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"We'll fight Bord Snip" - Crossan
17.09.09
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by Liam Porter, Inishowen Independent
BUNCRANA Town Councillor Nicholas Crossan has
insisted that town councils are the first line of
local democracy and maintained there was no way they
should be abolished.
The local independent councillor’s comments came
following his attendance last weekend at the annual
conference of the Association of Municipal
Authorities of Ireland (AMAI) in Killarney.
At that conference, Cllr Crossan was elected as the
whip of the second largest grouping of council
members - the independents and small parties
alliance.
Speaking to the Inishowen Independent, Cllr Crossan
said that members of his group would be sending a
delegation to meet with Department officials soon to
discuss proposals in the Bord Snip report. |
“At the conference
there were a number of important issues discussed
including ways for councils to get better value for
money, but all of the important discussions were
carried out against the backdrop of fears that local
councils could be abolished.”
This, said Cllr Crossan would be contrary to the
best practice of local democracy, and he suggested
that places like Buncrana showed that a Town Council
worked.
“The people in Buncrana know that when they have a
problem the best person to deal with that problem is
their local town councillor. That has been proven
time and time again and instead of doing away |
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with Town Councils,
what the government should be doing is working to
enhance them.”
Meanwhile, Councillor Crossan said he was already
looking forward to next year’s conference which will
be held in Buncrana.
“There were between 300 and 400 delegates at this
year’s conference in Killarney and we’ll be hoping
to have as many as that or more at next year’s
conference. We’re really looking forward to showcase
Inishowen to the delegates and hopefully it will
also be an indication as well that Buncrana and
Inishowen is capable of holding conferences like
this." |
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