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2nd April 2013 • Volume 20, Issue 12 • Leader House, North Street, Swords, Co. Dublin. • Tel: 8•400•200 • info@northcountyleader.ie
Who’s Actually Representing You? With just over a year to go to the local elections, our councillors are busying themselves tackling local issues in an effort to secure your precious vote. But who is doing what? By Patrick Finnegan
League Table Councillors
Politically, the North County is divided into three Electoral Areas, namely Balbriggan, (which includes Skerries, Rush, Lusk and the rural villages of the northern half of the county), Swords, (which includes Donabate and Portrane), and Howth / Malahide, (which also includes Portmarnock, Baldoyle and Sutton). Swords and Balbriggan elected representatives attend the same Area Committee meeting, while Malahide / Howth operate as a sepatate Area BALBRIGGAN Committee. TOP PERFORMER Official figures from last year studied by this journalist, reveal that there is a yawning gap between our best and worst performing councillors, based on the number of motions and questioned submitted at their respective Area Committee meetings. These figures are based on a total of 10 Cllr. Farrell monthly meetings, which took place in 2012. Attendances at these meetCouncillor ings have generally been good and we believe the figures are accurate to Ken Farrell (Lab) within plus or minus two percent, David O’Connor (NP) according to our research. Ciaran Byrne (Lab) When motions and questions are May McKeon (NP) added together, a gap of 151 submisTom O’Leary (FG) sions exists between the best and worst performing councillors over the year. You will be shocked at the performance of some of our representatives, who are trusted with representing us and ensuring that the local authority is fully aware of our concerns and needs. The top performer for 2012 in the Swords Electoral Area was Darragh Butler (FF), who tabled 26 motions and 126 questions, making a total of 152 submissions This was followed by Gerry McGuire (Lab) with 74 submissions, Tom Kelleher (Lab) with 37, Eugene Coppinger (SP) with 20 and Anne Devitt with just one motion. In the Balbriggan Electoral Ward, the leading performer was Ken Farrell (Lab), who made 122 submissions, made up of 26
ELECTORAL WARD
Cllr. O’Leary
26 4 15 6 1
@
96 19 5 12 0
Cllr. Butler
WORST PERFORMER
@
Cllr. Devitt
Meetings Motions Questions Attended Submitted Submitted Total
Councillor
Darragh Butler (FF) Gerry McGuire (Lab) Tom Kelleher (Lab) Eugene Coppinger (SP) Anne Devitt (NP)
9 8 9 8 7
TOP PERFORMER
Meetings Motions Questions Attended Submitted Submitted Total
10 10 7 7 6
TOP PERFORMER
26 30 22 8 1
126 44 15 12 0
152 74 37 20 1
MALAHIDE / HOWTH ELECTORAL WARD
WORST PERFORMER
SWORDS ELECTORAL WARD
122 23 20 18 1
WORST PERFORMER
Cllr. O’Callaghan
Councillor
Cian O’Callaghan (Lab) Anthony Lavin (FG) Peter Coyle (Lab) Eoghan O’Brien (FF) Joan Maher (FG)
Cllr. Maher
@
Meetings Motions Questions Attended Submitted Submitted Total
9 10 10 10 9
40 35 40 28 2
Free Parking With easy access to all stores from the parking areas The Heart Of Shopping In Balbriggan
88 72 53 61 4
128 107 93 89 6
motions and 96 questions. Others to contribute included David O’Connor (NP) with 23, Ciaran Byrne (Lab) with 20, May McKeon (NP) with 18 and Tom O’Leary with just one single motion. Councillors in the Howth / Malahide Electoral area were more evenly matched, where County Mayor, Cian O’Callaghan (Lab), made 128 submissions, comprised of 40 motions and 88 questions. He was followed by Anthony Lavin (FG), with 107, Peter Coyle (Lab) with 93, Eoghan O’Brien (FF) with 89, right down to Joan Maher (FG), who made just 6 submissions in total. Local councillors are elected to be the voice of residents at local government level. Decisions that affect our everyday lives are made, or rejected in County Hall in Swords. Like in all walks of life, there appears to be some who take their job more seriously than others. Clearly, many of our councillors are very dedicated and hard working to ensure that a valuable service is secured in providing a better environment for our families ; however, these figures show that some councillors are actively working on your behalf, but some clearly are not. Residents will ask why one councillor can make 152 submissions, whilst others make just one. You will have the final say in June next year.