Councillors urged to forego free tickets

IN an era of cutbacks public representatives have a duty to forego free nights rocking out to Metallica, according to a county councillor.

Unlike his council colleagues, Hugh Lewis, 25, newly elected People Before Profit councillor in Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown, in South Dublin, has voiced dismay at the practice of public representatives being given free concert tickets, which would cost punters more than €500 annually.

“At the very council meeting where we were discussing a range of cutbacks to services, councillors were handed out two tickets each for last weekend’s Metallica and Fat Boy Slim concerts in Marley Park.

“When it was brought up at the meeting that these tickets should be used to generate revenue rather than as freebies for councillors, there was derision,” he said.

Mr Lewis and his fellow people Before Profit councillor Richard Boyd Barrett donated their tickets to local youth groups and for a raffle by the Love Music Hate Racism campaign. Although the tickets supplied were “complimentary”, they would have cost €70 plus booking fee to buy.

However, council officials said they saw no issue with councillors receiving free tickets to attend events in their local authority area.

Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown director of environment and culture, Richard Shakespeare, said: “The practice occurs with most councils. We could try and sell them but it is important that public representatives know what is going on in their area.”

Fine Gael councillor Maria Bailey said that most councillors did give their tickets away without making an issue of the practice.

“I gave my tickets away to volunteers who have helped me, mainly students who cannot afford to buy them,” she said.