One of the four female members of Clare County Council insists options are available to break a political deadlock over the filling of Council-nominated positions on the board of the Limerick and Clare Education and Training Board.
A legally-required gender balance has not been met after Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil both nominated two men each to the positions, and the ETB Board has not met in months, as a result.
Under law, Clare County Council must nominate at least two women and two men to the Board of the ETB, but only one woman was put forward at the Council AGM in June.
That was Independent Ann Norton.
Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael both nominated two men each – Councillors PJ Kelly, Joe Killeen, Gabriel Keating and Paul Murphy.
The ETB has written to the Council to inform it that the nominations are in breach of legislation, and the two main political parties have held meetings to solve the impasse.
However, as the nominations were doled out as part of a complicated agreement that covers a raft of roles, no agreement has been reached.
The ETB hasn’t met as a result of this deadlock, and Fine Gael’s Joe Cooney says his party are trying to find a solution.
A Fianna Fáil spokesperson has said the party have decided it’s not practical to put forward an alternative nominee, because of the arrangement on the political roles, but Clare’s Green Councillor says there are options.
Roisín Garvey believes she’s more than qualified to take up a position on the board, if one is made available to her.
The Governing Board can’t meet until the matter is resolved, so for now at least, the stalemate continues.
