Councillors respond to accusations that they snubbed Donegal Town meeting

Sitting councillors in the Municipal District (MD) of Donegal have said they were in no way snubbing the people of Donegal Town by not attending a public meeting regarding the town’s one-way system.

Some councillors told Donegal Live that they had only seen the invitation to Thursday’s meeting on Tuesday morning, with it having arrived by email late on Monday evening - less than 72 hours before the meeting was due to take place.

And Cllr Micheál Naughton (FF), Cllr Barry Sweeny (FG) and Cllr Michael McMahon (FG) say they did not receive any invitation whatsoever.

Furthermore, the councillors had a prior engagement, having already committed to attending a meeting with the ADOPT committee in Pettigo, to which they had received invitations some weeks earlier. 

See also: Public meeting calls for changes to Donegal Town’s one-way system

They stressed that they were aware of concerns submitted by letter on behalf of the business community, and that everyone had agreed that this was best responded to by Area Roads Officer Mark Sweeney. The response which was sent in advance of the meeting included an invitation for a delegation to meet the council for further discussion if they so wished. 

The councillors have expressed their upset and disappointment at the message being sent out that they had snubbed the Donegal community.

Cllr Micheál Naughton told Donegal Live: “I simply got no invitation to it. As far as I am aware, there were only three councillors invited to it.

“And like the other councillors, I had a meeting in Pettigo

“I am meeting a lot of business people around Donegal Town and I am working with them on a number of issues,” he said. “It is certainly not true that I am snubbing them. Three of us never received an invitation, and even if we had, we all had a prior commitment that evening.”

Regarding the issues raised in a letter to Donegal County Council, Cllr Naughton said: “A reply went out from Donegal County Council. A lot of work went into giving a detailed response, and to invite a delegation in for further discussion. It is simply not true to suggest that this response was only sent out because of the public meeting called with just a few days' notice.”

Cllr Michael McMahon also confirmed to Donegal Live that he was not informed of the meeting.

“I got no invitation to the meeting in Donegal Town,” he said. “And I had a meeting in Pettigo that evening. We had prior notice of that two weeks ago and I had already told them that I would be there.

“I have no problem working with the people of Donegal Town and anyone else in this MD on any issue.”

Cllr Barry Sweeny was the third councillor to not receive an invite.

He said: “We were already dealing with this matter anyway. “There has been a lot of online discussions in a negative way but there are a lot of good plans in place that will improve Donegal Town, plans for more parking, for a transport hub. This will all help address the congestion. 

“I understand that people are frustrated at the moment. I really believe that when the work on the Diamond finishes, that will improve traffic flow.”

Regarding the letter that was submitted raising concerns about the one-way system, Cllr Sweeny said: “There were 46 names representing 20 to 25 businesses. The approach that we took was to ask Mark to do up a response to that letter, detailing all the issues and responding from a factual point of view rather  than speculation and misinformation.

“Part of that process was that once that information was put in black and white, we would welcome members of the group that signed the letter to come and discuss it further if they wished. 

“That was the process that was in place before this public meeting was called.”In regard to it being stated on record at the meeting that he had not responded to the invitation, Cllr Sweeny said: “I did not receive an invitation so I had nobody to respond to. 

“The first I saw of the meeting was a post on a Facebook page saying that councillors and council staff had been invited. That is incorrect.

“It publicly looks like the councillors were snubbing the meeting and it publicly looks like the letter was just sent because there was a public meeting but that is not correct. The approach that we had taken was to put the response in writing. The letter was put together by Mark over a period of time.”

Cllrs Noel Jordan (SF) and Niamh Kennedy (Ind) confirmed that they had received an invitation at around 10.30pm on Monday, and had first seen it on Tuesday morning.

It was acknowledged at the start of the public meeting that these two councillors had sent apologies, saying that they had said they had another meeting.

Cllr Jordan said: “We weren’t informed of the meeting until Monday evening and we had already accepted a request by the ADOPT committee in Pettigo. They asked the councillors from the MD to meet because they wanted to raise their issues. It was a good, productive meeting. 

“That is where I was on Thursday evening. “There was no question of anyone being snubbed. That meeting in Pettigo had been scheduled for a number of weeks. Once I saw the email about the Donegal Town meeting, I responded saying that I had another meeting, and I wished them the best.”

He too outlined how it had been agreed that Mark Sweeney would send a detailed written response to the concerns sent by the business community, and that an invitation for further discussion with a delegation was part of the agreed response.

Cllr Kennedy confirmed that she had received the invitation from the Business Focus Group. 

In regard to the issues raised by the business community, she said: “I have been speaking to a lot of people about it and all the issues are being addressed.

“We know there are parking issues but we are working on plans to get that rectified and get more car parking.

“If there is something to be rectified, that will happen.”

Cllr Tom Conaghan (Ind), who has announced his retirement from politics, confirmed that he received an invitation to which he responded that he would not be attending.