Security review at County Hall as era of protest dawns

By TONY GALVIN NEW security and procedures are to be introduced at County Hall in the wake of Monday's occupation of the council chamber by protester opposed to the introduction of septic tank charges by the Government. The protestors, many carrying banners, invaded the chamber at 2 pm and remained for an hour before withdrawing after securing a demand that the issue be put on the agenda. The protests and action are considered the most belligerent and threatening the council has ever witnessed and with fears of many more similar protests throughout 2012 over issues such as household and water charges, security and protection for staff and councillors have been put on the agenda for the body's January meeting. [private] Connemara marchers A crowd of up to 500 people, mostly from the Connemara area, marched through Galway before gathering outside County Hall where local representatives were gathering for their scheduled monthly meeting. A group of approximately 100 protesters entered the chamber and demanded that the septic tank issue be discussed by the members. Mayor Michael Maher insisted this item was not on the agenda and asked the protestors to withdraw to allow the business of the council to continue. Protestors, many with placards, prevented the meeting from going ahead and after continuous interruptions and some sharp exchanges between council members and protestors, the meeting was temporarily abandoned. Mayor withdrew The Mayor and council officials withdrew from the chamber but the protestors remained and many of the remaining councillors were warned that they would suffer at the next elections if they did not support the opposition to the charges. Gardai maintained a discreet presence during the protest but did not intervene. Several councillors were visibly shaken by the vehemence of sections of the protestors and the personalised nature of some of the abuse hurled. More were angered that their meeting could so easily be brought to a halt. Protest leaders argued that the councillors were elected to represent them and they were exercising their democratic right to protest and to hold the members accountable. Prominent among the leaders of the action was Galway West TD and former Fianna Fail Government Minister, Eamon O Cuiv. Deputy O Cuiv is also a former member of Galway Co Council. Several council members tried to engage in debate with the protestors but many of those inside the chamber were in belligerent mood and the exchanges repeatedly descended into shouting matches. Cllr Tiernan Walsh vocally expressed his anger over what he described as the anti-democratic nature of the protest. As he withdrew from the chamber he was jostled and prodded by protestors and he became involved in further angry exchanges. After further calls for calm went unheeded, most members left the chamber. Fair play sought Cllr Tom McHugh asked his fellow council colleague, Cllr Joe Cooke, whom he held responsible for bringing the protestors into the chamber, to get them to withdraw in the interests of fair play. He said that in over eight years on the council he had never seen such a display and added that any time there was disruption in the chamber, it was inevitably organised by the members from Connemara. Cllr Cooke said he didn't bring the protestors in but he supported their aims and was with them. Cllr Kevin Ryan told the protestors that everybody remembered the cryptosporidium outbreak so must know why the rules were being changed in regard to septic tanks. He added that the EU made the decision and the councillor didn't have much choice in the matter. Deputy O Cuiv said all the protestors wanted was for people living in rural areas to be put on parity with those living in urban areas who had their sewage and water provided by the state. Cllr Dermot Connolly accused Deputy O Cuiv of 'speaking out of both sides of his mouth'. He reminded him he was a Minister less than a year ago and his party had been in power for 14 years, yet they had done nothing to resolve the issue. Deputy O Cuiv proposed that the protestors withdraw from the chamber and accept the offer made by Mayor Maher that the septic tank issue would be brought up under Mayor's Business  at the end of the meeting. This was agreed on condition that 20 of the protestors could attend this discussion. When the matter was raised under Mayor's Business Tuam Area Cllr Sean Canney proposed that the suggested fees in relation to septic tank inspection and other changes be met by the State and not the individual owners of the tanks. This was put to a vote and the council split 50/50 with 11 councillors voting for the proposal and the Fine Gael and Labour group voting against. Mayor Michael Maher (FG) cast the deciding vote and the motion was defeated. [/private]