Athlone Town Council likely to stay - 'Boxer'

Athlone's Cllr Kevin 'Boxer' Moran has spoken about the importance of work done by local councillors, as speculation grows that many town councils will either be scrapped or have their number of members reduced. Environment Minister Phil Hogan is due to propose reforms to the local government system in the near future, and he told the Seanad recently that changes to town councils were necessary. "Without devaluing the work of the members and staff of town councils, we must honestly acknowledge that the sub-county level has become an increasingly marginalised element of the local government system, with problems of weakness, duplication and inconsistency," he said. Last Sunday, one national paper reported that Minister Hogan's reforms would see "every town council in the country scrapped," while on Monday another national paper reported that some town councils would be axed while others would see their number of members reduced. Speaking yesterday, 'Boxer' said he didn't know what decision would be taken on the future of Athlone Town Council but he felt it was likely to be retained in some form because it, unlike some smaller councils, generates some of its own income in commercial rates. "I think it would be very undemocratic if the Government did away with all town councils," said the Independent (ex-Fianna Fail) representative. "The Minister is walking on very thin ice on this issue. There are already some signs of dissent among grassroots members of his party and if he doesn't listen to those people then Fine Gael is going to lose its way the very same way that Fianna Fail did. "People sometimes say 'we don't need councillors' but what I say to those people is if we are not needed then why do we get so many calls from the public? Come with me for a day or a week and you'll see the amount of calls I get. I've been in the council offices for the last four hours, dealing with queries, and if we weren't here then a lot of this stuff wouldn't get done." He was concerned about powers being taken away from councils and he felt the number of town councillors in Athlone might well be reduced. He also remarked that Mullingar Town Council "could be in trouble" as could other, smaller councils. Athlone Chamber of Commerce clashed with the town council over its level of commercial rates at the beginning of this year, but Chamber president John McGrath said it generally has a very good relationship with the local authority. "We would obviously be very disappointed if there was a proposal to abolish the town council, and we would lobby for its retention," he said. "We think there is a lot that could be done in terms of improving efficiencies and sharing roles between councils, but in terms of collecting rates and spending money in the area, I think those powers should certainly be kept local." Athlone's Fine Gael Mayor Alan Shaw stated that when the Taoiseach briefly commented on this issue during a visit to Athlone IT on Monday, he "effectively rubbished" the premise that all town councils would be axed. Cllr Shaw said any indications he had received in relation to Athlone Town Council suggested that it would not be abolished. Meanwhile, Fianna Fail's Cllr Aengus O'Rourke said he supported a reduction in the number of councillors but would be firmly opposed to any attempted abolition of Athlone Town Council. Cllr O'Rourke felt that "centralised bureaucrats" in Mullingar would not be able to adequately represent this town. "If we did not have a town council then I would question whether some of the ambitious capital projects the town is looking at now would be taking place. For Athlone to thrive and prosper, we need to retain our town council." Department of the Environment spokesperson John Whelan, when asked this week about the future of town councils, said: "I cannot speculate as to what might be in the Minister's mind ahead of him bringing his proposals to Government, which he is due to do shortly."