Tea, biscuits and sharp wit from a lifetime of Council reporting
Cork County Council manager's conference, January 1943: (front row) J.P. Flynn, Tipperary NR & SR; D.C. Murphy, Louth; W.F. Quinlan, Kerry; E.A. Joyce, Carlow/Kildare; P.J. Bartley, Laois/Offaly; P.J. Meghen, Limerick; (second row) M.J. Egan, Mayo; C.I. O'Flynn, Galway; J.G. Browne, Roscommon; P.T. Healy, Wicklow; (third row) P. McGeogh, Monaghan; M.A. Veale, Cavan; S.D. MacLochlainn, Donegal; T. Hayes, Longford/Westmeath; S.J. Moynihan, Kilkenny/Waterford; (back row) J.F. Wrenne, Cork; D. O'Keeffe, Clare; J. Hurley, Meath; T.D. Sinnot, Wexford.
Veteran Irish Examiner reporter recalls attending the last Cork County Council meeting in the City Courthouse and the first held in the new County Hall skyscraper in 1968. Here are his memories from 33 years of chronicling the State’s second-largest local authority and his learning of tales from other times.
“The Pope” was a member for sixteen years. Tea and biscuits often helped to sooth frayed tempers. And the title of one of John B Keane’s plays became a signal for looming elections.
Those are just some of the intriguing sidebars of wit and incident in the 125-year history of Cork County Council. But they should never overshadow the major decisions taken and major projects undertaken.
The “Pope” was not, of course, from the Vatican, but an elected Fianna Fail member (1934-1950). His name was Eoin O’Mahony, a barrister, raconteur, genealogist and presenter of the popular Radio Eireann programme “Meet the Clans.” A small man with a distinctive white beard and a rapid flow of speech, he was known to all as “The Pope,” because that was the answer he gave when asked in school what he wanted to be when he grew up.
A champion debater, and a campaigner for human rights, he was a Council member when he sent a famous telegram to a young Brendan Behan when he was detained in Liverpool for IRA activities.
The prison authorities, unaware of Eoin’s nickname, were taken aback at the prospect of a Papal visit — the message to Behan read: “I’m coming to defend you - the Pope.” Eoin’s time on the Council was long before tea and biscuits unintentionally helped to reduce the heat during lively exchanges at meetings of its North Cork divisional committee in Mallow.
Dan Hurley, when he was assistant county manager, had a small staff canteen set up for a mid-morning cuppa at William O’Brien Buildings, a former hotel, where the meetings were held. The gesture was extended to members when they met in the chamber.
Hurley, who later became Waterford County Manager, had been secretary of Evergreen United soccer club in Cork city for five years. But even he could hardly have foreseen the calming effect the timely arrival of the trolley with tea and biscuits would have on stormy discussions.
Holding a civic reception for Monty’s Pass, the 2003 Aintree Grand National winning horse, trained by Jimmy Mangan in Conna, posed its own logistical challenges.
But a solution was found for that too — the members and officials just left County Hall and walked across the road to the grounds of the Kingsley Hotel to do the honours.
The level of public service provided by the Council and how it was and is largely driven by a desire to make the county a better place for its people impressed me over the years.
Sometimes there were furious rows over funding and priorities, but an abundance of patience and good humour were always safety valves for the decision makers as they tackled issues.
Noel Dillon, County Manager from 1993 to 1998, once compared his role to that of a hyphen — linking councillors, elected by the public to form policy with his help and advice, and the workforce, who implement that policy on a county-wide basis.
Dillon, who played rugby with Highfield, was a strong believer in bringing the authority of the County Council and the vibrancy of the local community together in a Meitheal-style co-operative approach to meet the challenges they faced.
There was a similar outlook back in 1968, when the Council formally met for the last time at the City Courthouse in Washington Street before moving to the new skyscraper County Hall on the city’s western outskirts.
All but three of the 46 elected members were present for that farewell gathering in the old wood-panelled chamber, where so much debate had taken place since 1899.
The Council at the time of the move included some of the giants of Cork politics. Among them on the Fianna Fail side were “Big Con” Meaney, Martin Corry, Jamie Moynihan, John W Moher, and Jerry Cronin, a future Minister for Defence.
