Overall, this Act is a disgrace from the point of view of Town Local Government in the 26 Counties which is given extremely limited powers compared to our European counterparts, but there is one small silver lining that the public should be aware of.

Since 17 July, every Town and County Council has adopted new Standing Orders and included in these must be a provision to:

1. Allow members of the public to attend Council meetings as observers.

2. Have the agenda of Council meetings displayed in the Council Offices.

3. Allow any member of the public to go to their local Town Hall to read the minutes of the previous council meeting.

4. Allow any member of the public to buy, for a reasonable price, minutes of Council meetings.

These are issues that Sinn Féin has called for years to be part of Local Government in the interests of democracy, accountability and transparency.

As someone new to the game and still very much learning the ropes I would like to welcome these changes so that the people of Gorey can also learn more about their local council and be fully aware that the town body is there to help serve their needs.

With the ongoing Showgrounds saga we saw the problems that arise when decisions are made behind closed doors and the public are deprived of having their voices heard. "