Council had no money for portable loos at Westport Relay For Life

COUNCILLORS from the Westport area were told that Mayo County Council did not have enough funds to pay to install two portable toilets at a race held in honour of people affected by cancer.

The Relay For Life attracted hundreds of participants when it was held in Westport for the first time earlier this summer.

The race, which is held in various venues across the country, involves local communities coming together to honour cancer survivors, cancer victims and their families.

The inaugural Westport Relay For Life raised over €50,000 for the Irish Cancer Society and is set to return on May 20.

At Monday’s meeting of Westport-Belmullet Municipal District, Cllr Christy Hyland said that Mayo County Council would not fund the installation of portable toilets for the event.

Cllr Hyland said installing two so-called ‘portaloos’ would have cost €140. Mayo County Councillors adopted a budget earlier this year that allocated expenditure of €176,501,681.

Blame

“IT was a beautiful fundraiser, but when the organisers came to put two portaloos in place so that event could take place on the Mall, we were told there was no money for the two portaloos,” said Cllr Hyland.

The Independent councillor laid the blame for the issue at the reform of local government in 2014, rather than at council officials.

During his remarks, Cllr Hyland cited a recent report which found Ireland’s county councils to have ‘limited democratic decision-making powers’ and ‘insufficient financial resources and autonomy’.

The report by The Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe (CLRAE) ranked Ireland above the Russian Federation, Moldova and Hungary in the Local Autonomy Index.

Kilmeena reception

CLLR John O’Malley then blasted the Council for not spending ‘one penny’ on a civic reception for the Kilmeena Gaelic football team in honour of their All-Ireland Junior title.

“That was an absolute disgrace and an insult to any sporting organisation,” he said.

The civic reception took place in February of this year and was partly funded by contributions from local county councillors.

By this time, new All-Ireland Junior club champions had already been crowned.

The civic reception was not attended by any Mayo County Council official, a fact that was highlighted by Cllr O’Malley.

“It was a sad reflection on the council,” added the Carrowholly-based councillor, calling for change.

Council officials present at the meeting did not respond to either of the councillors’ remarks.