A Letterkenny Councillor says that more must be done to accommodate protests in the town without negatively affecting local businesses.
Debate arose in the Letterkenny-Milford Municipal District Chamber yesterday over a motion prompted by recent immigration-related protests in Letterkenny.
Independent Councillor Michael McBride said he was speaking up on behalf of Letterkenny when he said that the Main Street should not be closed off again to facilitate protests.
His comments follow criticism from the Letterkenny Chamber of Commerce and the wider business community regarding the closure of traffic access to the Main Street on Saturday 6th May, during what should have been a busy Bank Holiday weekend.
“We need to look at how to accommodate events without having an impact on trade,” Councillor McBride told the Letterkenny-Milford MD sitting today.
Cllr McBride said he believed that ratepayers would not have lost a day’s takings if the protests took place away from the Main Street.
“What happened in this town was not acceptable and we don’t want it to happen again and if we don’t do something about it, it will happen time and time again,” said Cllr McBride.
“I will acknowledge that the behaviour of everybody in the town that day was extremely good, but you could have 3 or 4 of them every year.”
Councillor McBride acknowledged the public’s right to protest, saying, “I’m not trying to stop anybody from doing anything, but we have to look at a way to accommodate everybody.”
Cllr McBride’s motion asked “that the organiser of any planned protests in Letterkenny would engage with An Garda Siochana, Donegal County Council, Letterkenny Chamber and the emergency services to minimise the impact of such events on the business community in Letterkenny.”
The motion was an amendment on an earlier motion by Cllr McBride, who originally called on Donegal County Council to consider the possibility of holding any planned
public gatherings in alternative locations to the Main Street in Letterkenny.
Following a discussion with Mayor Gerry McMonagle regarding the definition of a “planned gathering,” Councillor McBride agreed to revise his motion to focus on bringing relevant stakeholders together in advance of future protests.
Cllr McBride said: “I think that anybody that is planning to have any type of protest in Letterkenny should give a one and a half/two weeks’ notice so that a plan is put in place with the minimum amount of disruption to business and traffic.”
Councillors were informed that protest organisers do not require consent from Donegal County Council to stage any demonstrations.
“The consent of Donegal County Council was not sought nor was it required by the organisers of the protest event that was held on Saturday 6th May,” a spokesperson said.
