A north Kilkenny councillor says she considered resigning from the council before provisions were made for remote access to monthly gatherings.
This monthly meeting of the Castlecomer Municipal District heard how there’s a move on to return to in-person gatherings each month instead of relying on remote access for all.
But Cllr Mary Hilda Cavanagh said she’d rather those who want to stay away from large numbers of people be afforded the opportunity to continue doing so and it’s something the longest-serving local representative considered giving up her seat over, telling KCLR News “I did in the early days when there was no facility for Teams meetings, when we had to be physically present, I take my responsibilities as a member of the council very seriously and I’ve hardly ever missed a meeting in my life in almost 48 years, I went in the week before I had a baby and I went back in again the week after I had a baby so I take my responsibilities very seriously but I feel that I should be in a position to attend meetings remotely if that’s where I find myself at this moment in time, so should everybody else, I’m not the only one whose family members are compromised in the county council”.
She adds that Covid hasn’t gone away and many still need to be careful for themselves and others in their close circle and exercising caution doesn’t impact on the work that gets done; “Just because you can’t physically look at the County Manager, the County Engineer or other officials doesn’t mean you can’t do your work effectively, I think that it’s important that we recognise that Covid is there still and as the situation improves we can go back to meeting in person but why would you bring 40 people into a room together when you can work just as well on Teams, I haven’t been any less of a councillor since Covid came than before, I work away on the phone, I work by email and I work to attend my meetings by Teams”.
