Mayo council meetings put spotlight on conflicts of interest

Declarations of interest have been added as a standing item to the agenda for council meetings following a request from the management team at Mayo County Council.

Head of the Claremorris and Swinford Municipal District, Padraic Flanagan, told last week's meeting of councillors that the item is intended as a reminder of existing requirements. 

“It is purely as a reminder, nothing has changed in relation to the requirements for declarations of interest, but it has been asked to be added as a recurring item.” 

It provides an opportunity for council staff or elected representatives to declare any conflicts of interest in relation to matters being discussed at a meeting.

While the legal requirement to declare any interests has always been in place, the chance to do so will now appear as a permanent item on the agenda.

Cllr Michael Burke welcomed the addition, saying the issue had become more apparent in recent times due to cases where people had strong connections to issues being discussed. 

“It has become more clear for particular reasons around the country, where people were going in and making strong cases about things, and they had connections to those parties," he said.  “Best advice is if somebody has any inclination of an interest or an association with anybody that they might be promoting or in favour of, that can be positive for the community, but you have to be careful going forward."

No declarations were made at the September meeting of the municipal district.

The standing item first appeared on the agenda for the July meeting of the Westport-Belmullet Municipal District in July under 'Conflicts of Interest'. 

• Published as part of the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.