Wexford Labour Party Local Election candidate Joe Ryan has said that plans by the Fine Gael Minister for Local Government John Paul Phelan to have each county to elect a Mayor will undermine further the status of towns like Wexford which already have an urban Mayor.
Mr Ryan was commenting on the Dáil statement made by the Minister where he signalled his intention to have each county elect a Mayor who will have powers transferred from the Council Chief Executive.
Mr Ryan said “I would have a number of concerns at this proposal. The job of Mayor is usually associated with an urban area. There will inevitably be confusion in the mind of the public between the historic Mayoralty of Wexford and the proposed new Mayor of Wexford County if this legislation is passed.

JOE RYAN has concerns about elected Mayors proposal.

“We need to know how much this is going to cost and how this will make for better and more transparent decisions. I note that it is proposed that the new Mayor of Wexford County could be paid €130,000. I would ask why does this office have to come at this price tag?
“When I was Mayor of Wexford I performed the reserved functions for net payment of about €900 per month.”
Mr Ryan continued; “This plan to elect a Mayor parallel with its own powers and role in addition to a county council with its own chairperson, district councils each with their own Chairperson or Mayor is simply adding another layer of bureaucracy.
“What is needed is to transfer powers from the council chief executive to the councillors who are already elected. What is needed is for councillors to be able to hold council officials to account.”
Mr Ryan also said “The proposed directly elected Mayor will undermine the work of a council. It is always better that issues be debated by a council before a decision is taken rather than have a directly elected but unaccountable Mayor decide!
Mr Ryan, who served on Wexford Borough Council for 10 years and is a former Mayor of Wexford, said he hopes that Fine Gael reconsider this proposal! “It will damage further large towns like Wexford, already undermined by the lack of town governance. It is time to look again at this plan before it is put into law.”