VEC election - Honourable decision

FORMER Fine Gael county councillor Tom Sheahan is to be congratulated on his decision not to take a seat on Cork Vocational Education Committee.

Mr Sheahan was elected by the Fine Gael-dominated council even though his election made it impossible to honour a well-established tradition of accommodating nominees of the Catholic and Church of Ireland bishops. In this instance the Church of Ireland’s highly regarded Canon George Salter lost out.

For the first time in living memory a tradition that honoured inclusion was turned on its head. Mr Sheahan has taken an honourable path, but his party must ask themselves why they ignored the spirit and possibly the letter of the regulations governing these matters. They must explain why they excluded a minority to serve their own interests.