This is outrageous. Councillors who are effectively Party operatives cannot hide behind a faux “Council Abstention” to shut down Democratic choice and they can abstain as individuals, but not as a council acting on behalf of the public. What we’re watching is not mere Politics but a coordinated exclusion that strips Article 12 of its force and if Government parties instruct TDs, Senators or councillors to block outsiders, the Constitutional route to nomination becomes a sham. There are concrete legal breaches of democratic representation under Article 16 and 12, to potential claims under Article 3 of Protocol 1 of the ECHR and judicial review of unfair procedure and they’re far more arguable when the exclusion is systematic. Councillors must either do their duty and allow a genuine vote, or record a personal abstention. Anything less is a dereliction of Public Trust and an affront to the people’s right to choose.

Posted by Fred Bassett