Updated: 18.37
TIPPERARY COUNTY COUNCIL has won the title of Council of the Year at the Local Authority Members Association (LAMA) Awards.
The council fought off competition from Mayo, Dublin and Cavan councils to take the top honour at the awards ceremony, which was held in Dublin on Saturday.
North and South Tipperary County Councils merged last year.
Not everyone is happy with the choice for top spot, however. Independent TD Mattie – who represents Tipperary South – said the giving the award to the council was “simply farcical”.
“While I genuinely do not begrudge Tipperary Council their win, I have to say I find it absolutely extraordinary that it did win.
It is a measure of the self-congratulatory bubble that this new amalgamated Council is operating in that it could even nominate itself for the award in the first place.
Since the amalgamation there has been a significant downgrading of services in South Tipperary, but particularly in Clonmel.
McGrath said residents are ”still reeling from the struggle to have a have a relatively small budget of a few thousand euro ring-fenced for the Clonmel St Patrick’s Day Parade”.
“This is to say nothing of the fact that the Council is now effectively dependent on Social Welfare supported schemes like JobBridge and Gateway to maintain a minimal standard of environmental and out-door services like roads and signage.
It is simply farcical in light of all this that Tipperary County Council would nominate itself as the best Council in the country.
It is also deeply patronising and insulting to the staff of the Council who are unhappy with how the implementation of the merged Councils has proceeded to date.
“The senior members of this Council will have to learn that showing their nice shiny award will be no consolation to the public them when they are being left frustrated and angry over the drop in service levels that are being offered,” McGrath added.
‘A work in progress’
Ger Walsh, Senior Executive Officer in Tipperary County Council’s Corporate Services, said McGrath is “entitled to his opinion” but that the council was equally entitled to enter the awards. He said a council employee submitted the body’s new website to be judged as part of LAMA’s innovation section.
The council is delighted to receive any kind of award, it’s a significant achievement.
Walsh said the amalgamation of North and South Tipperary Councils is “still a work in progress”, adding it is “premature to make comments as to whether the merger has worked at this stage”.
Originally published: 12.57
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