A man on a mission
A PASSION FOR GAA, LOCAL POLITICS, MUSIC AND STRANDHILL, SLIGO COUNTY COUNCIL’S CEO CIARAN HAYES TELLS EDITOR JENNY MCCUDDEN WHY HIS JOB THOUGH CHALLENGING IS ALWAYS FASCINATING
HIS Dublin flag is draped proudly across the back of his chair in the Council Headquarters in Riverside. And since his home county’s two in a row win recently, Ciaran Hayes is beaming about football at least. He celebrated ‘ quietly’ after the victory before heading back to Sligo with good news for the local library - having secured six extra staff to allow the vital community service continue.
“There are a number of Mayo people working in the council, so the games added a lot of colour to the working environment,” he says.
On the final and the replay he admits that although no one wants to lose he would not have begrudged Mayo a win. “I felt sorry for Mayo. They were a fascinating two games and the only times I’ve witnessed 82,000 people leave the grounds of Croke Park exhausted. It was a wonderful duel and is a great part of Irish life. The GAA is an incredible organisation.”
The GAA was good to him. As a former intercounty hurler and footballer, Ciaran scored his first goal in Croke Park as a Brunswick Street St. Paul’s schoolboy. He was brought up in the Navan road area of Dublin and would have known and played with the Brogan brothers - senior.
Football aside, this September was dominated by a pressing issue for the Chief Executive Officer of Sligo County Council - the closure of Sligo Library due to a lack of resources. He sought and eventually got permission from Central Government to recruit six extra staff to address the situation. “I am pleased with the outcome. It is unfortunate that it had to get to such a situation and we will still have rolling closures for a number of months until the recruitment process is complete. Already we have had an inquiries from interested individuals,” he says.
The rolling closures will affect all libraries. Sligo will open one week, Tubbercurry and Ballymote the other.
“It is not ideal but until we hire the new staff this is how it will work.”
One of the CEO’s main job targets is to cut council personnel by 42 percent in order to make savings. He
has already managed to cull sta staff by 37 percent but is ‘ grappling’ to maintain proper services as a result. The equation is simple. Contracting staff equals curtailing services. He says the council is constantly struggling behind the scenes and it was only because the library closure caught the public’s imagination that the ongoing financial crisis was brought to light again. The next major project that will no doubt have the same effect is the refurbishment of O’Connell Street, which according to Ciaran Hayes is at risk for the same reason, no staff.
“Some of the areas at risk include plans to enhance infrastructure like O’Connell Street, the Western Distributor Road and the Eastern Garavogue Bridge,” he explains.
The most immediate of those under threat is O’Connell Street as Irish Water is due to finish its work in November, paving the way for Sligo County Council to begin refurbishment works in February 2017.
“This is critically important. O’Connell Street is the centre of retail in Sligo and it should reflect a perception of Sligo that is positive but whether or not we can do the work required is dependant on having available staff This is just one area where we may have to suffer delays to the enhancement works,” he says.
Already Ciaran Hayes has flagged this potential problem with Minister for Local Government Simon Coveney.
“We are in the process of making a number of submissions for more technical staff to cover roads and housing. We need in the region of 10 extra technical staff for capital projects. At the moment we are robbing peter to pay paul while redeploying staff and it’s not sustainable, ” he admits.
Raising the property tax is an option he believes would benefit Sligo. He sees it as ‘ a good opportunity to get things done that would benefit Sligo.’
Ciaran Hayes has come under some public criticism of late but he takes it on the chin. “I’m all in favour of constructive criticism. What I have no time for is barstool gossip.” He rejects any suggestion that highly paid directors in the council are too expensive. “All of those staff have taken hits of 25 percent since 2008 and all have seen increased workloads. That perception of big salaries is very unfair and is a cheap shot to use. No director works nine to five and each are available to the organisation in extremely difficult times. When barstool gossip becomes gospel there is a problem as people become mis- informed.”
Despite the obvious challenges of managing an indebted council, Mr. Hayes relishes his role: “It is one of the most fascinating jobs I have ever done. No two days are the same. There are so many different stakeholders that you need to bring with you at any one time. I’m almost three years into a seven year contract and I’m very happy to work out that contract.”
The downside to his job, he says is ‘ not being able to make as much progress as quickly as he would like.’
But he is quick to point out the progress he has seen, and rightly so. “It’s hard to keep everybody happy but let’s look at the Cranmore regeneration plan which after a number of years and various stages is finally complete and approved by the Department.”
He adds: “If you look back on the last three years, a lot of positive changes have happened in Sligo. The Tidy towns is another great example of what is possible. We are still benefiting from the Fleadh and the Royal Visit, and Yeats 150. The strength of Sligo is in its people. While the focus is on the finances, it is important to remember the distance we have travelled.”
So it’s not all doom and gloom for Ciaran and in his downtime he finds Strandhill has the power to wash away the struggles of the day. “I have a great fondness for Strandhill.” He walks up Knocknarea regularly to take in the spectacular views. And away from the outdoors, he is continually impressed by ‘ the quality, range, diversity and depth of musical talent in Sligo.’
“I’m blown away by the depths of talent in the arts in Sligo, particularly music, the richness of the musical culture and I try to get out to as many gigs as I can. There is a reservoir of talent here and that has certainly struck me.”
WHEN BARSTOOL GOSSIP BECOMES GOSPELTHERE IS A PROBLEM