Who has replaced Hildegarde?

galwaycyclist

antoobrien wrote: »

Would you apply the same rule to the dail?[/QUOTE


Yes I expect TDs to live in the constituencies that they represent.

galwaycyclist

gordongekko wrote: »

I have pointed out Ollie crowe has lived in oranmore for the full term since he was elected to the council without any major issues. At least wait until she has a chance to do some work before you complain about her.

I was not aware of this and I think some people may have entirely reasonable concerns about it.

However your justification triggers another question. Are you telling us, that speaking as somebody who is apparently a Fine Gael supporter, it is your position that if someone in Fianna Fail does something then that makes it ok for Fine Gael to do the same thing?

And if that is your position could you explain for us why Fianna Fail and Fine Gael need to stay as two separate parties if, according to your apparent interpretation, they are merely two sides of the same coin?

dilallio

Hildegarde - Please come back. See all the trouble you've caused!

Iwannahurl

dilallio wrote: »

Hildegarde - Please come back. See all the trouble you've caused!

This town ain't big enough! Not for me and that frilled-up, flirtin', man-rustlin' petticoat, it ain't!

antoobrien

galwaycyclist wrote: »

Yes I expect TDs to live in the constituencies that they represent.

Well then get onto all the major parties because they parachute people in regularly to dail constituencies.

dilallio

galwaycyclist wrote: »

antoobrien wrote: »

Would you apply the same rule to the dail?[/QUOTE


Yes I expect TDs to live in the constituencies that they represent.

What about sitting TDs whose constituency boundaries have been redrawn?

Should they move house, uproot their families, etc.?

galwaycyclist

dilallio wrote: »

galwaycyclist wrote: »

What about sitting TDs whose constituency boundaries have been redrawn?

Should they move house, uproot their families, etc.?

Bringing the Dail into it is a red herring - we are not talking about a national parliament.*

We are talking about a local municipal council. This is a situation where there may be a conflict between the collective interests of the people who live in that municipality and the interests of others who live outside that place - say in Corofin for instance.

One way to prevent such conflicts of interest, albeit not foolproof, is to insist that representatives and officials in structures at that level of democracy live in the communities that they are purporting to serve.

* Edit: Yes I know that the Dail and our TDs do not function as a "National Parliament" as some people would understand the concept. If it did then possibly we would not select TDs based on local constituencies and it might not matter where they lived at all. We might just pick them from a national list etc

dilallio

antoobrien wrote: »

Would you apply the same rule to the dail?

galwaycyclist wrote: »

Yes I expect TDs to live in the constituencies that they represent.

dilallio wrote: »

What about sitting TDs whose constituency boundaries have been redrawn?

Should they move house, uproot their families, etc.?

galwaycyclist wrote: »

Bringing the Dail into it is a red herring - we are not talking about a national parliament.*

We are talking about a local municipal council.

That earlier post above must be from another galwaycyclist then :rolleyes:

galwaycyclist

dilallio wrote: »

That earlier post above must be from another galwaycyclist then :rolleyes:

If it makes you feel better then in a situation where a sitting TD has the boundaries redrawn around them I would make an exception.

But bringing the Dail into is still a red herring.

dilallio

1. A councillor's vote is a matter of public record. If a councillor votes on something against the wishes of the majority of people in his/her district because they are favouring an outside area, then there's every chance that they will not be re-elected, and rightly so.

2. Elections are a great leveller. Come election-time, enough of the opposing candidates will point to the fact that this person is an 'outsider' and should not be considered. And unless they have a very impressive record, they won't be elected. I know given 2 similar candidates, most people would choose the more local one.

3. Fine Gael could have chosen a local person, but are probably looking to the next General Election. They have a shortage of female TD's, they've lost Brian Walsh & FHE, and badly need qualified professionals (preferably someone who is not a teacher / publican / solicitor - they have enough of those) to stand. This co-option is merely a toe in the water exercise.

4. It was mentioned earlier in the thread that someone from outside Galway would incur more expenses than someone from the city. This is not true. They actually get a standard annual allowance of approx 4,300 Euro for attendance at meetings. They get additional expenses for conferences (outside Galway) attended. The Mayor gets an additional mayoral allowance.

what_traffic

dilallio wrote: »

4. It was mentioned earlier in the thread that someone from outside Galway would incur more expenses than someone from the city. This is not true. They actually get a standard annual allowance of approx 4,300 Euro for attendance at meetings. They get additional expenses for conferences (outside Galway) attended. The Mayor gets an additional mayoral allowance.

It was asked if they get a mileage allowance - it was never stated as a fact.
Do they get any other additional monies other than the 4,300 Euro for being a Cllr? Thought they would be getting more money than this?

http://www.galwaycity.ie/AllServices/YourCouncil/CouncilMembers/
There are no travel expenses as far as I know.