FG and Labour row over council alliance pact

A ROW has broken out between Fine Gael and Labour over a proposed pact to control Cork County Council.

Labour has backed away from the pact, leaving Fine Gael trying to cobble together an alliance with independents in order to ensure it has control of the 48-seater local authority.

Labour leader on the council, Paula Desmond, said her party members didn’t want to be tied into a pact proposed by Fine Gael which could force them to accepting forthcoming budgets – which are likely to include cuts to services and increased charges for householders.

Ms Desmond said she found it “rather ironic” that FG would even contemplate voting for cuts when its members have consistently criticised the lack of proper funding from central Government.

“We felt very strongly that we were elected with an independent mandate and we didn’t want our hands tied,” Ms Desmond said.

She said the council was facing the most severe cuts it had ever seen, and while Labour was prepared to make hard decisions, the party would make up its own mind.

Her counterpart in FG, Cllr Michael Hegarty, said his party wanted support from Labour whether FG accepted or rejected the annual budgets for the next five years.

“If we decided as a group to oppose them we would have expected Labour to do likewise. If there are going to be savage cuts we couldn’t feel comfortable voting for them either,” he said.

Mr Hegarty said FG representatives met three times to discuss a pact with Labour. He acknowledged this had now fallen by the wayside and his party is negotiating with four of the six independents.

Mr Hegarty acknowledged that part of the carrot being offered includes independents getting the occasional chairmanship of the council’s powerful southern and western committees.

FG members will meet today to discuss the outcome of these talks. They will also discuss who their nomination for the mayor of County Cork will be.

Closing time for receipt of applications is noon today. So far two FG councillors have applied for the role – Mallow-based Cllr Noel O’Connor, and Ballincollig’s Derry Canty, who is considered to be the favourite.

It would be a surprise if there were other applicants.