This article is from page 11 of the 2006-07-18 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 11 JPG
A CLARE County Councillor was left red faced on national radio when he was told information given to him at a council meeting was not correct.
In a debate with An Taisce’s Ian Lumley, Cllr PJ Kelly (FF) criticised the environment watchdog for not allowing the people of Clare access to its comments on planning applications in the county.
At the June meeting of the council, the councillor was told that the An Taisce files could not legally be made available under law.
Cllr Kelly said he was embarrassed when told by Mr Lumley, “you have no problem with us. Go back to your county council who have a restrictive policy.”
Cllr Martin Conway (FG) said he “genuinely felt sorry and embarrassed for him.
Director of Services Bernadette Kinsella said the information given to Cllr Kelly was factual, as that was the council’s interpretation of it.
“We went back and the department advised us our interpretation was not the same as interpretation made in other county councils.”
“We were happy to correct something we had misinterpreted.”