Martin: ‘Time to stop scaremongering’

FIANNA Fáil leader Micheál Martin has criticised what he described as “scaremongering” over the boundary change controversy urging all sides to ‘ get on with it’.

Mr Martin, who has said the Mackinnon recommendations present a reasonable framework for the future governance of the entire county, was speaking amid the increasingly bitter dispute between the County and City Council over the boundary changes.

Cork County Council formally moved a counter proposal of reduced territory for the City on Monday, amid sharp criticism from city councillors who accuse the county of trying to stall and frustrate the process.

“I think there has been too much scaremongering going on in terms of the impact of the extension on other areas,” Deputy Martin said. “We are all entitled to our particular perspectives but there’s a time to get on with it as well. Some people are getting engaged in this debate as if their entire personal lives are in trouble.

“What is best for the people of the county and city is what counts; long after we leave the scene is what counts. Mackinnon and his committee, in my view, came forward with a reasonable framework and I would call on the two institutions concerned to engage constructively with the implementation group.”

He said the Mackinnon proposals would allow the county grow too, leaving as it does the industrial zone of Ringaskiddy within the rural authority. “We’re all birds of passage here, we may be in positions now but we don’t own the city, we don’t own the county,” the former Cork City councillor said.