‘The price of a stamp won’t bring down the council’

The Ballyjamesduff Municipal District is to write to the Transport Minister seeking a meeting over road funding, even though the letter “will no doubt be put in a bin someplace” according to one councillor.

Local authority members discussed the need for a meeting with the Minister when they met recently.

Cllr Shane P O’Reilly (Ind) called for a meeting to be requested as there are “a lot of safety issues and specific projects that need funding”.

Director of Services Eoin Doyle said the motion should instead be discussed at a meeting of the full county council, as a letter from a single Municipal District was “less likely to get attention”.

Cllr Winston Bennett (FG) agreed and expected the Department to reply saying they would not meet an individual MD.

However, Cllr O’Reilly said it was up to other MDs to “sort themselves” and “the price of a stamp won’t bring down the council”.

He said there were many urgent projects in the area that need funding that needed to be discussed with the Minister, specifically the Virginia bypass.

He criticised a meeting between the Transport Minister and a delegation from the local authority last December as some councillors were not invited. The meeting, between the Minister, members of the corporate policy group and The council executive, centred on the need for more funding for Cavan roads.

However, Cllr O’Reilly expressed disappointment that not all councillors were invited, saying he has “no idea what happened”.

Cllr TP O’Reilly (FG) seconded the motion to send the letter. He said other letters had previously been sent from the full county council and these too had been “blanked”.