City budget meeting to go ahead in ‘bunker’
Three meetings of Cork City Council have been disrupted by protesters this year. One meeting was abandoned.
Cllr Mick Barry made his comments as councillors voted on a special resolution to give the lord mayor permission to adjourn next Monday’s meeting in the event of disruption by protesters, and reconvene it in-committee elsewhere in the building, with the media in attendance.
The proposal, described as unprecedented by several councillors, came after a meeting of the party whips.
After a lengthy debate on the issue, councillors voted last night 16-13 to give the mayor the power to adjourn the budget meeting and hold it in-committee.
FG whip Joe O’Callaghan said the resolution for the budget meeting was necessary because a small group of people are intent on disruption and creating mayhem.
“We don’t want the riot squad called in,” he said.
FG Cllr Jim Corr said the budget meeting must be allowed to proceed in an orderly manner.
Cllr Des Cahill said the resolution wasn’t about barring people from City Hall.
“It’s just a mechanism to allow the business of the city to continue in the event of disruption,” he said.
But Cllr Ted Tynan said the move shows Fine Gael and Labour are running scared of the people.
FF Cllr Seán Martin said it would create a dangerous precedent. “We can’t have mob rule. We should not be going down the road of giving in to the mob,” he said.
Party colleague Tim Brosnan said in all his years on council he had never seen such a proposal.
“We have been through some tough days on this council and it would be grotesque, unbelievable, bizarre, and unprecedented if we went down this road,” he said.
“We should not retreat from being accountable to the public. Democracy doesn’t retreat down the stairs to a back room.”
It is understood that a private security firm is being drafted in to police the budget meeting which takes place at 5.30pm next Monday.
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