Row over festival funding allocations

SLIGO Tidy Towns, burial grounds and estates will be allocated ¤5,000 extra funding each this year.

It’s despite fierce opposition from Councillor Hubert Keaney who argued that an extra ¤20,000 put into the Community and Voluntary Grant Scheme for 2018 was intended for small festivals instead.

Councillors voted last December to give an extra ¤20,000 on top of ¤100,000 to the scheme.

Since then, Director of Services Dorothy Clarke has proposed giving ¤5,000 extra each to estate enhancement, tidy towns, burial grounds and community festivals.

“It was our intention this would all go into community events/festivals,” said Cllr Keaney.

Cllr Joe Queenan said he thought Ms Clarke had done “a reasonably fair job” and proposed her scheme be adopted. He was seconded by Cllr Marie Casserly.

Cllr Keaney said he was against Cllr Queenan’s motion, arguing that small festivals only got ¤5,000 extra instead of the ¤20,000 intended for them.

He said the Council would get “more bang for their buck” by investing in the small festivals instead of burial grounds and Tidy Towns.

Cllr Queenan said the Tidy Towns and burial grounds committees in West Sligo were doing a great job and deserved the extra money.

Ms Clarke said she was only “trying to be fair” in how she divided up the extra ¤20,000 between groups.

Cllr Queenan proposed his motion again, prompting Cllr Keaney to remark: “This is a case of the tail wagging the dog.”

The motion eventually went to a vote. Cllrs Declan Bree and Dara Mulvey abstained. It was passed by 12 votes in favour, with only Cllr Keaney voting against.