Council meeting sums up Castlebar’s problems

 How difficult it is for the town to move forward underlined by divisions

Analysis
Edwin McGreal

If you were not sure of how at odds different stakeholders in Castlebar are, sitting through last Thursday’s meeting of the Castlebar Municipal District of Mayo County Council would have put you straight.
Castlebar Chamber of Commerce made a presentation on exciting plans for a Christmas festival in the town but it soon became apparent how divided councillors and the Chamber are generally and, as the meeting went on, just how split various business interests in the town are too.
The health of the town as a whole has been a hot topic of conversation for many years but, particularly, in recent weeks following comments in these pages and on social media by Niall McGarry, the Castlebar native and owner of well-known websites Joe.ie and Her.ie.
Mr McGarry lamented the demise of the town’s social scene last Christmas and last week in these pages we further explored what the future holds for the town.
Last Thursday’s meeting was very timely in that regard. We were reminded, if reminding was needed, of just how difficult a bright future for the town is going to be when collaboration and co-operation among the powers that be in the town is only conspicuous by its absence.
At the meeting, Wilson Bird, the President of the Castlebar Chamber of Commerce, brought to the council a presentation outlining ambitious and exciting plans for a Christmas Festival in Castlebar.
There’s no doubt the Festival has potential, no more than the town itself, and it is a very worthy idea. However, as the meeting went on, we saw again and again how divided various groups are in the town and how that means the town is effectively trying to function with one arm tied behind its back.

Words of warning
Among the county councillors there are a mix of personalities. Some are straight shooters, others are much more cautious with their comments.
Certainly it is our experience that the Fine Gael councillors on Castlebar Municipal District - Cyril Burke and Henry Kenny - are quite circumspect in what they say. They can certainly never be accused of exaggeration so when you hear either man say there are problems, well, then, it’s likely there are big problems.
“For far too long there has been too many factions and split groups and not enough people working together,” said Cllr Burke.
“You have to have co-operation. The entire town needs to drive on as a unit and not a faction here and a faction there,” said Cllr Kenny.
The fact that some businesses might not be happy if the planned ice-rink was not located at their end of town was something else raised by Cllr Burke.
“If the ice-rink is not beside somebody in a particular street, they should be able to see that the ice-rink is of benefit to everyone in the town,” said Cllr Burke.
Such comments should set alarm bells ringing about how self-interest might outweigh the collective good in the town. Of course, every business needs to look after their bottom line but the saying that ‘a rising tide lifts all boats does not appear to always strike a chord in Castlebar.

The business divide
There’s clear tension between the Chamber and councillors too. Cllr Michael Kilcoyne raised the fact that the local Chamber did not actively oppose Chambers Ireland’s support for the abolition of town councils in 2014. In many ways it was going over old ground and not looking forward but it helped to highlight the long-running poor relationship between councillors and the Chamber.
Towards the end of the meeting, it became apparent that it was not just a case of councillors and the Chamber being at odds but that businesses in the town were hugely split as well with the Chamber on one side and a Town Traders group on the other.
Wilson Bird spoke about the benefits of the festival for bringing in increased car-parking income for the council over the Christmas yet, as Cllr Kilcoyne pointed out, the council had received a plea from a Town Traders group before the Christmas seeking free parking in the run up to Christmas.
Mr Bird spoke of the council ‘accepting two different voices on this’ which led Cllr Kilcoyne to ask ‘who is representing town businesses’, adding it ‘is not up to us to say who should make representations, it is up to ye (the Chamber) to sort that out’.
“We will work with everyone. We’ve eight people (councillors) around this table and we have different views on a lot of things but we work together. I would expect any organisation in the town to be the same,” said Cllr Kilcoyne.
Mr Bird said ‘I accept that’.
A split chamber and a town far from united. What does the future hold? Until there is a more cohesive approach from the town’s power brokers, it is hard to be too optimistic.