Town Clerk Refutes Allegation of Threatening Councillor



Connaught Telegraph April 17 1996


By DEIRDRE KELLY

A meeting of Castlebar Urban Council was left in disarray when two members of the authority accused an official of threatening councillors.

Mr Frank Durcan had alleged the town clerk, Mr John Condon, threatened councillors not to support motions tabled by him.

"Something sinister is going on," said Mr Durcan, "I have had some good ideas and no one would support them. Now I have been informed that none other than our town clerk has been threatening councillors that if they supported me in this council, he would deal with them," he said.

He continued: "I know the councillor that has been threatened most recently. I know he was publicly threatened that he would deal with him if he ever seconded or supported me in this council.

"It will have great repercussions in that the people who voted me in have been deprived of representation. I have been sent to Coventry in that no one would support me. "I would expect the councillor who was threatened, that if he has the back bone, that he won't refute what I have said."

Later in the meeting, Mr Blackie Gavin alleged that he had been threatened. He said he knew the allegations were true "because I am the councillor that it happened to".

Mr Durcan told the council: "If the wrong is not undone, I will seriously have to consider my position in this council. "I think it is outrageous that any paid servant in this town can threaten. "I should not be deprived of a chance to reflect my views in this chamber. "It can be called blackmail or a certain type of blackmail. "The town clerk can deprive many councillors. He has openly insulted me on many occasions. I know that if I made representations for a person to get a house, they would not get it. His attitude is unacceptable. "I am taking my seat and I am waiting for that councillor to own up and verify what I have said.

In response to Mr Durcan's allegations, Senator Paddy Bourke said: "What Councillor Durcan has referred to is a very serious matter. He is putting serious pressure on a councillor here. "Rather than putting any councillor on the spot, I think there may be other ways of dealing with it. If it is true it would strike me as a very serious matter.

Mr. Johnny Mee told the meeting: "No one in this council has ever threatened me."

Mr. Paddy McGuinness said that the council had a reputation as being difficult. However he said: "I think the fact that this council is regarded as somewhat difficult may be a back handed compliment. "I have no difficulty in recognising that Mr Durcan has worked for this council and for the people of Castlebar. "I regard the town clerk as very knowledgable and I have found him very easy to work with. "It is a shame two people of this council are at loggerheads. It would be a good idea to bring them together and try to resolve this.

ALLEGATIONS BY MR GAVIN

Mr. Gavin said: "I am shocked here tonight. I am left speechless. "I don't know where Councillor Durcan got his information but I know it is true because I am the councillor that it happened to. "I am not going to stand back from it because I have been elected by the people of Castlebar to do my job. I think this is a sad occasion and at this moment I am hardly able to speak. "Over the past couple of months people have been saying out there that the officials are going to get you. "Recently I was working on the Newport Road and I got a fire call of which I am a member of the emergency fire service. "Then I got a letter from the town clerk. He has threatened me with suspension for attending that fire call. "I have brought it to SIPTU who are dealing with it. "Now that Councillor Durcan has brought it up and it is public, I will have to seek legal advice on it. "I propose this meeting be adjourned until this matter be resolved.

Mr Durcan seconding the motion said: "This is one of the most serious matters I have come across since I was elected to this council 30 years ago. "Never has it been heard of in my thirty years and since the founding of the State. "I have never heard of a paid official blackmailing a public representative.

"I have great sympathy for Councillor Gavin because the dogs on the street know how he has been treated. "I believe I have no business sitting around this table when councillors are under threat from people sitting around us. "I am leaving this chamber and I have to consider my future and past and think of the number of good proposals I made on behalf of the people of Castlebar and which I believe were defeated because of the town clerk.

"The people of this town are entitled to have their views expressed by me as a public representative. "No councillor should be blackmailed or threatened by seconding me or supporting me. "I am positive that the town clerk has brought his vindictiveness in a number of planning application made by me or that involved me. "I believe I have been stripped of the democratic powers bestowed upon me by the constitution of this State," he said.

Mr Paddy McGuinness asked Mr Gavin had he been challenged publicly by ordinary people on the street.

Mr Gavin replied: "I had been publicly told that if I supported Councillor Durcan I would be dealt with and I have a witness to this."

ALLEGATION UNTRUE

Following the departure of Mr Gavin and Mr Durcan from the chamber, the town clerk strongly refuted the allegations.

Mr Condon said: "When he first made the allegation it occurred to me that he had lost the run of himself? It defies logic. "He seems to believe the allegation but I am not in a position to control how a councillor votes or influence any councillor. "I am well used to hearing wild allegations made by Councillor Durcan both against me, officials both here and in the county council and members here and members on the county council. "He was always asked to substantiate these allegations but he has always failed to do so." He continued: "When Councillor Gavin spoke I saw where the allegation arose from. The letter I wrote to Councillor Gavin did not contain the allegation spoken of here."

Mr. Condon said raising the letter at a public meeting was a breach of position as an employee. He continued: "The letter I wrote to Councillor gavin would not contain the allegations spoken of here. The letter written to him was written in respect of a breach of his obligation as an employee. "The fact that an employee of the council is also a member of the council does not exempt him from his obligations as an employee. I am disappointed he did not read out the letter because it would prove that both him and Councillor Durcan seem to have got the wrong end of the stick. "I refute the allegation because it is untrue," he said.

Senator Paddy Bourke said: "I don't know where we are going as a council. I feel that if there is a dispute it should be resolved or we will be dogged until the end of this council. Everything will be out in the public domain." He asked that the new manager (Mr. Alex Fleming) should try to resolve the differences and get the council working together for the good of the town. Mr Paddy McGuinness disagreed and said that by leaving the matter with the manager would be "implying or giving some credits to allegations that initially started with Councillor Durcan and then backed up from Councillor Gavin." He said: "I think in the mean time we must make our own stand and tonight we should continue as a council and do the work of the town. "For us all to pack in would add unnecessary credibility to what are allegations."

Mr. Sean Bourke told the meeting: "I believe the town clerk is a very fair and helpful official and certainly Councillor Gavin has not made me believe the allegations. I believe the town clerk when he says he never made the allegations."

"I always found the town clerk to be a very courteous official," said Mr Johnny Mee.

The council chairman, Mr Paul Ainsworth said: "It is the practice of this council to give fair play and fair say. "We are all going to have fights and if it is personal and about work, such as Blackie is an employee of the UDC, it is a problem that should be dealt with through those channels and not here in a public meeting. "I think the way Councillor Durcan went on was a bit unfair. We are here for a purpose and the meeting should go on."

Connaught Telegraph - News - April 1996