Chief Exec Martin hits back at Sharkey comments

Louth County Council Chief Executive Joan Martin has refuted claims made by a councillor that the local authority is “dysfunctional”.

Speaking at the start of the April meeting of the council, held on Monday, Martin went on record to reject the claim made by Tomas Sharkey.

“At the last council meeting on Monday March 26th, I asked Cllr Tomas Sharkey to withdraw a comment he made where he described the council as dysfunctional,” she read from a prepared statement.

“He has refused to withdraw the remark, which indeed he has made on previous occasions and again repeated on LMFM the following day.

“I would like to place on the record that I absolutely reject any suggestion that Louth County Council – the large and complex organisation that I lead and manage - is dysfunctional."

Her opening statement at Monday’s April meeting of the full council came after a tense and combative March meeting in which Sinn Féin councillor Sharkey railed against the local authority, calling it “dysfunctional” on several occasions.

The March meeting descended into chaos when Director of Services and former Dundalk Town Clerk Frank Pentony said: “I do not take lightly to being assassinated by Sinn Féin at the top table. “They’re good at that, they always were.”

After a lengthy adjournment, the manage- ment official withdrew his remark but Sharkey refused to do the same upon request.

At this month’s meeting, held at County Hall in Dundalk, Cllr Sharkey proposed several amendments to the minutes of the March meeting, which he felt did not properly reflect the sequence of events.
In total, he proposed three amendments to be made to the minutes.

He argued that the minutes did not properly reflect the events of the March 26th meeting.

Sharkey asked they be amended to show Martin (pictured) left the chamber before Cllr Sharkey was asked to withdraw his comments and not after as was noted.

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