Sitting councillors fail to show at ‘meet the candidates’ event in Claremorris

THE five sitting councillors in the Damien Ryan failed to show up at a ‘meet the candidates’ event in Claremorris that was dominated by the controversy surrounding the Belmont Hotel in Knock.

Five seats which had been randomly assigned for the sitting councillors in the area, Damien Ryan (Fianna Fáil), Michael Burke (Fine Gael), Tom Connolly (Fine Gael), Patsy O’Brien (Independent) and Richard Finn (Independent), were left empty during the event, which was attended by six candidates for the Claremorris Local Electoral Area.

Alma Gallagher (Fine Gael), Geraldine Kelly (Independent), Paul Lawless (Aontú) Aaron Kelly (The Irish People), Mark Devane (Independent Ireland) and Sandra Sweetman (Independent) took part in the event hosted by Claremorris Community Radio.

The event, which took place in Claremorris Town Hall, subsequently descended into what one source described as a ‘shouting match’.

“There was a good bit of anger that the people who were elected weren’t there,” said one person who was present.

The main topic of discussion was the disused Belmont Hotel in Knock, which was the subject of a public demonstration attended by over 200 people last disused after unconfirmed reports that it was to be used to accommodate refugees. The Department of Integration later confirmed that the derelict property has been offered as accommodation for Ukrainian refugees.

The matter was discussed at length by six candidates and by the audience. Unconfirmed speculation that the former Eircom building in Claremorris is to be used as an International Protection Accommodation Service (IPAS) centre was also discussed.

Separately, one attendee expressed concern about the lack of an indoor sports complex in the Claremorris area.

All 13 candidates in the Claremorris Local Electoral area, which stretches from Shrule to Kilitmagh, were invited to the event in Claremorris Town Hall. The discussion was chaired by John Corless, who recently retired as manager of the venue.

Speaking at the event, Paul Lawless said it was ‘really disappointing to see no elected councillors’ at the event.

“There are serious questions that our elected reps must answer,” said the Knock-based school teacher, who accused the sitting councillors of ‘going into hiding’ over the issue of the Belmont Hotel.

“It’s despicable that those councillors have decided to snub not just the people of Claremorris Community Radio, not just the people of town hall who spent days and weeks organising this event, but you the voter. It’s not good enough. It’s not good enough that our councillors have gone into hiding weeks before an election.”

When contacted by The Mayo News, Cllr Damien Ryan admitted to receiving the invite to the event that it ‘totally slipped’ his mind.

Ballinrobe-based councillor Michael Burke said he did not attend as Claremorris is outside of his local area.

Cllr Patsy O’Brien told The Mayo News said that he responded to an invite from Claremorris Community Radio saying he could not attend the event.

Cllr Tom Connolly declined to comment when contacted by The Mayo News. Cllr Richard Finn did not respond to requests to comment. 

All 73 candidates for the Mayo County Council elections are listed here.