John Deasy (Waterford, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

That is very vague and they took the chain which was passed on to the new mayor from the previous town council. The Department needs to examine this issue. These groups are very democratic; they are not political. There is a mayor; thousands of people in Clonakilty believed it was important enough to show up and vote. There is a lacuna in this respect in the Department because there is a reference to it in the Bill. The people of Clonakilty saw this reference and acted on it. I do not see any reason the Department would not fund an organisation. Organisations appear all the time and make funding requests to it. I am surprised that it would preclude funding such an organisation which is democratic.