‘This is a classroom’- Concerns raised over meeting room for Meath councillors
Concerns have been raised about the current space where Meath County Council holds its meetings.
At the council’s October meeting, Fine Gael Councillor Gerry O’Connor questioned whether any progress had been made toward building a new county council chamber in Navan.
Cllr O’Connor said councillors had previously been told that the council intended to provide space for an additional 150 employees, but that no update had been given on a new chamber.
Pointing to the room where the meeting was being held, he said: “This is a classroom. It is not conducive to politics. I can’t communicate during a meeting with my colleagues.”
He added that Meath was “the only county council in the country that did not have a proper chamber.”
“We were given a commitment that we would only be in this room for two years. We are now longer than two years in it,” he said.
Before meetings were moved to Buvinda House, councillors met at Navan Town Hall, but had to relocate when the pandemic hit.
Cllr O’Connor’s concerns were echoed by Independent Councillor Brian Fitzgerald, who said:
“A new council chamber must be up and running, otherwise we will go back to the old chamber on Railway Street. At least it was workable.”
"If we’re not going to build a chamber, let’s go back to Navan.”
It is understood that the issue may be revisited before the November meeting of the council.