Fine Gael open to working with Fianna Fail on Mayo County Council

THE Fine Gael whip on Mayo County Council says the door is open to talking to any ‘sensible people’ in deciding council policy for the next five years – and that includes Fianna Fáil.

A grouping of Fianna Fáil and Independent councillors have controlled the reins of Mayo County Council for the last ten years, and the results of Friday’s local election suggest they have the numbers to do so again.

Fine Gael looked set to take control of the council in 2019, but a last minute U-turn by the then Independent councillor Seamus Weir removed any chance of an agreement.

The current Fine Gael whip, Westport-based councillor Peter Flynn, told The Mayo News that his party wants to be part of the next council and is willing to sit down with any political group.

“The door is open, and I hope we can have sensible conversations. We have seen that happen at the national level, when people said it could not be done,” he said, referring to the government coalition. “We hope that every option is available at a local level again and we don’t have more of the same.”

When asked if that group would include Fianna Fáil, he replied ‘absolutely’.

“We want to partner with a group who wants to move the council forward in the right direction and wants to get the council focusing on the things that really matter to people. They are the basic things like the key services and infrastructure and projects which will deliver for the entire county, and that is the most important thing right now. We want to sit down with sensible people who want to do sensible things,” he added.

More Independents

30 councillors have now been elected to Mayo County Council.

The final seats were filled by Joe Faughnan, Michael Loftus and Jarlath Munnelly, who were elected in the Ballina area in the early hours of this morning. Two recounts took place in Swinford but eventually Neil Cruise (Fine Gael) held off the challenge of John Sheahan from Sinn Féin. Cruise held out in both recounts to be declared elected last night along with Gerry Murray, (Sinn Féin), Adrian Forkan and John Caulfield (both Fianna Fáil).

There are five new councillors in Mayo: Joe Faughnan (Independent) in Ballina; Harry Barrett (Independent) in Castlebar; Alma Gallagher (Fine Gael) and Paul Lawless (Aontú) in Claremorris; Chris Maxwell (Independent Ireland) in Westport. Three outgoing councillors lost their seats: Tom Connolly (Fine Gael) in Claremorris; Martin McLoughlin (Fianna Fáil) in Castlebar; and Christy Hyland (Independent) in Westport.

The state of the parties after these elections in Mayo is as follows: Fine Gael – 10 councillors (down from 11); Fianna Fáil – 10 councillors (down from 11); Independents – seven councillors (no change); Aontu – one councillor (previously none); Sinn Féin – one councillor (no change); Independents Ireland – one councillor (previously none).

The full list of councillors in the new Mayo County Council for the next five-year term is:

Ballina (6): Cllr John O’Hara (Fine Gael), Cllr Mark Duffy (Independent), Cllr Annie May-Reape (Fianna Fáil), Cllr Joe Faughnan (Independent), Cllr Michael Loftus (Fianna Fáil), Cllr Jarlath Munnelly (Fine Gael).

Belmullet (3): Cllr Paul McNamara (Fianna Fáil), Cllr Gerry Coyle (Fine Gael), Cllr Seán Carey (Fianna Fáil).

Castlebar (7): Cllr Michael Kilcoyne (Independent), Cllr Ger Deere (Fine Gael), Cllr Blackie Gavin (Fianna Fáil), Cllr Al McDonnell (Fianna Fáil), Cllr Cyril Burke (Fine Gael), Cllr Harry Barrett (Independent), Cllr Donna Sheridan (Fine Gael).

Claremorris (6): Cllr Patsy O’Brien (Independent), Cllr Richard Finn (Independent), Cllr Damien Ryan (Fianna Fáil), Cllr Alma Gallagher (Fine Gael), Cllr Paul Lawless (Aontú), Cllr Michael Burke (Fine Gael).

Swinford (4): Cllr Gerry Murray (Sinn Féin), Cllr Adrian Forkan (Fianna Fáil), Cllr John Caulfield (Fianna Fáil), Cllr Neil Cruise (Fine Gael).

Westport (4): Cllr Chris Maxwell (Independents Ireland), Cllr Peter Flynn (Fine Gael), Cllr John O’Malley (Independent), Cllr Brendan Mulroy (Fianna Fáil).

Independent councillor Michael Kilcoyne, who was instrumental in negotiating arrangements between Independents and Fianna Fáil over the lifetime of the last two councils, said the Independents have no problem doing a deal with any group. However, he stressed the last arrangement with Fianna Fáil had worked well and he would be open to renewing the agreement.

“The Independents will have extra numbers, and going on my figures we could have eight, which would be nearly a third of the council, and that is a good performance. We will meet amongst ourselves to see what we would do.

“We have no problem doing a deal with either party, but we have done it twice with Fianna Fáil and it was honoured by all sides. I remember doing a deal with Fine Gael in the town-council days, and we were happy with that too. I would leave the door open to do a deal with anyone. Whoever would be best to implement our policies, we would be happy to do a deal with them,” he said.

‘Coordinated approach’

The last Independent group that did a deal with Fianna Fáil consisted of Michael Kilcoyne, Richard Finn, Christy Hyland, Seamus Weir and Mark Duffy. However, Weir has since retired and Hyland has lost his seat in the Westport Electoral Area.

New Independents include former Fine Gael councillor Patsy O’Brien, Harry Barrett from Castlebar and Independent Ireland councillor Chris Maxwell. Carrowholly-based councillor John O’Malley was not part of the last Independent group.

Cllr Kilcoyne said that it will be up to each Independent to decide who they want to talk to, but he feels they would be in a stronger position if they acted together.

“It would be better to have a coordinated approach. There is no point in having two groups of independents competing with each other. They should be all working together. There were five in the last grouping, and it held together solidly. There is difference sometimes on issues and we have always reached a compromise,” he added.

‘Honourable people’

Fianna Fáil whip Damien Ryan told The Mayo News that his party has yet to discuss who it would like to talk to regarding the make-up of the new council, but he agreed the current arrangement has worked.

“The last ten years there has been a good arrangement. They were honourable people. There will be a different group of Independents this time, so we will have to sit down with our group this week and we will take it from there,” he said.

The AGM of Mayo County Council, which will elect a new Cathaoirleach, will take place on Friday, June 21.