seat, you get 95 – the same as Mr Brosnan.

The league table also showed that veteran councillors asked the least amount of questions.

Donal Counihan (FF) asked eight, Jim Corr (FG) asked three and Dino Cregan (FG) asked none.

Mr Cregan, who held his seat for 30 years and who is not contesting the June 5 election, defended his record.

He also pointed out that he tabled a motion to get cross party support for the emigrant monument on Penrose Quay.

“These questions are often just a way of councillors showing the electorate they asked a question. But the only way to get things done, and the way I got things done, is to pick up the phone and tell officials to do something,” he said.

Meanwhile, the answer to why Mr Brosnan has deleted any references to Fianna Fáil from his election literature? He is “standing on his own record of service to the community” and has nothing to do with the difficulties his party is facing nationally, he added.

“I’m the Fianna Fáil man in Cork North East and I’m proud of it. I’m not selling Fianna Fáil, I’m selling myself. I’m a member of Fianna Fáil and proud of it – but I stand on my own record of work,” he said.