It was easy to tell the experienced councillors from the newbies, writes Brian Byrne. They knew the game. They had their ducks in a row. Agreement as to who would hit which. When. And how.
There was talk beforehand about 'unlikely alliances'. Even that there mightn't be a Mayor elected at the annual meeting of Kildare County Council. But the hands had been shaken long before Friday.
So when well-seasoned Suzanne Doyle nominated her Fianna Fail colleague Fiona O'Loughlin as first Mayor of the new Council, with a record of 'outstanding public service', she could do so with a typical for her sense of confidence. When Fine Gael's Brendan Weld seconded Fiona as someone 'who will provide stability', the deal for the duration was clear. The Civil War is over.
Not that the two parties haven't worked together before in Council. Local politics is nothing if not pragmatic. I last covered the Kildare chamber about a decade ago, and there were many occasions when decisions had been sorted in similar fashion long before they were argued through meetings agendas. Maybe not so much in the last 25-member group, where there was a much more dominant Fine Gael and Labour. Though honestly, I don't know. I've been away too long.
But this new 40-member Council is where the current Government coalition makeup can't manage a majority. There's also the very visible elephant in the chamber. Sinn Fein, a one-person minority when I was last here. But this time with seats in all five of the new Municipal Areas. Winning them handsomely, particularly who will certainly become their star, Sorcha O'Neill in the Naas MA. With the SF domination of Dublin authorities looming over their shoulders, and a sharp, even unpalatable flavour from new independents, there was a pressing reason for the Civil War parties to finally bury the hatchet.
At the opening meeting of the new Council they also showed that their strategy is to try and bury the Shinners in Kildare. In vote after vote for various positions from Deputy Mayor down through a myriad of national and local committees representation, the five SF hands up, occasionally joined by an Independent or two, failed to make an impact. Especially against the practised confidence of Suzanne Doyle and Fine Gael's Darren Scully. Maybe they didn't know that he had been drafted by the party to other parts of the country as a mentor to FG newbies for this election. Stoically, they kept raising their hands anyhow.
A number of committees are to be filled at MA level, and it may well be that the dominant representations on these will be more generous to this new, but significant and disciplined minority. Whatever, even if the Sinn Fein councillors are very much among the newbies, they're also a quick study. And they take the long view.
I'm looking forward to seeing how things develop as this Council finds its feet. It's still the best spectator sport in town. But a deadly serious one for all Kildare citizens who have elected this 40 to represent us. It's a great pity that so few of those bother to follow proceedings from the public gallery (which is maybe why it was designed so small).
Cllr Fiona O'Loughlin said after her election as Mayor that she still has to get to know many of those who faced her top desk at Friday's meeting. I hope I will too. It's not just the Naas MA members who have Kilcullen's future in their hands.
And then, there's that next general election ... maybe the hands for that are already being shaken, too.
No comments:
Post a Comment