Louth councillors walk out of monthly meeting over rainbow crossing

Councillors walked out  of yesterday's monthly council meeting in protest over what they deemed as the Chief Executives refusal to fully answer questions regarding the installation of a rainbow crossing and coloured letterings as part of a series of Pride initiatives in the county.

Sinn Fein Councillor Joanna Byrne queried Joan Martin on her request for a rainbow crossing to be installed in Drogheda as part of a series of Pride initiatives as well as what she said was a “U- turn” on life sized rainbow letters for Drogheda and Dundalk that she claimed  the council had given a commitment to in advance of Pride. 

“I think it’s very clear in my emails and correspondence with the Executive last week my annoyance over this, and it has to be said Chief Executive your handling of this whole situation, and when I say your handling I mean you specifically you Chief Executive, is nothing short of deplorable”, she said.

She alleged that the Chief Executive “undermined” one of her own directors who she claimed gave a commitment to install a rainbow crossing in Drogheda.

She further alleged that the Chief Executive undermined her own word to provide rainbow letters and that “”that leads to you undermining my word to the people that I represent which leads to a lack of trust between the Executive and councillors in this room.”

In response the Chief Executive Joan Martin said: “I think councillor if you’re going to attack me in public you might as well get your facts right before you do it.

She refuted the councillor's allegations and stated she would not be accused of lying. 

After heated exchanges the Chief Executive said she would not be responding to further questions on the matter, leading Councillor Kevin Meenan to propose the councillors walk out if the Executive refused to answer questions. 

For a full in depth report on the meeting and how the heated exchanges unfolded see tomorrow’s print edition of the Dundalk Democrat in all shops.