Fuel protestors accused of ‘intimidatory’ behaviour towards female councillors at Wexford meeting
Wexford PeopleWexford councillors who voted against a motion condeming the government’s role in the fuel protest have been warned by protestors that they “know who they are”.
At a raucous County Hall, up to 20 of those who had protested in Kilrane last week saw two motions condemning the government shot down by Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael councillors.
However, rather than accept the outcome of the motions, some of those within the gallery chose to express their frustrations both audibly and physically during the course of the meeting, leading to accusations of intimidating behaviour from two female councillors.
Although neither the chief executive nor the majority of the councillors had received any forewarning about their presence, the hauliers, fishermen, and farmers thronged the gallery prior to the commencement of the meeting as they awaited the outcome of two emergency motions submitted by Cllr Jim Codd and Cllr Aoife Rose O’Brien.
Cllr Codd called upon Wexford County Council (WCC) to condemn the “heavy handed and intimidatory response of the Irish government to the fuel protest”, “commend the protestors for their restraint and discipline, and ask the the “government to engage in inclusive meaningful negotiations on an ongoing basis”.
Protestors pictured on the first day of the fuel protest on Thursday. Photo: Jim Campbell
For her part, Cllr O’Brien asked that WCC express its concern at the government’s response to the recent fuel protests, “condemn the inflammatory language used by the government and its failure to engage constructively with those involved”, question the government’s “ability to adequately support workers, families, and businesses during the current cost-of-living crisis”, and outline its capacity to “maintain services, including current diesel supplies, and identify any risks to service delivery, staff mobility, or public safety arising from the protests”.
They received support from Cllr Pat Barden who said he was “sickened” by the government’s “condescending attitude and disregard for ordinary people”, and from Cllr Marty Murphy who said attempting to tar protestors as far-right agitators was “a scandal”.
However, Cllr Vicky Barron sounded a note of caution for those assembled in the gallery.
“WCC is limited in what it can do (for you),” she said. “A letter will be written to the minister, if the motions are passed, but there may not be any action from that. You have to be measured as to what comes out of this meeting.”
Given that the motions had not been circulated to councillors prior to the meeting, it was agreed that a ten-minute recess would be taken so that party members could discuss privately how they intended to vote. That ten minutes soon stretched to 20 and beyond before, finally, Fine Gael councillors began to file back into the room.
Drivers during the fuel protest in Kilrane on Friday. Photo: Jim Campbell
"Remember who voted ye in, lads,” said one of the protestors in the gallery as the councillors returned to their seats and prepared to vote.
However, before those votes could be taken, Fianna Fáil councillor John Fleming asked that Cllr Codd’s motion be amended to read: “WCC commends the protestors for their restraint and discipline shown during the protests and calls on the government to engage in meaningful negotiations on an ongoing basis.”
This did not sit well with Sinn Féin’s Tom Forde
“That takes away from the intent of the motion completely, this nonsense of amending motions needs to stop,” he said. “It’s not democractic, it’s not allowing representatives’ voices to be heard.”
Predictably this resulted in some flared tempers and raised voices from both the councillors and those assembled in the gallery, leading veteran councillor Oliver Walsh (Fine Gael) to declare he had not seen “the likes of this in my 21 years as a councillor”.
All vehicles arriving in Kilrane were checked by the protestors on Friday. Photo: Jim Campbell
Ultimately, the amended motion was put to a vote with councillors P Breen (FF), A Browne (FF), T Byrne (FG), A Donohue (FG), J Fleming (FF), P Kehoe (FG), L Kelly (IND), D Kenny (FF), G Laffan (FF), D McDonald (FG), L McDonald (FF), BA Murphy (FF), B Murphy (FG), F Staples (FG), R Staples (FG), B Walsh (LAB), and O Walsh (FG) voting in favour and councillors P Barden (Wexford Independent Alliance), N Boland (WIA), G Carthy (IND), J Codd (AONTÚ), C Doyle (SF), J Dwyer (IND), T Forde (SF), M Murphy (WIA), AR O’Brien (SF), J O’Rourke (IND), J Owens (IND), M Sheehan (IND), and J Sullivan (FF) voting against.
With Cllr Barron (LAB) abstaining, the amended motion was carried with a vote of 17 to 13.
Cllr O’Brien’s motion was then put to a vote and, despite a 16-15 result in its favour, it did not meet the threshold of 18 and was therefore not carried.
With the section of the meeting dealing with the protest at an end, the protestors were given time to leave the chamber and, as they did so, the phrase "we know who you are” could be audibly heard from their ranks. Once the gallery had been cleared, Cllr Lisa McDonald brought Cathaoirleach Joe Sullivan to task for allowing the meeting to be conducted under the watchful gaze of an “intimidatory” group.
“I want you to address the behaviour of those who were in the gallery today and the insults that myself and Cllr Barron received,” she said. “You allowed that to happen. I tried to point it out to you. You allowed them to have a voice in here in an intimidatory way.”
The third day of the fuel protest in Kilrane on Saturday. Photo: Jim Campbell
“I’m not aware of the comments, what was the nature of them?" asked Cllr Sullivan.
“I asked you to go into committee to discuss this,” replied Cllr McDonald referencing a procedure in which all members of the gallery, including the press, are removed from the chamber.
“There were comments made saying ‘we know who you are’ as they went out,” said Cllr Barron.
County secretary Michael Drea then advised anyone who had concerns about the behaviour of those in the gallery to “pass them on to the gardaí”.
But Cllr McDonald wasn’t finished there, noting that people in the gallery are “not supposed to be allowed to speak in the first instance, they’re not supposed to clap or jeer, they’re not supposed to stand up and bully councillors when they’re speaking”.
"All of that was allowed to happen here today. And they were invited in here without any notice given to the members either. This is a security issue,” she said.
“I didn’t know why you wanted to go into committee, you could have come up and told me and we would have done it,” answered Cllr Sullivan.