Mayor sorry for ‘dye your hair blonde’ comment

MAYOR of Kerry John Sheahan insists he meant no offence when he told his Fine Gael party colleague Cllr Aoife Thornton that she would get more notice at council meetings if she ‘dyed the hair blonde’.

During discussion time in the council chamber on Monday, Cllr Thornton expressed frustration at not being able to comment and accused the chairperson, Mayor Sheahan, of ignoring her. She jokingly made reference to her yellow coat, saying she had hoped it might get her more attention.

The Mayor responded with the ‘blonde’ remark and the chamber erupted in laughter. Mayor Sheahan added to Cllr Thornton’s frustration by saying in his defence: ‘No one else saw you either’.

“Look, I didn’t think anything of it at the time and it was only when I returned home late on Tuesday night and turned on the computer that I saw some people were having a right go over it and had taken it very personal,” Mayor Sheahan told The Kerryman.

“In hindsight it was wrong to say what I did and I’ve spoken to Aoife since and apologised as it wasn’t an appropriate thing to say. We need to keep higher standards in the council and I certainly won’t be making any more slip ups like that.”

Cllr Thornton – the only female Fine Gael representative on the county council – said she was more frustrated at not being able to speak about important issues in north Kerry. She said she accepts Mayor Sheahan’s apology and acknowledged the job of chairperson can be difficult at hectic council meetings.

“I can take a joke, but I also believe there are standards that must be kept in public office,” Cllr Thornton told The Kerryman.

“I wouldn’t be true to myself and what I believe in were I not to say what was said was inappropriate. We now need to learn the lessons from this and how we conduct council meetings. John may have felt it wasn’t necessary to apologise at the time, but I don’t think comments like that are appropriate.”

Cllr Aoife Thornton