Politicians continue to fight for seats - physical seats

By Naoise Coogan

We’ve heard about politicians fighting for seats in the run up to an election but Kilkenny’s councillors took the meaning of the phrase a step further when a huge dispute erupted after the Fine Gael, Labour, Green and Independent councillors sat in the seats usually sat upon by Fianna Fail members of the Kilkenny County Council this month.

Children in school wouldn’t have got away with the behaviour of our elected members who attended their first meeting to elect their chairman on Friday June 19.

Tempers were frayed when the seven Fianna Fail councillors entered the council chambers to find that their traditional seats which some of them had occupied for several years had been usurped by members of the opposition. The outer circle on the left hand side of the chamber was filled with Fine Gael, Labour, and Green party members leaving Fianna Fail members with no option but to sit in the inner circle of exactly seven seats.

The Fianna Failers were furious and refused to sit down, while the opposition revelled in their devilment and laughed openly at the disquiet that they had caused.

The county manager and former chairman Tomas Breathnach stepped in to diffuse the situation but to no avail. The Fianna Failers left the meeting refusing to take part unless ‘their seats’ were vacated, however, the opposition held their ground. Finally, through the diplomatic work of the mediators, they were finally enticed back into the room so that the meeting could commence.

The Fianna Failers however, could not be enticed into the inner circle and insisted on moving chairs to the public area of the chamber from where they took part in the meeting.

Michael O’ Brien of the Labour Party was formally elected as chairman for the year ahead once the meeting got under way but there were extremely negative vibes in the room throughout the meeting. In a briefing meeting of the members last week, some members got to the chamber early once again, but this time it was the Fianna Fail members, who sat in their traditional seating.

Party whips are currently attempting to come to an agreement in a bid to resolve the problems being experienced in relation to seating in the council. These discussions are ongoing and it is not clear whether a solution has been reached.

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