Séamus Healy (Tipperary, Workers and Unemployed Action Group) | Oireachtas source

One would not know is right. I welcome this Bill and hope it will be passed. I am calling on the Minister to withdraw his amendment to allow this Bill to be scrutinised on Committee and Report Stages. Local decisions should be made at local level, as near as possible to the people affected by them. Local government was working well. There was no need to fix it because it was not broken. I have seen at first hand the workings of town and borough councils. I was a member of Clonmel Corporation and Clonmel Borough Council between 1985 and 2004. I served as mayor of Clonmel from 1994 to 1995. Clonmel is a significant and substantial town. It used to be the biggest inland town in the country. Councillors across all political parties, including independent councillors, worked very well on the corporation and the borough council in Clonmel.

County Tipperary was very badly hit by the abolition of the councils, which has been a disaster and obviously has failed. I welcome the introduction of this Bill. It is a pity that it has to be introduced, but so be it. County Tipperary lost Clonmel Borough Council and the town councils in Carrick-on-Suir, Cashel, Tipperary, Thurles, Templemore and Nenagh. It is important to get a flavour of these towns, which have been stripped of local representatives and local government. Carrick-on-Suir is known for the only existing manor house of its kind in the country. It was visited by Anne Boleyn, who was the wife of Henry VIII at one stage. Carrick-on-Suir was the home of the first president of the GAA, Maurice Davin. It is the home of Seán Kelly and Sam Bennett. It was the home town of the Clancy brothers.

Clonmel, which is the capital of south Tipperary, defeated Cromwell in May 1650 with the help of our northern neighbours, Hugh Dubh O'Neill and his people. The mayor of the day - Mayor White - negotiated a deal with Cromwell that saved the town and its people, and the soldiers who were supporting the town. Clonmel courthouse was the scene of many high-profile sessions, including the trial of the Young Irelanders in 1848. Of course, the Labour Party was established in Clonmel town hall in 1912. Clonmel has been the seat of administration in the south of the county for many years. Musicians like Frank Patterson, Mick Delahunty and Mícheál Ó Súilleabháin came from Clonmel, which is a Quaker town. Charles Bianconi, who was mayor of Clonmel on two occasions, set up his first transport system in the town.

Cashel is famous for the Rock of Cashel, which was once the seat of the kings of Munster. Tipperary town is known in Irish as Tiobraid Árann, or the well of Ara, and may be described as the nucleus of the War of Independence. Seán Treacy, Dan Breen, Séamus Robinson and Séan Hogan started the fight for Irish freedom in nearby Soloheadbeg in January 1919. Nenagh, which is the capital of north Tipperary, is a Norman settlement. Nenagh Castle was built in the 13th century. A great-grandfather of mine - Michael Healy, who was a Fenian - was incarcerated in the county jail in Nenagh for some time in 1867. Semple Stadium is in Thurles, which is the birthplace of the GAA.

Roscrea, which is a heritage town, has 600 years of the finest Irish architecture at St. Cronan's cathedral and a Norman castle that dates back to 1280. Cahir is the location of Cahir Castle. I could also mention Templemore. This kind of history gives towns their identity and makes them communities. These towns should not have been stripped of their local government. There is no doubt in my mind that we should restore the town and borough councils as quickly as possible. It appears that the Minister and his Government colleagues, who abolished these councils some years ago with the help of the Labour Party, intend to put this off again. I hope they do not do that. I ask them to withdraw their amendment and to allow this Bill to go forward for scrutiny on Committee and Report Stages.

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