Cork City Hall demo tonight

by Dubliner Mon Jun 21, 2004 15:13

Good to see people having a go at those dodgy FF-Lab-FG councillors in Cork.

Now that the count in Dublin City is over, who is dealing with who. I believe that there is an "anti bin tax" majority with Labour and Sinn Fein and others having a majority. So why won't the Bin Tax be abolished? Will they call off any attempts to not collect bins? Will Labour fail us all yet again and vote for bin tax?

by Badman Mon Jun 21, 2004 15:31

We are about to see some pretty comical manoeuvering in the Dublin City council chamber. Although there is a anti-bin tax majority on the council, there is no chance that this will have any effect on rolling back the tax. Even if SF and the LP were to vote down the charge the council would simply be abolished by the city manager. This was actually reiterated several times by government ministers during the election counts as it became clear that SF would have a good number of councillers.

The council has two basic choices.

1) Refuse to approve the budget estimates that include bin taxes and get abolished.

2) Approve the charges to 'save local democracy'

The first one will not happen as SF will not pass up the opportunities that the council gives them of promoting candidates for the next general election. We already have a precedent for this in Sligo. As Gerry Adams said "Sinn Féin councillors in Sligo, rather than seeing the service go entirely over to privatisation, and seeing the aged, or people on low incomes, suffering, then went for a more pragmatic approach. The same thing has happened in Monaghan. Our position is against it. But in terms of the actual practicalities of working out these matters, as part of local government, the party made compromises on it,"

The Labour party, also have pretty good form on this. Dermot Lacey, slimeball that he is, used his casting vote as mayor to 'save local democracy' last year and pass the bin charges estimates.

The real wrangling in the council chamber will be between the LP and SF and it will not have anything to do with stopping the bin tax, it will be a battle to paint the other party as the ones who sold out on the bin tax. The Labour party, who have less to lose from an abolished council, may try to force the Shinners to approve the tax by going to the brink of abolition. Both parties might play the old "several councillers were sick / hiding in the toilet" card during the vote. Anyway, we're in for some entertainment. Don't you just love the cut and thrust of principled politics.

by Labour watch Mon Jun 21, 2004 17:54

They've done a deal with 'them' in Sligo as well.
Can't even keep an election promise for more than a week after the elections.

by Fintan Lane Mon Jun 21, 2004 21:43

The continuation of the 'deal' on Cork City Council means that Fianna Failer Sean Martin, brother of Minister Michael Martin, will be elected as Cork's Lord Mayor this evening.

What was all this talk of the FF/PD government being given a 'good kicking' in the election? All the deals on the city and county councils remain firmly in place, and the establishment politicians carry on as if Fianna Fail didn't get a drubbing in the election. No wonder there is such widespread cynicism about politics.