Mayor's call for council meetings to be held remotely

Athlone's Mayor has asked Westmeath County Council to hold their monthly County Council and Athlone Municipal meetings by teleconferencing during the Covid-19 restrictions.

Cllr Frankie Keena's call comes hot on the heels of council meetings in Offaly and Longford taking place remotely in recent days, and a number of other counties looking sure to follow suit or hold meetings in bigger venues where social distancing can be observed.

Up to now a number of Westmeath County Council and district meetings have been postponed in order to comply with public health guidelines, however, the Fianna Fáil representative maintained it's now time to look at other options to ensure council work is completed.

“Over the last number of weeks the Corporate Policy Group (CPG) which is a representative of five elected members including the Chairman and CEO of Westmeath County Council are meeting weekly via teleconferencing, and in turn, the remaining elected members are briefed afterwards.

“I would like to compliment our executive and all the staff for the work been carried out to date during these unprecedented times,” he said.

“Offaly County Council have started holding their full council meetings and municipal meetings via teleconferencing and I have made a request that we do likewise,” stated Mayor Keena.

“It is important that we keep the general work of the council going as much as possible and the elected members are a key component in making this happen,” he added.

“I am aware that teleconferencing is not the ultimate solution as I am told that certain decisions made can be open to a legal challenge. But there are a lot of issues and matters that can be resolved by holding our council meetings through this type of technology,” the Mayor continued.

The CPG is due to meet again next week and he hopes a workable solution can be found.

“In the meantime I am fully aware that all elected members including myself are kept busy in responding anyway we can to assist people as part of the County Community Response initiative,” Mayor Keena ended.