Councillors lock horns locked over Cathaoirleach sports awards proposal

A proposal by Cathaoirleach of Longford County Council Micheál Carrigy (FG) to host a special night for young athletes and teams representing the county nationally was shot down by Cllr Mark Casey (Ind) last week when no cost information was given.

“You're asking us to approve something but you don't know the cost,” Cllr Casey said to the cathaoirleach.

“Realistically, we’d probably be better off giving the cost of the reception to the local clubs to invest back into the clubs themselves.”

“We might be a small county, but we have a big heart,” Cllr Carrigy retorted.

“And we’ve got a lot of young people and young teams that are successful nationally and I think that it’s important that we as the members of the local authority representing these people acknowledge that success.”

“I agree with you, but it's a very prudent question to find out what these cost,” Cllr Casey argued.

Piping into the conversation, CEO of Longford County Council Paddy Mahon noted that any such event would take place at Áras an Chontae with only a small cost for light refreshments.

“And are we just going to have one of these every time someone wins something?” Cllr Casey asked.

“If you were listening to what I said earlier on, which you quite clearly weren’t,” Cllr Carrigy coolly replied, “it’s a night to recognise all, rather than having a number of different nights.

“All of these will come back here for approval and if you have a problem with it, feel free to oppose it,” the cathaoirleach concluded before moving on with the rest of the meeting's agenda.

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