Dinny Owen O’Sullivan, a former Parliamentary Secretary (Minister of State) to Taoiseach John A Costello, John L O’Sullivan, who shook hands with Michael Collins in Bandon, shortly before he was killed at Beal na mBlath, Dick Barry, Phil Burton and Paddy Sheehan were prominent on the Fine Gael seats.
Paddy McAuliffe, Michael Pat Murphy and Eileen Desmond, a future Minister for Health, were some of the Labour Party councillors.
Three other members present at the opening had family connections with the first session held there 69 years earlier. One was T D Burke (FG), Skibbereen, whose uncle, Daniel Burke was at the 1899 meeting.
Another was Flor Crowley TD (FF), whose grandfather, Florence Crowley, Dunmanway, was also at the inaugural meeting.
The third councillor was Michael Pat Murphy, TD, (Labour) whose father-in-law James Roycroft of Schull, was a son of Edward Roycroft, who was also a member of the first Council.
Over the generations, several members from the same families were elected to the Council. They included the Aherns of Dungourney, the Creeds of Macroom and the Moynihans of Coolea.
The last meeting in the Courthouse took a mere 30 minutes. The county rates for the various districts were struck. And then it was off to the Carrigrohane Straight to a new home and a changing era in local government.
Some 350 staff and 70 tons of documents from 10 different locations around the city had already been transferred to what was then Ireland’s tallest occupied building (211ft), designed by County Architect Patrick McSweeney.
The last office to be transferred was that of the visionary County Manager Michael N Conlon, who held the office for 18 years and was regarded as one of Ireland’s most dynamic public servants.
People in Cork, both city and country, took great pride in the new £500,000 County Hall, and it was generally expected that Taoiseach Jack Lynch would be invited to perform the official opening in his home county, or in his absence, by the Minister for Local Government Kevin Boland.
But the County Council decided that the ceremony should be performed by its own chairman, Martin Corry, TD, because it had provided the entire cost of the building and equipment. It soon became known as “The Corry Hilton.”
Corry said he and former councillor Paud O’Donoghue, Coachford, who was among the invited guests along with three Bishops and Minister Boland, were the only surviving members of the Council elected in 1925.
The opening was perfectly choreographed with everyone in their right places at the right time, saying all the right and complementary things. But Irish Press journalist Jean Sheridan, looking down from our press seats, had a query: “Where were all the women?” Eileen Desmond (Lab), a future Cabinet minister from Carrigaline, Kathleen Hartnett (FG), Knocknagree, and Carmel Harrington (Lab), Bantry, were the only women members. They sat together but were almost submerged by blue, brown, black, and grey suits.
Jean Sheridan later wrote that while the skyscraper was a soaring image of modern Ireland and made its official opening a day of pride for the whole of County Cork, it also made a depressing one for its women.
Much has changed, however, since that April Tuesday in 1968. Eileen Desmond’s daughter Paula later became the first woman to hold the office of Cathaoirleach.
Today’s Council has 18 women members, including two who were successive Mayors in recent times, Gillian Coughlan, Bandon, and Mary Linehan Foley, Youghal.
Its chief executive is also a woman, Valerie O’Sullivan, and many of its senior management positions are female.
When the County Hall opened, there were no mobile phones, internet, emails, or social media. Letters or personal calls were still the usual way of contacting constituents.
Martin Corry, who was also a Fianna Fail TD, was said to have asked his tailor to ensure there was an extra-large pocket in his suits for his letters, while his political rival, Dick Barry, Fine Gael, another long serving Dail deputy and councillor, was also a strong believer in attending to his correspondence.
He often told the story of the friendly advice General Sean MacEoin, the legendary ‘Blacksmith of Ballinalee’ and a Cabinet Minister, gave him as he waited to be introduced to the Ceann Comhairle on his first day in the Dail: “Never let your correspondence get the better of you.” Over the following years, he always reminded colleagues that the dictionary is the only place where success comes before work.
Another giant of the Council from those days was Labour’s Paddy McAuliffe, who was first elected in 1942, when he was in his twenties. Shortly afterwards he was nominated as a member of the Joint Cork Sanitoria Board, representing the city and county.
It subsequently met at Heatherside Hospital, between Doneraile and Buttevant, and he was elected chairman, a position he held for over 20 years.
