Parties square off over the Market House
AS the hours ticked down to the announcement of a general election date, you could feel the tension in the room at the January meeting of Wexford County Council. Members faced off on party lines and heated words were exchanged when the topic of the Market House in Gorey arose.
In an attempt to fire a shot at Fine Gael and Minister Michael D’Arcy, it was the media who came in for a lashing by Cllr Joe Sullivan. Minister D’Arcy placed himself to the fore in announcing that Harry Crosbie’s ‘Vicar Street South’ plan for the building was back on the table in recent weeks and meanwhile reports had circulated that Mr Crosbie had approached names like Bono and Ed Sheeran to perform at the venue on opening night.
Cllr Sullivan pointed out that it was his understanding that this was a long way off and that submissions were still being taken on the building, but ultimately the members had to sign off on any plans for the Market House.
‘ There’s been inaccurate media reports, both local and national, circulating that this is a done deal,’ he said. ‘It’s my understanding that there’s a whole process that the council has to go through. Obviously Gorey needs a good music venue, and everyone is supporting that, but I think the media reporting of this has been quite reckless and is jeopardising the deal. In an election year, it’s reckless to go off on one for political gain.’
Director of Services Eddie Taaffe gave a brief history of the Market House project to date, saying that the council had sought submissions to ‘design, build and operate’ the venue, which sparked the interest of Mr Crosbie. Mr Taaffe pointed out that the closing date for submissions was not until February 16th, and in that time anyone could make a proposal for the space. After the closing date, it will be up to the members to decide on which proposal to proceed with. However, Mr Taaffe was also critical of the media in his outline, again, using the word ‘inaccurate’.
Fine Gael councillor Diarmuid Devereux took exception to the remarks made by both
Cllr Sullivan and the officials.
‘I think it’s disgraceful that Cllr Sullivan is coming in here calling local journalists “reckless” and accusing them of being inaccurate. It’s an appalling position for any councillor to take. The fact is that the Minister of State (Michael D’Arcy) said that there’s a long way to go on this. There is a package on the table from a local construction company to work with a promoter in operating the building as a music venue though. That is a fact.’
Firing a parting shot, Cllr Devereux said: ‘ The last time your lot (Fianna Fáil) called the media reckless was when you were all sitting in each other’s seats up in the Dáil!’
This provoked a few raised voices in the chamber before Cllr Sullivan was given the opportunity to speak again.
‘Nobody is saying that the journalists are reckless,’ he said. ‘I’ve no doubt that they only wrote the information that they were told.’
He then thanked the council officials for clarifying the position on the Market House.
Later, noting the flexing of Fianna Gael and Fianna Fáil muscles in the council chamber ahead of an election, Cllr Davy Hynes dismissed both sides.
‘ There’s all this shadow boxing going on in here now ahead of the election,’ he said.
‘Can we just avoid it? I mean Fianna Fáil has been supporting Fine Gael for the last long time anyway!’
Once again, this resulted in the chamber becoming quite animated as the campaign rolls on.