Mixed reaction to mayor ref result

A citizens’ assembly could be on the cards after the mayoral plebiscite was defeated in Cork city.

Senator Jerry Buttimer, who led the Fine Gael campaign for a yes vote in Cork city, said that there was merit is hosting a citizens’ assembly, given how close the vote was in the end.

The vote to decide whether Cork city should have a directly elected mayor or not was neck and neck during the six to seven hour count in City Hall.

33,364 voted in favour of the plebiscite while 34,347 voted against it, a difference of just 983 votes.

After the vote was announced, Senator Buttimer said that passing it would have been the right thing to do “but the people have spoken and that’s democracy”.

He added: “It’s disappointing that we haven’t got it over the line and we need to reflect on what will happen next for local government in Ireland. It was a very tight margin here. This is a lost opportunity for Cork.”

The Green Party in Cork has called for a citizens' assembly to be held following Monday’s result. Cllr Oliver Moran said: “Citizens’ assemblies are now a proven commodities in Ireland. The citizens' assemblies on same sex marriage, on the Eighth Amendment, and on climate change and have shown they clearly work in both capturing the public mood and making well thought-through proposals.”

Fianna Fáil Cllr Terry Shannon said he was glad it failed, not because he didn’t want a directly elected mayor, but because it would have meant a “mix-match of powers in the city”.

However Independent Cllr Kieran McCarthy said while the salary, about €130,000 per annum, was an issue, it wasn’t an overly big issue. “A lot of people had a fear of what kind of person could be elected. A lot of people were saying the word ‘Trump’ to me, which was incredible to hear that on the doors.”

Solidarity TD Mick Barry, whose party led a no campaign, said he was happy with the result and that it was seen as creating a job “for one of the boys”.