Council criticised for not having funds to support community events

MAYO County Council have been accused of not having a 'pot to piss in' after a Westport councillor had to use his own GMA funding allocation to pay for toilets for the Relay for Life event in May.

The Relay for Life event took place over a 24-hour period along the Mall in Westport on May 20 and 21 to support and fundraise for those affected by cancer.

Westport-based councillor Peter Flynn was one of the main organisers and he had to use his own GMA allocation to pay €221.40 to pay for temporary toilets for the event.

His colleague Cllr Christy Hyland, raised the matter at the monthly meeting of Westport/Belmullet Municipal District and criticised Mayo County Council for not stepping up and paying for the toilets for the event, and instead forcing Cllr Flynn to use his GMA allocation.

Cllr Flynn added that the situation highlighted the lack of funding available in Mayo County Council.

Lack of funding

“The manager doesn't have a pot to piss in and we don't have the price of a toilet anyway in this municipal district. We have become a penny pinching organisation and talk to anyone across Mayo County Council and they will tell you everyone is talking about pennies. This amount of money sums up how strapped the municipal district is. The system is utterly broken,” he said.

Cllr Hyland said that the Relay for Life highlighted the great work by volunteers in bringing the community together for such an important issue and the council should be supporting it financially.

Cllr Brendan Mulroy said a lot of work went into the Relay for Life event and said the council needs to get on board and support it next year.

Head of the Municipal District Padraig Walsh congratulated Cllr Flynn for being the driving force of a great event but agreed they do not have the budget to support events like Relay for Life.

“To put it in context there are scores of events around our MD that happen every year and if we were to support one with toilet facilities we will have to support them all. You are correct though and I do not have the budget to support that. I cannot jump in and support one. The GMA fund is the obvious fund to do that and it falls to the members to step up,” he said.