Search Results for 'John Condon'

Independent councillor Frank Durcan showed in no uncertain terms this week what he thought about a letter and a copy of the code of conduct for councillors, which he received from county secretary John Condon, reprimanding him for his actions at the previous meeting of the local authority. Walking from his seat in the chamber to the top bench, Cllr Durcan told the meeting, “You can do what you want with that (the letter) as far as I’m concerned, and the code,” as he started to tear the letter into small pieces before dropping the remains of it on front of the county secretary.

Following Councillor Frank Durcan’s actions at the last meeting of Mayo County Council, the Independent representative has been sent a letter from John Condon, County Secretary, asking him to adhere to the councillors’ code of conduct during council meetings.

It’s not every day that Bunreacht na hÉireann makes an appearance at a local government meeting. But last Monday, Independent councillor Frank Durcan walked up to the top bench at the February meeting of Mayo County Council and left a copy of the Irish Constitution in front of county secretary John Condon, asking him where in the Constitution it refers to privacy.

Claims that Mayo County Council are sitting on €22 million worth of unspent development levies in a bank account have been rejected by a senior council official this week.

This monthly meeting of Mayo County Council saw the Fine Gael members of the council launch a scathing attack on the recent budget cutbacks. The remarks of the majority side of the house saw a number of Fianna Fáil councillors admit that they themselves were not happy with the budget. Achill-based Cllr Michael McNamara told the meeting that “there are some aspects of the the budget that I can’t defend”. While Claremorris area councillor Pat McHugh said “I have been a loyal supporter of the Government, but I’m not afraid to say there is no way I can defend this budget. There are many issues that have been raised, and they were discussed at meetings of Fianna Fáil councillors around the country, and a number of areas where a hatchet was used when a scalpel should have been.”

Labour’s Keith Martin, who was elected to Westport Town Council in June, has been suspended from office as he failed to submit details of his election expenditure on time.

The county continues to cope with dealing with the severe cold snap — many householders continue to remain isolated; without water as pipes have burst, and struggle to get to work as roads remain hazardous. The forecast for the rest of the week predicts further prolonged cold spells, with road temperatures below zero, snow, ice, and wintry showers — making it the most prolonged cold spell in Ireland since 1963.

Independent Councillor Frank Durcan has called for the acting county manager Joe Beirne to consider his position after he accused him of benefiting from the change of a junction on the Pontoon/Turlough Road in Castlebar. Cllr Durcan alleged to a meeting of Mayo County Council that Mr Beirne had not fulfilled his duties in disclosing his interests in a property in the area where the works were being carried out. The property Cllr Durcan referred to is the premises where Mr Beirne’s wife carries out her business.

Fine Gael’s decision to push through its four nominees to the VEC and not give the opposition members in the council a chance to put through one nominee led to bad feeling among the other councillors at the monthly meeting of the local authority.