Former Mayor laments ‘huge void’ since abolition of town councils
A former Mayor of Tuam has called for the restoration of town councils as he believes that a huge void has been left since they were abolished three years ago.
There were town councils in Tuam, Ballinasloe and Loughrea – all of which elected nine local representatives – but they were scrapped as part of local government reform back in 2014.
But now Martin Ward, who created history by becoming the country’s first ever Traveller Mayor, believes that the town councils should be restored as they served a vital function for the towns in question.
As part of local government reform, five municipal councils were established across County Galway but Mr Ward says that these are not very effective and have no budget at their disposal.
There are municipal councils in the Tuam, Ballinasloe, Loughrea, Athenry-Oranmore and Connemara electoral areas who meet on a monthly or by-monthly basis but questions have been raised about their effectiveness.
Martin Ward told The Connacht Tribune that he did not believe that they adequately represented their respective areas and that is why he is calling for the town councils to be re-established.
He said that the abolition of the town councils left “a huge gap” that had not been filled by the municipal councils and he was not in the process of lobbying local TDs to have them restored.
“The town councils had their own budgets, albeit quite small, but we had enough to help out quite a number of voluntary organisations like tidy towns and those involved in the performing arts.
“There were nine of us on the town council in Tuam and we were the eyes and ears of the people who elected us. Towns the size of Tuam, Ballinasloe and Loughrea need their own representation and that is why I believe that the local councils should be restored.
“The abolition of the town councils was not a cost-saving measure as they didn’t take a lot of money to operate but at least we had access to senior Council officials and could raise issues that affected the town.
“I don’t believe that the municipal councils properly represent a town the size of Tuam. There are only three members of this body living in Tuam when we had nine members who were resident in the town and were always available to the public,” Martin Ward said.
Mr Ward added that he would have no problem standing for election again but his preference would be for a restored Tuam Town Council which he believes was more effective than the current municipal council. “They just don’t have any identity,” he said.
The former Traveller Mayor said that the Tuam Municipal Council area is “too stretched” in that it covers an area from Headford to Glenamaddy and says that the town with a population of more than 7,000 is not adequately represented.
“We used to honour individuals and groups for their achievements during the course of each year but all that is gone. Hopefully, after the next general election, the town councils will be restored as they played a hugely beneficial role,” he added.