There were raised voices in the Monaghan County Council chamber yesterday as members debated on whether to proceed with seeking part VIII planning permission for the €40m proposed new council offices at Rooskey.
Before the planning issue came up for discussion, several councillors had raised their concerns and frustration over the state of Monaghan roads. Sinn Féin's Noel Keelan said roads were a "touchstone issue" for politicians canvassing and several councillors pointed to the fact that there is a shortfall of €5.9m in Monaghan's road budget.
Fianna Fáil Councillor P J O'Hanlon said that he had "thought long and hard" about the issue of new council offices for Monaghan and concluded he could "not in good conscience" support proceeding to the next planning stage. He and Independent Councillor Seamus Treanor said they could not justify asking ratepayers to foot the bill for the new offices. However, two rate-paying councillors, Fine Gael's Sean Gilliland and Fianna Fáil's Raymond Aughey said they agreed with investing in new civic buildings and approved proceeding to the next stage.
Cathaoirleach David Maxwell said it would not cost any more money to further the plans, and once part VII planning permission was in place the Council could seek tenders and would know how much the new building would cost.
He also said, if the council does not go to the planning stage, money spent in getting the plans to where they are at now, would be wasted. Independent councillors Paudge Connolly and Seamus Treanor, together with Fianna Fáil's PJ O'Hanlon and Aoife McCooey voted against seeking planning permission but, 12 votes in favour of proceeding to the planning stage won the debate.
