Ryan hopes town councils return

A NEW bill, brought before the Dáil, could see the re-establishment of town councils in towns with more than 5,000 in population, and one former local councillor is hopeful that this will come to pass.

Former Mayor and councillor, Joe Ryan has called on the government to move quickly to back a borough council for Wexford town saying: ‘Our town is at the heart of our county. It’s where people meet, do their shopping, go to school, watch a match, and celebrate life’s big moments.’

He believed that towns across Ireland were missing out on opportunities for economic development due to the lack of a local figurehead (such as a town mayor) with the support of a democratically elected council that reflected all views of the urban area.

‘When we had the borough council we knew where to go to get problems solved, from parking spaces to the upkeep of streets and squares, and maintaining our parks and cycle paths. Wexford Borough Council also built houses, and knew best the local needs of what was needed where.’

He explained that the Labour Party Bill wanted the Local Government Commission to consider and define each qualifying town, saying each council would elect nine town councillors, or 15 for towns with a population over 25,000.

There would be one local electoral area for each town.

‘The new town councils would be a body corporate, and under our proposals a rating authority. Every enactment that applied to old town councils would be restored under our Bill. Our Bill proposes that the costs of restoring Town Councils will be met from existing resources.’

He added that the 2014 decision to axe town councils was one that Labour regretted and wanted to rectify, saying the needs of towns were not being sufficiently met through the new arrangements.