O'Rourke seeks Athlone Mayor's resignation over brigade loss

While Athlone town councillors have agreed to continue to seek a meeting with the Taoiseach on the status of Custume Barracks, opposition members have blamed Fine Gael for the town losing its brigade status. Fianna Fail member Cllr Aengus O'Rourke called on Mayor Alan Shaw to resign over the issue, but he was the only member who pursued that approach. An emergency meeting of Athlone Town Council had been called on Monday evening to discuss the loss of the 4th brigade headquarter status from Custume Barracks, as announced the previous week, by the Junior Minister for Defence, Paul Kehoe. "Athlone is guaranteed by Government to maintain its personnel numbers in the order of 1,000 for the future, 50 lower than is currently employed at Custume Barracks," said Mayor Shaw. "I requested the Minister for Defence to retain the Army Band in Athlone as part of the 1,000 strong force and their retention has been confirmed to me this evening by the Minister of Defence. The Army Band is part of the cultural fabric of our town and I'm sure members you will agree that the confirmation of the retention of the army band is of particular significance." Fianna Fail's Cllr. Kieran Molloy urged the council to continue to seek a meeting with Taoiseach, Enda Kenny, as had been agreed two weeks earlier at the June council meeting. "Who will give the orders for crises that takes place in the midlands and west, and why does the midlands have to suffer?" asked Cllr Molloy. "This always seems to happen, not just with this government, but with the last government, and all is focused on Dublin, and now on Cork, and I think the 4th Western Brigade is the thin end of the wedge. I believe units will be moved from Athlone barracks, and if units go, people will go." Labour's Cllr Jim Henson said he was disgusted with the decision, and also with the way it was communicated. "We had Oireachtas members denying that it would happen, and two nights later we learned it would happen, and it was almost as if it had nothing to do with us, the decision was made behind closed doors, and it's not a strategy to save money," he said. "We want the decision to be overturned, and it doesn't seem to make any sense as to why it happened, except it was a political decision." Independent Cllr Kevin 'Boxer' Moran said this government was the same as the last, and they didn't pay heed to "people like us". "We were told about this by a junior minister, and people in the Labour party told me that they didn't know about this," said Boxer. "Mayor, you got some answers, and I hope they don't go back on their word to you, because I left a party that went back on their word. Horrible decisions are coming down the tracks, and the people put in government are not listening to us. It's unfair, undemocratic to the people we serve, not one Minister has met us, yet they are leaking to the media." Cllr Aengus O'Rourke said he was accused of "scaremongering" four weeks ago, and believes the decision was made some time ago. "Morale in the barracks is on the floor over this, as a result of this decision," said the Fianna Fáil councillor. "Fine Gael lost the brigade, that is shameful; the people of Athlone should never forget this. Mayor, to be quite honest, you failed in your leadership role, you have only two weeks left to rule, and you should consider your position as Mayor given the severity of the situation, as an act of solidarity with those who have been affected by this decision." Sinn Fein's Cllr Paul Hogan said he raised the matter in December, about the cutting of the brigades from three to two, and he too was accused of scaremongering. "The figures don't add up, and they are still saying that only fifty are affected. There doesn't seem to be any clear thought gone into why they are downgrading Custume Barracks," said Cllr. Hogan. "What will happen to the 6th Batt of Custume Barracks, and what about the permanent staff of the Reserves, will they be affected? Were the personnel of the army consulted about this decision? I don't think they were notified." Fine Gael's Cllr. Mark Cooney said he was as disappointed as any other council member about the taking away of the 4th brigade status. The Fine Gael councillor said the figures being mentioned of hundreds of people being relocated are based on 1,400 people being employed in the barracks, which he said was not the case. "There are 1,050 in Custume Barracks, and assurance is given that the number will not drop below 1,000, and the rumours were that hundreds will be relocated," he said. "Army personnel will be there to deal with emergencies and flooding and so on. They will still do that." Independent councillor, Sheila Buckley Byrne said that Athlone councillors from the government parties reassured the members two weeks ago that no decision was made about the 4th brigade. "They reassured us several times, but the government party councillors were misled by ministers and press officers, and that is a worrying trend," said Cllr. Buckley-Byrne. She spoke directly to the Fine Gael and Labour members throughout her delivery and said that she didn't know whether to believe them when they say only 50 jobs and not 400 would be involved. "I can't have confidence in that statement," said the Independent councillor. Fine Gael's Cllr Gabrielle McFadden said she wasn't going to defend what her government had done with the downgrading of Custume Barracks. "I lobbied very hard for this over the last while, to try and protect the status, but to no avail, as has Deputy McFadden who has done everything she could," said Cllr. McFadden, who is the sister of Deputy Nicky McFadden. Town Clerk Hugh O'Reilly read an acknowledgement reply from the Taoiseach, about the letter they sent after the June meeting, which said that he put the council's points to Minister Shatter. It was agreed to write another letter to the Taoiseach requesting a council deputation on the loss of the brigade status.