Procedures agreed to prevent abandonment of City Hall meetings

New procedures were agreed last night to ensure protestors cannot force the abandonment of Cork City Council meetings again.

Party whips, who met with the lord mayor and city manager after the latest protest, declined to discuss the procedures in detail.

However, they insisted the doors to City Hall’s public gallery will remain open.

Lord Mayor Catherine Clancy said she had concerns for the health and safety of council staff in the face of last night’s “intimidation” and said she was happy she made the right decision to abandon the meeting.

However, she said: “A clear message has to go out from this council that we are about doing our business.

“We will not be disrupted again from doing our business by a gang of individuals. We now have measures in place to continue with our meetings.”

She said the protestors have no mandate or community behind them and that many of their leaders are on “individual ego trips”.

Cllr Joe O’Callaghan (FG) said if these protestors thought they were going to disrupt more council meetings, they were mistaken.

“We have put together an agreement to ensure the council is going to continue to operate its business without the continued disgraceful antics of a dwindling minority who have no mandate. They are interested only in anarchy, disruption, and dismay.”

FF Cllr Terry Shannon said council meetings have been conducted in public in City Hall for over 90 years and that will continue. And he challenged the protestors to stand a candidate in the next local election.