Cllr to challenge registration error

Home

News

Local News

Written by Graham Lynch

Thursday, 21 May 2009

Councillor Annette Spillane has said she will consider a High Court challenge if she is prevented from standing for election in the ward in which she currently holds a seat. The Independent was distraught to learn this week of an error in her nomination application which has her registered to contest the north central ward as opposed to the north east ward where she has held a seat since 2004.

The former Sinn Fein representative mistakenly filled in the name of the Dail constituency in which her ward is located, Cork North Central, in the area where she was supposed to fill in the ward which she wished to contest. A statement from Cork City Council sounded an ominous note for Cllr Spillane, indicating that a exception to the registration rules seems unlikely. It read, "Fifty nine nomination forms for the local elections for Cork City Council, across six local electoral areas, were submitted and validated during the period for receipt of nominations.

"Responsibility lies with the candidate, or his/her proposer, to deliver all documentation to the returning officer by the deadline for receipt of nominations. Only fully completed nomination forms are validated by the returning officer." Cllr Spillane has already sought legal advice from a solicitor specialising in constitutional law, who has informed her of her right to challenge the ruling under the Local Government Act 2001.

Outgoing Cllrs Maureen Quill and Denis Cregan offered support to Cllr Spillane, with Quill saying that a clerical error should not prevent her former ward representative from running for the constituency she has served so well. "People can murder children and an appeal process is open to them," she said. "It’s deeply unfair on Annette should suffer like this for a simple clerical error."

Comments (0) »