Council introduced speaking clock

Councillors, going forward, are set to be held to a timer for their contributions to council meeting debates.

Elected members of Cavan County Council were put on notice at their January monthly meeting that their statements would be timed and limited to 15 minutes each.

It follows the arrival of a large digital clock to the council chamber, delivered on the day the meeting took place, Monday, January 12.

Cathaoirleach John Paul Feeley had previously mooted such a prospect in the past, and the local authority has now made good on that proposal.

The initiative to tighten speaking time will be introduced on a “trial basis”, the county's first citizen told his fellow elected members.

He suggested that there had been instances in the past where speakers had “taken too long so say something that could have been said more succinctly".

A timer system to enforce speaking time limits is already in place in other councils across the country, including in neighbouring County Monaghan.