City Hall motors on with two cars a year

Calls have been made for the brakes to be put on the lord mayor of Cork getting a new car every six months.

Green Party Cllr Colette Finn called for the decision to be reversed as she believes it is sending out the wrong message.

She said: “I absolutely accept that the lord mayor needs a car but I think changing it every six months is something that we need to reflect on. We need to make dramatic system changes and one of them is around the extent to which we have a linear economy where consumption and consuming more and more is how we do our business. What we need to do instead is move to a circular economy, we need to start doing things differently.”

A report from City Hall said that in tandem with the significant workload and multitude of diary engagements which are a major and critical cornerstone of the lord mayor’s representative duties, it is a practical prerequisite for the lord mayor to have access to a car to traverse the newly extended city.

The report added: “In addition, the lord mayor’s car is also synonymous with the respect and high regard in which the lord mayor’s office is held in. The long-standing arrangement by Ford Ireland to provide the lord mayor of Cork with a car has been in place since the 1980s and in 2019, the move to provide a hybrid car was welcomed. This is with a view to receiving a fully electric vehicle as the Ford business model evolves and is in a position to provide same, which is fully in line with the City Council’s policy on active transport.”

It is was agreed by officials that there would be no change to the current scenario.