Clash at Carlow council meeting over mayor’s chain amid claims of ‘undermining democracy’

Tempers flared at a Carlow Municipal District meeting this week as councillors clashed over the mayor's chain.

The row saw sharp exchanges between councillors, including claims the situation could “undermine democracy” and accusations that it was a “disgrace”.

Mayor Paul Doogue raised the issue during the April meeting of the Carlow Municipal District (MD), saying concerns had been brought to his attention about the mayor's chain, which had previously been placed in a local museum following the dissolution of the town council in 2014.

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While the chain had later been returned for use following a council vote, he said: “My opinion, for what it’s worth, it was the wrong thing to do,” and indicated he would bring a motion on the matter at a future meeting.

However, the remarks sparked a strong reaction from other councillors, with Deputy Mayor of Carlow, Fergal Browne, branding the comments a “disgrace” before leaving the meeting.

Fianna Fáil councillor Andrea Dalton strongly opposed the remarks, saying there had been a democratic vote on the matter and that it had been passed by both the council and the museum board.

She said there was “no dissenting voice” when the decision was made from either the council nor the museum board.

Cllr Dalton also said the chain had been in use without issue since 2019 and questioned why the matter was being raised again, describing it as “actually undermining democracy”.

She said the process had been properly carried out and expressed concern that Cllr Doogue was “making it sound like something wrong was done.”

However, earlier in the meeting, Cllr Doogue said: “Nothing has been done wrong, everything was above board, council staff, museum staff, the councillors, everything was above board.”

He reiterated his position, saying: “I have made that quite clear there wasn’t anything wrong.”

People Before Profit - Solidarity councillor Adrienne Wallace said she was “genuinely sad” at the scenes that unfolded, arguing there were more pressing issues facing the county such as lack of emergency accommodation, housing delivery and pensioners "struggling to heat their homes."

She described the row as a “storm in a teacup”, saying councillors should be focusing on more urgent local concerns.

She also suggested the debate highlighted a misplacement of priorities, with issues such as housing and social supports more important than matters such as titles and ceremonial items.

It was also confirmed during the meeting that minutes from the original decision were available, with the matter having been previously agreed at both a public Municipal District meeting and by the museum board.

Cllr Fintan Phelan also said he was disappointed that the debate over an “issue over a chain, which to me is a non issue” had taken up time that could have been spent discussing other matters, including a significant application that could benefit the townscape due the day after the meeting.

He said “the people of Carlow want their issues addressed” and that those were the issues the Municipal District should be focusing on, rather than “something that was voted upon and decided correctly, the procedures were followed correctly in 2019.”

Cllr Phelan added: “I am very disappointed that this has been raised in this manner when there are much more pertinent issues affecting the people of Carlow that we should be discussing in the MD.”

Following the exchanges, Mayor Doogue brought the meeting to a close and that the matter be returned to a future meeting.