A very jolly Patrick’s Day for councillors

...high-spending Mayo tops the list as our taxes pay for... seven-night stays in New York... $300-a-night rooms... and €15 G&Ts

A SMALL army of 77 councillors and staff jetted off this St Patrick’s Day at taxpayers’ expense.

$300-a-night hotels, $15 G&Ts, smoked salmon breakfasts, county flags and GAA jerseys were just some of the items we paid for.

Some councillors stayed for as long as seven nights, while one had a 10-day trip paid for by us.

In fact more than €165,000 was spent, with Mayo, which sent ten politicians and officials to the US, costing a fifth of it. Their bill came to just over €30,000.

Meanwhile, none of Dublin’s four local authorities sent anyone.

Two groups went from Mayo: one troupe of four – Councillors Cyril Burke (FG), Martin McLoughlin (FF) and Michael Kilcoyne (Ind)

Councillor had 10 days in New York and Boston

and an official – spent seven nights in New York, most of the time at the four-star Premier Times Square where the bill came to €6,060.

Another six-strong group – Cathaoirleach Richard Finn and council colleagues Annie May Reape, Michael Holmes, Gerry Coyle, along with chief executive Peter Hynes and director of finance Peter Duggan – travelled to New York, Philadelphia, and Providence in Rhode Island.

Accommodation cost €7,612, for rooms at the hip Row Hotel in New York, and Doubletree by Hilton in Philadelphia.

Cathaoirleach Finn said: We launched two new projects in America when we were there that will benefit the people of Mayo.’ He said the overall cost of those trips ‘is well covered in relation to the business that is brought back’.

Sinn Féin Donegal Councillor Noel Jordan and Director of Service Garry Martin spent ten days in New York and Boston, bringing nearly €500 worth of Donegal GAA kits, bought from county star Michael Murphy’s shop, and €500 worth of local Celtic Weave china.

Donegal also sent a three-strong delegation to Berlin. A €15,000 bill was run up by Limerick City and County Council on a five-strong delegation to New York. Led by Mayor Stephen Keary, they stayed at the Lexington Hotel where room rates were $340-per-night, but dropped to $237 for the second half of the stay there. Mayor Keary said: ‘The benefits of such trips will be repaid one hundred fold to Limerick in the years to come.’

Meath County Council six people to New York and four to London for the festivities, at a cost of €13,500.

Among the most expensive rooms booked were by Louth County Council at the Park Central Hotel where a four-night stay cost $1,289 and a $152 ‘facilities fee’. Three people from the council – two officials and a councillor – travelled with €578 run up on dining and transport expenses.