He had cycled a round trip of 52 miles over bad roads from his home in Boherbue to attend that meeting and it was some time before he acquired his first car, a Baby Ford.
Paddy Mac, a TD for 25 years up to 1969 and a County Councillor for 43 years until he retired in 1985, supported Health Minister Dr Noel Browne in his campaign to bring TB under control by expanding and improving sanatoria and chest hospitals in Cork.
As chairman of Cork Health Authority, he played another crucial role in resurrecting abandoned plans to build Cork Regional Hospital, a role later taken up by John W. Moher, a Fianna Fail TD and councillor from near Mitchelstown.
Moher took delight in telling how he ended up in Fianna Fail, having taken an oath of allegiance as a young man to three British monarchs when he was Secretary to an Admiralty Court Judge across the water.
A pragmatic man, he greatly admired the Labour politician, not least in the way he conducted meetings.
“With Paddy McAuliffe presiding, it was strictly on the agenda and the political ‘glow worms’ quickly found their wings singed,” he later wrote.
As chairman of the Council’s northern committee and Kanturk Roads Committee over many years, Paddy Mac could always sense the oncoming of an election when the number of motions on the monthly agenda suddenly escalated.
“It’s here,” he once declared. “What’s here?” he was asked. “The Year of the Hiker”, he replied, quoting the title of Keane’s play to indicate that the foot slog canvassing was at hand.
Phil Burton, a Fine Gael TD, Senator, and County Council chairman, also frequently recalled the difficult times of the 1940s: “When I was first elected, I had to cycle to Mallow, to pick up a train for Cork to attend Council meetings. The major problem for a public representative at that time was trying to get home assistance for people. There was frightful poverty.”
In more recent times, there have been many outspoken campaigners on the Council who consistently highlighted social injustices and demanded improved housing and other services.
Keeping control at meetings was always a challenge but his years presiding over the proceedings of Cork County Executive of the Irish Farmers Association helped Fianna Fail TD Ned O’Keeffe in his duties as an effective chairman of the Northern Committee Joe Sherlock, also a TD, was tireless and dogged in pursuing issues at those meetings. After one lively discussion about housing in Mallow, even one of his political opponents admired his tenacity when he quietly dubbed him “Sherlock Homes.” Another campaigner for social justice was Noel Collins from Midleton, who became the longest-serving public representative in the State with 50 years of unbroken public service.
And he did it all without ever driving a car, using a phone, or having a computer. His preferred mode of communication was a 30-year-old typewriter and handwritten letters.
While there were many stormy meetings of the Council, there were also examples of members co-operating across the political divide to secure mutually beneficial publicity when it was deemed necessary.
Michael Broderick (FG) arrived one day at a Northern Committee meeting in Mallow and placed a copy of that day’s Cork Examiner on the table in front of Fianna Fail TD Tom Meaney.
Pointing at a report in the paper, he said with a grin: “Attack me about that, Tom. I’ll attack you back and we’ll both be in the ‘de paper’ in the morning” — which they were.
Discussions among members were not always confined to the meeting rooms, however. Little groups from all parties and none would sometimes gather in the corridors to talk, often with Lawrence Kelly (FF) in the middle of them all as they shared stories and teased one another out.
Carey Joyce (FF), whose utterances were often referred to as Joycean sayings, was another popular member, who arrived in Millstreet one morning for a County Council meeting ahead of the European Song Contest being held in the town.
He asked a man on the street where was Carnegie Hall, the venue for the meeting, only to be told with a delightful smile: “The last I heard, Sir, it was still in New York.”
The Council has faced many daunting challenges in its time, including the removal of 108 bends from the serpentine Cork-Mallow Road, a project finally completed in 1994 under the direction of County Engineer Brendan Devlin.
Public demands on Council members have grown in volume and intensity over the years. One enduring story relates to a woman who wrote similar letters to Dick Barry (FG) and Martin Corry (FF) seeking their help in securing a medical card for her niece.
But she mistakenly put the letter beginning “Dear Martin” into the envelope addressed to Barry and the one that started with “Dear Dick” into the one posted to Corry.
The two amused TDs decided to send the woman a joint response. They thanked her for all the votes given to them in the past and her pledges of continued support in future elections. They promised to pass on her request to the appropriate office. And then they signed the letter: “Dick and Martin.”
