Labour Party row: hell will freeze over before I apologise, says defiant Bree

sligo | rights, freedoms and repression | news report Thursday September 01, 2005 11:43 by Allen

THE former Mayor of Sligo, Councillor Declan Bree, could face expulsion from the Labour Party when a simmering internal row comes to a head with the hearing of a formal complaint against him by a Special Committee in September

And, Clr. Bree may also be on a collision course with the Party leadership, describing the decision to uphold the complaint as "incredulous" and "bringing Labour into disrepute.

"The complaint, submitted by the party's Sligo/Leitrim Secretary, relates to Clr. Bree's failure or refusal to apologise and withdraw remarks he made earlier this year criticising Councillors, including Labour colleagues, Clr. Jim McGarry and Clr. Veronica Cawley, over their refusal to support Sligo's Traveller Accommodation Programme.

Following a Borough Council meeting in February, when seven Councillors voted down the Traveller Accommodation Programme, Clr. Bree-who was then Mayor of Sligo-described the decision as "disgraceful" in an interview with "The Sligo Champion".

He said it would compel the Traveller families to continue living in appalling and intolerable conditions.

"How can anyone who claims to share the values of the Labour movement, or how can anyone with an ounce of compassion tolerate such a situation ?" he asked.

It is understood that at a Labour meeting in Sligo at the end of February, Clr. Bree not only refused to apologise, but repeated his remarks that the decision was disgraceful.

The complaint relating to Clr. Bree's remarks was submitted to Labour General Secretary, Mr. Mike Allen, by Ms. Peigin Doyle. He had the option of dismissing it as frivolous or vexatious, or to deem it valid and establish a Complaints Committee under Article 14 of the Party's constitution.

Mr. Allen deemed the complaint valid and it is believed he will present the case against Clr. Bree.

Clr. Bree this morning told The Sligo Champion that he had no intention of apologising or withdrawing his remarks.

"I think the people of Sligo will know that hell will freeze over before I renege on my principles," he said in a hard hitting statement.

"Since I first became involved in socialist politics as a teenager in the late 1960's and in my 31 years as an elected representative, the record will show that I have always adhered to the values of the Labour movement and I have particularly striven to protect the rights of minorities, whether emigrants, travellers, or other groups," he added.

In his position as Mayor, he made the point that the litmus test of any society was how it treated its marginalised, its disadvantaged and its minorities.

"In this context, I said that the disgraceful decision to vote down the Traveller Accommodation Programme would compel Traveller families to continue living in appalling and intolerable conditions. Why in God's name should I apologise for that ?" he went on.

Clr. Bree said he found it "incredible" that any political party describing itself as socialist or social democratic would validate such a complaint."

In the years up to Pat Rabbitte becoming leader, it would have been inconceivable that an elected representative from the Party would be hauled before a specially established Complaints Committee for supporting the right of Traveller families to secure accommodation," he added.

He maintains that such a scenario would have been "unthinkable" during the tenure of the leadership of both Dick Spring and Ruairi Quinn. "Party members were expected to subscribe to the values of the Labour movement.”

"I have been contacted by Party members and supporters from many parts of the country who are appalled and embarrassed at what is happening.

"I actually recollect a Labour Party Councillor being expelled from the part for failing to support the rights of Travellers. It is amazing how things have changed in the Party over the past few years," Clr. Bree went on.

He noted that the fact of the matter was that Sligo Borough Council had a statutory and more so a moral obligation to provide accommodation as far as was reasonable and practicable for the Travellers living within the Borough.

The decision of Councillors to vote down the Traveller Accommodation Programme had effectively penalised local Travellers and would force them to continue to live in intolerable and unacceptable conditions, he said.

"I am still at a loss to understand why Councillors voted down the Accommodation Programme. While I recognise that there is a significant degree of prejudice against Travellers, the fact is that throughout the entire public consultation process relating to the Traveller Accommodation Programme, the only submissions received related to the access route to the proposed site in the Maugheraboy area and that matter was dealt with," Clr. Bree added.

Not one other objection was received from any member of the general public regarding the proposals contained in the Accommodation Programme, he stated.

"In this context, I cannot understand why some Councillors chose to vote down the Accommodation Programme and I am particularly disappointed that Labour Councillors would associate themselves with such a decision.

"In my view, no family, no mother, no child, should be forced to live in third world conditions in today's Ireland. When I became involved in the Labour movement, principles and values counted. As far as I am concerned, they still count," Clr. Bree


(Article from this weeks edition of the "Sligo Champion")