300 people protest plans to replace county development boards

Upwards of 300 people yesterday protested outside a meeting of Kerry County Council over plans to set up local community development committees to replace county development boards.

After discussing the issue for two hours, the council rejected plans drawn up by Environment Minister Phil Hogan, but county manager Tom Curran made it clear he intended to set up the committees, as he was obliged under law.

“People might believe that if they vote this down it will go away, but nothing could be further from the truth,” Mr Curran said.

He said the system would help eliminate waste and duplication, would be more coherent, give value for money, and benefit the people of the county.

Each committee will have 15 members, including representatives from agricultural, tourism, business, and environmental sectors, as well as two representatives from the community/voluntary sector.

Most councillors felt there would not be enough community representatives.

Fianna Fáil councillor John Brassil claimed the plans were fatally flawed and amount to an attempt to privatise public services.

Sinn Féin councillor Toireasa Ferris said there should be a minimum of seven community representatives.

Fine Gael councillor Jim Finucane, proposing that Mr Hogan’s plans be adopted, said the committees would help eliminate “confusion and overlap” and would utilise resources better.

The proposal was defeated 16 votes to six. All Labour councillors and two Fine Gael councillors — Patrick Connor Scarteen and PJ Donovan — voted against, as did Fianna Fáil, Sinn Féin, and the independents on the council. People in the public gallery applauded councillors who spoke against the plans.

Among those involved in the protests were members of South Kerry Development Partnership, and North and East Kerry Development.

The partnership’s chairwoman, Sheila Casey, said local community development committees were only being set up because councils could not access EU funding under their present format. “The system we had was a bottom-up approach which worked well for communities and we don’t see why it should be changed.”