Lacey faces party expulsion over bin fees

The Lord Mayor of Dublin, Mr Dermot Lacey, faces expulsion from the Labour Party for defying the party whip by voting in favour of a 29 per cent rise in bin charges.

Mr Lacey told The Irish Times last night that he hoped his party would respect the decision he made to vote in favour of the charges at the December 23rd meeting of Dublin City Council.

That meeting was adjourned to December 29th following the council's failure to accept the city manager's, Mr John Fitzgerald's, book of estimates.

Some 27 councillors voted against the budget which would see household waste-management charges rise from €121 to €156 a year. Some 22 voted in favour of the budget and three were absent.

Mr Lacey said yesterday he "agonised for three weeks" over his decision to vote in favour of the increased bin charges. "I hardly ate, I hardly slept. It was a very difficult decision but I feel a moral one. I think the Lord Mayor has a responsibility to ensure the people of Dublin have a council and local government to address the issues that really matter, and I cast my vote in that light. I just hope the party to which I have belonged all my political life and to which I have shown nothing but loyalty will respect the decision I made."

Mr Lacey, a councillor for the South East Inner City electoral ward, has been a Labour Party councillor for 10 years.

Following his appointment as Lord Mayor in June, Mr Lacey wrote to the Fianna Fáil party leader on the council, Mr Pat Carey, undertaking to support the book of estimates - putting him in clear defiance of his party whip.

The Labour Party leader on the council, Mr Tommy Broughan, who imposed a three-line whip on the issue of bin charges, has been quoted as saying he would regard it a "kicking-out offence to vote with Fianna Fáil and the PDs on this".

The rest of the Labour Party councillors, Fine Gael, Sinn Féin and the independent councillors voted against the estimates on Monday, while Fianna Fáil, the largest party on the council, and the two Green councillors supported the motion.

If the council fails to agree a book of estimates on Sunday, the Minister for the Environment, Mr Cullen, can decide to extend the time to agree a budget. Otherwise he may dissolve the whole council and Mr Lacey would cease to be Lord Mayor. It is scenario Mr Lacey says is "quite possible. It is a real crisis."

It would be the first time the council has been disbanded since 1969, when Mr Frank Cluskey ceased to be Lord Mayor and a commissioner was appointed by central government to run the city until 1973.

Mr Lacey said the city's problems could only be solved by "strong local government".

Sunday's meeting takes place at 6.45 p.m. in City Hall.