This article is from page 9 of the 2005-10-11 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 9 JPG
A €5,200 TRIP by Ennis Town Council mem- bers and officials to a famous wine-growing region in the south of France last Summer has run into controversy.
Two councillors say the three day trip by five councillors and three officials to St. Paul de Fenouillet, at the invitation of the local mayor last July, was bad value.
During their time there, the Ennis delega- tion would have been able to visit St Paul de Fenouillet’s famous vineyards. In common with previous trips by the Town Council overseas, this one was accompanied by little or no publicity.
Fine Gael councillor, Johnny Flynn who didn’t go on the trip said this week: ‘I was elected to put in place policies for the town council and monitor the work of the execu- tive.
“The trip would not have assisted me in my duties as a councillor. I don’t think it is rel- evant.
‘The general public has become very cyni- cal over the work of central and local gov- ernment and a trip such as this would make the public even more cynical, where money needs to be spent on local services.”
Cllr Donal O’Bearra (GP) said, “From my experience of overseas trips for the Council, nothing is implemented by the Council that has been viewed abroad.”
Councillor O’Bearra travelled abroad with the council on a number of overseas trips in- cluding Bruges and St. Paul de Fenouillet, but opted not to go on this year’s trip.
“The people of St Paul de Fenouillet have been very, very good to the council and I went there with an open mind before as to the value of the trip. But all the evidence suggests that it 1s just a junket.”
Town Mayor, Frankie Neylon (Ind) said that the twinning arrangement with St Paul de Fenouillet “has provided an amount of benefits for Ennis”.
Ennis Town Clerk, Eddie Power said, “The cost of the trip was €5,200. The Council has a budget of €24,000 for town-twinning and associated expenses.
“The Twinning arrangement continues to be an opportunity to promote Ennis as a place to visit. This is particuarly relevant in the context of additional low cost airlines fly- ing the Shannon to Girona route, as the St. Paul de Fenouillet region is easily accessible through Girona.”