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Calls to end bitter dispute

Thursday, 15 May 2008

CALLS have been made to find a resolution to a bitter row that has erupted following the recent disbandment of a Northside music and cultural group.
Members of the Clontarf Comhaltas branch of Comhaltas Ceoltoiri Eireann (CCE) held a protest outside the CCE’s headquarters in Monkstown last Saturday week (May 3) after they claimed they had been dissolved unfairly.
Members of the Clontarf group are critical of measures that were taken to remove them from the new CLASAC Arts Centre in the area following a ruling by CCE HQ that they were in breach of the organisation’s rules. However, local branch members claim they were denied any due process or the means to put a case before the CCE after the disputed internal matters arose.
A spokesman for the CCE said that following a lengthy investigation, the former Clontarf branch of Comhaltas was deemed to be in serious contravention of CCE rules.
The spokesman denied the branch had not been given due process and said it had been afforded every opportunity to remedy the disputed situation.
However, speaking to Northside People, Diarmuid MacDonmhnaill, secretary of the dissolved Clontarf branch, said they were shocked and angry they had been removed from the new CLASAC centre.
“Our group has done a huge amount of fundraising over the years to help with the development of the new centre and it is wrong that we should be treated like this,” Mr MacDonmhnaill said.
He said that half of the branch’s 400 members were children and it was sad that they were affected by the dispute.
“One of the reasons we held the protest outside the CCE’s headquarters was to lobby their delegates and get them to hear our side of the story,” Mr MacDonmhnaill added.
“What we wish for now is for an independent mediator to be brought in to resolve the situation.”
In a statement issued to Northside People, Comhaltas Ceoltoiri Eireann criticised the protest taken by the former Clontarf branch.
“The matter under review was an internal issue for Comhaltas and processed within the terms and requirements of the Bunreacht (constitution),” a spokesperson said.
“It was people in the dissolved branch who brought it into the public domain.”
Meanwhile, Cllr Aodhain O Riordain (Lab) has called on the ardchomairle of CCE to enter into discussions with the dissolved Clontarf branch.
“It is only by negotiation and dialogue that this dispute can be overcome,” Cllr O Riordain said.

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