Abolition of town councils remains thorny issue on 10th anniversary of their axing  

A former Bundoran town councillor, who found not only himself, but every town councillor in the county and country at the mercy of a government decision to abolish them ten years ago, has said that it remains one of the most short sighted decisions ever made for real local democracy in the country.

Diarmaid Doherty, made the comments as 2024 marked the 10th anniversary of Bundoran and Ballyshannon town councils “being sacrificed on the altar of political reform”. He is also running as an Independent candidate in this year’s county council election

He said:

“This form of local democracy at grass roots level was abolished in a total of eighty town councils by the then Minister for the Environment, Phil Hogan. 

“In 2018, Brendan Howlin of The Labour Party introduced the local government restoration of the town council's bill. And stating as a member of the government in 2014 he regretted the abolition of town councils and felt that was a serious mistake. 

“However, nothing became of the private members bill that he Introduced and 80 towns are still without a replacement for the abolished councils. 

“In the case of Bundoran we were the proud owners of a very modern building purposely located in the centre of town with hundreds of parking spaces. 

“And then the building was totally dead free along with approximately two million euros in our bank account. After the abolition of the town council all its assets, buildings, machinery, and bank accounts became the property of Donegal County Council. 

He added:

“Notwithstanding that the local community centre have been allowed to use it on a temporary basis over recent weeks, until their own building on Main Street is refurbished and upgraded and despite reassurances at the time that the building would not be idle for long and it would be put to good use, 10 years later the council office has basically remained remains unused abd shut and sadly some areas are looking quite neglected. 

“I have taken every opportunity to highlight the community's disappointment. that such a fine building in an excellent location should be lying empty for ten years, considering that so many Government Departments are renting properties In the general area. 

“And to add insult to injury all the other buildings that were used previously for councils in Donegal with the exception of Ballyshannon have been rededicated and occupied by council staff, call centres and community hubs. 

“I find this remarkable situation that once again, south Donegal seems to be forgotten.”