Labour councillor caught offside

Hammering the ‘election returns’ nails


Liamy MacNally

A COUNCIL official described it as ‘an unintended consequence’ of the legislation that requires all councillors to register their elections costs and donations.  His comment referred to the suspension of Westport Labour Town Cllr Keith Martin.  He failed to make his returns on time.  There are limits on both the election costs and political donations.  Discrepancies will be checked.  All would be fine if councillors submitted their returns on time, as is the requirement under the law.  In a perfect world we would all die in graveyards!
Keith Martin was caught offside by an administrative error.  It was the former Taoiseach Albert Reynolds who stated that it was always the small things that trip up politicians.  Keith Martin’s case has thrown up a couple of legislative anomalies.  Candidates who stood in the recent local town and county council elections had to submit their expenses/donations returns by September 3. 
Failing to lodge the returns by the required date automatically disqualified the person from holding a council seat for five years or until the next local elections.  Candidates who were successfully elected as councillors and who failed to make their returns on time, while disqualified, were allowed to complete their returns within seven days and thus, their disqualification was lifted automatically.  This seven-day grace period is not granted to unsuccessful candidates who discover that they are barred from becoming councillors (e.g. being co-opted) during the term of the council.
Keith Martin’s case is a classic ‘unintended consequence’ of this legislation.  He was unsuccessful in his bid for a county council seat, failed to make the returns by the required date and was ‘automatically’ debarred from holding office, regardless of being elected to Westport Town Council.  His Town Council seat allowed him the seven-day grace period but the automatic disqualification for failing to secure the county council seat kicked in which led to his suspension as a Westport Town Councillor. 
It is a harsh reality for a Councillor of Keith Martin’s calibre.  One might even call it an irony.  The irony does not stop there.  His party colleague and fellow Westport Town Council candidate, David Fallon, failed to get elected and also failed to make his returns on time.  This means that he cannot be co-opted on to the Labour seat if Keith Martin has to vacate it.  Legal advice to Keith Martin will explore the possibility of seeking a declaration from a judge in the Circuit Court that the ban be lifted.  Legislation allows for this but there must be a genuine reason, like illness, for not making returns on time.   
Another man who will be examining the legislation is former Fianna Fáil Castlebar Town Councillor, Aidan Crowley.  He stood in the town and county council elections and failed to get elected in either.  He made his returns on time detailing his expenditure and donations in both campaigns.  Unfortunately for him he submitted all the information to Mayo County Council only.  Having ‘failed’ to submit the required returns on time to Castlebar Town Council he was disqualified from sitting in a council chamber for five years.  Small administrative errors have costly consequences in public life.  Aidan Crowley does not deserve this blemish.
When the Keith Martin story emerged at a special council meeting called to discuss the Draft Development Plan, the Cathaoirleach, Cllr Myles Staunton, postponed the meeting to allow Keith Martin a little space in the circumstances.  It was a noble gesture and spoke volumes about Myles Staunton and his colleagues who supported his proposal.  Integrity is alive and well in the Westport Council chamber. 
One wonders why the legislation in question did not require all candidates to be accountable to pay on-the-spot-fines if they failed to submit their returns on time.  Nothing gets a faster response from politicians and would-be politicians that hitting them in the pocket!  Legislators would have to make sure that the fines increase for every 24 hours they are late with their returns.  Mature recollection would become a pre-requisite for all whose names appear on the ballot papers!  Regardless of the outcomes of legal advice to Keith Martin and Aidan Cowley the legislation needs to be examined to ensure that common sense prevails.  At present the law is an ass.  In a country straining at the leash of democracy such legislation should be amended without delay. 
It has also emerged that other candidates are disqualified from holding office because they failed to make returns on time.  Castlebar Town Councillor Brendan Heneghan (FG) was also late, but because he was elected, he was given the seven-day grace period in which he resolved outstanding matters.
Keith Martin quotes Abraham Maslow on his ‘Political Quote’ web page: “If you only have a hammer, you tend to see every problem as a nail.”  Ouch!