‘Two-fingered gesture’ sparks FG council complaint

AN official complaint has been lodged with Cork County Council following allegations that a member of Fianna Fáil gave a two-fingered sign to other local politicians during a heated debate on the economy.

Cllr Michael Hegarty, the leader of FG on the council, said he furnished the complaint with the office of the mayor following the incident which took place at a meeting in County Hall last week.

He claimed Cllr Donal O’Rourke (FF) made a V-sign to members sitting opposite him in the FG, Labour and Independents benches before leaving the chamber.

The incident is said to have happened towards the conclusion of a debate on the economy during which Fine Gael called for the resignation of Taoiseach Brian Cowen and his cabinet over the EU/IMF bailout.

Cllr Hegarty said there were several witnesses who would be prepared to corroborate what he saw.

Cllr Tim Lombard (FG) said he clearly saw the gesture being made.

Cllr Hegarty said: “In my 25 years in the council chamber I have never seen anything like it. We often had tough verbal exchanges, but I have never witnessed an unruly gesture like this in all my time in the council.

“We will be demanding a formal apology from Cllr O’Rourke,” Cllr Hegarty said.

However, Cllr O’Rourke said Cllr Hegarty’s claims were “exaggerated and taken out of context”.

“If it’s raised (at the next council meeting) I will deal with the matter,” the Clonakilty-based councillor said.