John Gormley appointed Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government
On Thursday 14th June 2007, John Gormley was appointed by An Taoiseach as Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government. Please bear with us as we update this site to reflect his new role. Minister Gormley’s new contact details can be found here on the Department’s web site.
July 17th, 2007 at 11:22 pm
Dear John,
I am a 33 year old town councillor in Westport, Mayo. I am disgusted at the current system of local administration.
When I got elected I thought I would have the powers to make a difference in my home town. Instead I find that almost all powers lie with the Town Manager who uses Executive Functions to remove park benches, insert fountains in the town’s river, make policy decisions all without recourse to me or my fellow councillors.
I feel that myself and the other councillors are only there to present the pretence of democracy. I really don’t feel like staying in politics if the system is to never change.
Westport is a small town but it needs a directly elected mayor to run it instead of a government appointed official. Local government must be answerable to the people directly.
You must return to us the powers we need to run local authorities. You must give us leadership in the form of a directly elected mayor with a mandate from the town’s people.
If you don’t politics will be left to the good old boys who have let the system rot.
Thanks
Keith