Labour Party's decision on Bree complaint 'appalling'

sligo | rights, freedoms and repression | other press Thursday November 24, 2005 17:46 by Allen

A LABOUR Party decision to reject a complaint against its party leader, Mr Pat Rabbitte, has been described as "appalling" by Clr. Declan Bree, who made the complaint.

He also said that the failure to validate a "complaint of such a serious nature raised the most serious questions about the current lack of openness and accountability in the Labour Party."

Last month Mr Bree, who is a Labour member of Sligo Borough Council and Sligo County Council, submitted a formal complaint to the General Secretary of the Labour Party, stating that Mr Rabbitte accused him falsely, in a letter published in the Irish Times in September, of using his position as Mayor of Sligo to stop Traveller accommodation going into his own ward and attempting to put it into the ward of a party colleague.

“That Mr Rabbitte would claim that the office of the Mayor of Sligo was abused for personal or political advantage was an allegation that could not be ignored either by him or by the citizens of Sligo," Clr. Bree said.

"This must surely be the first occasion in the history of the Irish Labour Party that a party leader has attempted to vilify and smear a Labour Party colleague in such a manner, Clr Bree stated in his letter of complaint.

On receipt of the complaint, the general secretary of the party decided to refer it to a Complaints Committee.

Following a meeting of the Complaints Committee in Dublin on Friday evening last, the Secretary of the Committee, Mr Dermot Lacey, wrote to Clr Bree stating that the Committee had considered the matter and determined that the facts as alleged in the complaint came nowhere near meeting the standard for complaints set out in Article 14 of the Party Constitution.

Clr. Bree said that most extraordinary was that this was a similar complaints committee to which just weeks beforehand had upheld a complaint against Clr Bree for refusing to apologise for publicly criticising a decision of his colleagues to vote against Sligo's Traveller Accommodation Programme.

Councillor Bree described the decision to reject his complaint as "appalling and a very worrying development for the Labour Party."

"In the Labour movement I belong to, an injury to one is the concern of all. Here we had a case of a Party member writing to the Irish Times making scurrilous and unfounded allegations against a party colleague and the disgraceful response from the party establishment is to reject the complaint. It's shameful and it is deeply disappointing that the party of Connolly and Larkin would tolerate such a situation. I could not imagine such a scenario arising under the leadership of Dick Spring or Ruairi Quinn.

"How can we as a Party preach to others about justice, fair play and solidarity when those very principles can be ignored by our own party establishment?" Clr Bree asked.

In his original letter of complaint submitted to the General Secretary of the Party, Councillor Bree said: "That Mr Rabbitte would claim that the office of the Mayor of Sligo was abused for personal or political advantage is an allegation that cannot be ignored either by me or by the citizens of Sligo.

"I am proud of the fact that I was born and reared in Sligo. I have spent a lifetime since I was 15 years of age - involved in politics in Sligo. Apart from representing the Sligo/Leitrim constituency in the Dail for 5 years, I have had the privilege of representing the people of this city and county at local government level for over 31 years.

"During my years in local government I always respected and recognised the import and the significance of the office of Mayor of Sligo.

"On the 21st June 2004, after a wait of 30 years, I was privileged to be unanimously elected Mayor of Sligo. To be chosen as Mayor of ones own native town is a unique honour and in that context I pledged to fulfil my role as first citizen in a manner befitting the position.

"During my year in office I carried out my duties as Mayor to the very best of my ability and I particularly ensured that the office of first citizen was not used or abused for personal or partisan political purposes. At the conclusion of my term I can only say that I was overwhelmed at the positive and warm messages of thanks and congratulations I received from all sectors of Sligo society - community groups, chamber of commerce, voluntary organisations and from every member of the Borough Council regardless of political affiliation.

"In all my years as a political activist and in my 31 years as an elected representative I am proud of the fact - and the record will show - that I have always striven to protect the rights of minorities, whether immigrants, travellers or other groups," Clr. Bree said.


*Article from "Sligo Champion" 23rd October.