Council Affairs: Crooning for CCTV

IT was music to these ears to hear councillors, executive, and Mayor singing off the same hymn sheet at a meeting on funding for CCTV.

IT was music to these ears to hear councillors, executive, and Mayor alike singing off the same hymn sheet at a special meeting on funding for CCTV in the city and county last week.

Even the dogs on the street are weary of the continuous catfighting in Merchant’s Quay and just want to see everyone pulling together for the greater good of our beach-combing inhabitants. The saboteurs might still be plotting in the wings and, no doubt we’ll see a few squabbles yet, but it was a welcomed peaceful start to local authority proceedings after the summer break.

“I must say, with very, very few exceptions, it’s the first time that I’ve experienced unity in entirety amongst the elected members. In my view, the Mayor needs to call publicly on the Minister for Justice to act and provide funding here,” Independent councillor Jerome Scanlan crooned.

The only sign of any Council member singing off key came from the Fianna Fáil bench, which didn’t go down at all well with the blue-shirts – well, one in particular.

Cllr Catherine Slattery decided it was time for an impassioned solo amidst a mellifluous refrain around the Dooradoyle chamber.

One of the biggest hits in the Dooradoyle Council chamber last year, Slattery lifted the roof off the place with chorus of Up Your Game, Mayor!

“It’s great we’re all singing off the same hymn sheet here, but Mayor did your office put pressure on the relevant Ministers during the year?

“I feel there should have been, and why is it so late in the day that we are having these discussions with two weeks to go?” Cllr Slattery sang.

“What was your plan, Mayor? You know what we want to do. You know we need something. We need to be told, what was your plan?”

Cllr Slattery closed her performance with a moving rendition of You’re Our Mayor.

“Mayor, I can’t understand why you’re not screaming from the rooftops about this. This is a safety issue for the people of Limerick, and after all, Mayor, you are the Mayor of Limerick.

“You have direct lines with the ministers, so you need to up your game here.”

Fine Gael man Liam Galvin brought the curtain down with a little ditty called Catherine, I Suggest You Talk to the Minister.

“The Mayor has ponied up the money to keep the CCTV system going for this year. It’s the Minister for Justice that needs to be held accountable here, Catherine,” Cllr Galvin yodelled.

Remember Council fans, the music is not in the notes, but in the silence between.