Cllr Hugh McElvaney asked to resign
Councillor Hugh McElvaney has been asked to resign from Monaghan County Council.
Members of the local authority have said Mr McElvaney has broken its code of conduct and needs to step down.
Hugh McElvaney was one of three councillors featured in an RTE Investigates programme last week.
He was filmed speaking to an undercover reporter asking for £10,000 in return for planning permission for a fake wind farm.
Mr McElvaney has since insisted he knew he was speaking to a journalist and went along with it 'for the craic'.
The motion calling for Hugh McElvaney's resignation was proposed by Sinn Féin Councillor Pat Treanor: “You know, we are all kind of painted with the same brush, we were all embarrassed by what happened,
“We were getting very angry feedback from our constituents that something needed to be done to clean up this mess and that is where we were coming from.”
However, last night's vote of Monaghan County Council has no standing in law and Cllr Hugh McElvaney - can't be kicked off the authority by vote.
The Department of Environment and Local Government has said it is a matter for the local authority.
Dr Jennifer Kavanagh a lecturer of Law in Waterford Institute of Technology explains: “The vote in itself can be taken in a token aspect, so they have made clear their opinions on the conduct of the councillor.
“However getting rid of a politician from any forum be it the Dáil, the council is actually near to impossible to do.”
