Morris laments the closure of Nenagh Town Council

The closure yesterday of Nenagh Town council on May 30

th
2014 will probably have gone un noticed by
most but the affects will be felt by everyone.
Nenagh town council was born in 1839 and survived world wars , wars of independence and civil wars
only to be taken down by a Fine Gael and Labour government who are so desperate to serve their
European masters that they have destroyed democracy from the bottom up in order to get some
brownie points .
The council has contributed to the economic , social and cultural development of the town since its
inception and I am proud that I got the honour of serving 10 years as a councillor two of them as Mayor
of the town. The town was blessed with fantastic politicians from all parties and none working together
for the benefit of the people of the town.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of the wonderful staff past and present that served the
town with distinction and also the many people that put their names in the ring to serve the town those
that were elected had only one goal and that was to serve the people of Nenagh.
I am very very concerned for the future of the town in the new enlarged Municipality which will see the
town without its own budget fighting for a smaller share of the pie to keep the services of the town to
the standard that we have expected up to now. I can assure you that Cllr. Hugh McGrath and I will fight
for everything that the town deserves but I fear that we are facing into an abyss and it was so
unavoidable if our political masters hadnt decided to destroy local democracy in its cheapest form for
unachievable savings in the new municipal areas which will no doubt cost the people in terms of
reduced services for the town.
I leave my last words for the A M A I (Association for the Municipalities of Ireland) the so called union for
Town and Borough councils who waved the white flag to the Government and rolled over without even
challenging the closures in court despite having hundreds of thousands of euros in their bank accounts
belonging to Town and Borough councils across the country .The reason they rolled over their legal
advice told them that they had a 20% chance of winning it in court) If Padraig Pearse and James
Connolly had looked at their odds im sure it was less than 20% but they persisted and look at what they
achieved. I am delighted that F L A M E (former local authority members)under Niall Dennehy and
supported by Mattie McGrath T D and supported by more and more councillors like myself are
contesting the shocking decision to close town and borough councils in court and I would ask the A M AI
to use some of their funds to support F L A M E in their efforts.
Yours Sincerely Cllr. Samie Morris 31/05/14