Councillor Devereux to table festival funding motion a second time

COUNCILLOR Diarmuid Devereux has said that he plans to again put forward a motion regarding funds for cancelled festival at the next meeting of the Gorey Kilmuckridge Municipal District.

The motion – ‘That 2020 funding, budgeted for cancelled festivals and public events, be diverted into a once-off Community Fund to assist community care service providers in North Wexford during the current fundraising shut down’ – was the subject of a lengthy discussion at last month’s meeting before being withdrawn.

However, speaking this week, Cllr Devereux said there is nothing more urgent in Gorey now than supporting the most vulnerable in the community and that he plans to table the motion again at the next meeting on July 21.

At the June meeting, some councillors were supportive of the motion with Cllr Fionntán O Súilleabháin suggesting that he’d be supportive if an amendment was made. Cllr Pip Breen suggested that the motion be moved to July when the council would have a better idea of the state of financial affairs, following yesterday’s (Monday’s) meeting of Wexford County Council.

Other councillors and officials dismissed the motion, as they didn’t see it as viable, neither economically or legally.

Cllr Devereux said that, in his opinion, the Council is now more interested in supporting tourism and businesses as the sectors recover from the down turn as a result of Covid-19.

‘On Tuesday, June 16, I tabled a motion at a meeting of the Gorey-Kilmuckridge Municipal District to establish a community fund with money that was already budgeted for cancelled outdoor festivals and events. I requested that the motion be put to a vote on a number of occasions but this did not occur.

‘Allowing the motion to carry on for consecutive meetings is not an option for me, as the people that need this help don’t have more time. North Wexford’s service providers have been facing a fundraising shut down since mid-March and now, three months later, have yet to receive any support from the Council. There is nothing more urgent in Gorey right now than supporting the most vulnerable in our community.

‘I plan to table the motion again at the next meeting in light of this’.

During the June meeting, it was highlighted that charities and organisations receive annual amenity grants and that special funding relating to the Covid-19 response is available to apply for searching the ‘Department of Rural and Community Development COVID-19 Emergency Fund 2020’ on the Community section of Wexford County Council’s website.