DERRICK O'LEARY,
Madam, - I am horrified by the threatened attempt by county councillors to prevent the direct election of mayors (The Irish Times, November 1st).
The arguments put forward by Mr Liam Kenny, director of the General Council of County Councils, would have been familiar to many an opponent of the extension of the franchise to the common citizen in the 19th century. The fears and worries of our local government officials seem to boil down to this: the people should not be entrusted with the power to elect their leaders, lest they elect the wrong leaders.
Mr Kenny and his associates appear to believe that democracy is fine so long as it does not apply to their particular sphere. To him I say this: If we wish to elect a single-issue candidate as mayor, that is both our right and our look-out. Right or wrong, we should not be told what is best for us by him.
Ireland stands in marked contrast to most of our partners in the EU and to the US in not having elected, responsible and, most importantly, powerful mayors charged with running our towns and cities. This difference might provide an explanation for the deplorable lack of coherence in how our local government functions. My belief is that that no mayor at all is preferable to a figurehead appointed for the sake of it.
If we are going to have our cities run by committees without any individual being responsible to the electorate, why not dispense with the trappings of office altogether? The views expressed by many county councillors say much about the ethos engendered by the lack of true democratic accountability in Irish local government - almost as much as the Flood Tribunal. - Yours, etc.,
DERRICK O'LEARY, Mourne Road, Drimnagh, Dublin 12
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Madam, - The suggestion that the plan to have directly-elected mayors who would serve a five year term might be rolled back is regrettable.
This provision is one of the very few elements of the 2001 Local Government Act that offered any prospect of real reform of our creaking local government system.
While there are genuine concerns that single-issue or "celebrity" candidates, with little interest in local government matters, could be promoted, this can be dealt with through some form of candidate criteria such as previous membership of a local authority or experience in some relevant area.
The prospect of real responsibility being transferred to our local government system with a mayor or lord mayor accountable directly to the people and answerable to the elected city or county council is a prize worth pursuing. By all means let us iron out any quirks or difficulties, but we should not throw away one of the very few features of the Local Government Act that has the potential to deliver reform. - Yours, etc.,
Cllr DERMOT LACEY, Lord Mayor of Dublin, Dublin 2.