Greens lead fresh calls for directly elected lord mayor of Cork

A lengthy debate was held on the issue of a directly elected lord mayor for Cork at Monday’s city council meeting, following the tabling of a motion by a Green Party councillor.

Oliver Moran, councillor for Cork City North East, said at the meeting: “We have the weakest local government in Europe, but what we’ve seen in Limerick, and what was put to the people of this city five years ago, was at least some movement on that, something which reversed the trend of taking powers away from local authority.

“The plebiscite in Cork and Waterford only very narrowly was defeated, only 1% of a difference in Cork. I believe, when something is that close, there is an appetite for the question.”

Agreed

He referenced a motion by former councillor Lorna Bogue, which was agreed on prior to the local elections, that a second plebiscite on the issue would be put to the people of Cork.

One way of bringing in this position is that the Corporate Policy Group (CPG) would recommend to Cork City Council to provide by law for a directly elected lord mayor, and Mr Moran’s motion suggested they do this.

A response from the CPG to Mr Moran earlier this week said: “The cost of holding a plebiscite as a ‘standalone’ electoral event would be substantial and would need to be provided for through the council’s budgetary process.”

It added that the council had already written to Local Government Minister Darragh O’Brien following Ms Bogue’s motion.

Against

Fianna Fáil’s Terry Shannon was against the idea, saying he had opposed it at the time. “If we have the weakest form of local government in Europe, to lobby for another layer while not reforming it at all is window dressing,” said Mr Shannon. He said a “disaster is unfolding” in Limerick and councillors there “have a lesser power than any other council in Ireland”.

Labour’s Peter Horgan, agreed but suggested that, inspired by the mayor in Manchester, a directly elected mayor could take control of public transport. “I don’t like the idea of the NTA, an overarching Dublin-based body, having control of our city’s networks and funding… that’s one position a directly elected mayor could have,” he said, adding it would require council chamber powers to be strengthened too.

Fine Gael’s Shane O’Callaghan said he had been in favour of a directly elected mayor “but now I’ve changed my mind”, agreeing that it could take powers away from councillors.

Independent councillor Kieran McCarthy suggested waiting two or three years to see how the position works in Limerick.

Sinn Féin’s Joe Lynch said he was not opposed to the idea, but was opposed to the motion, saying: “The question was put to people, and their decision should be respected.”