Navan Cllr puts €15k discretionary fund out to public vote

A LOCAL councillor is asking the people of Navan to vote for the charities which will receive grants from his discretionary fund.

All Meath county councillors receive a discretionary fund of €15,000 each year which they can distribute to local clubs, organisations and charities.

Cllr Alan Lawes says he believes the fairest way he can distribute this money is to ask the people of Navan to decide and is organising the vote for the third year running.

"I could decide to give out grants to organisations in my own area, but I don't think it is fair. It is not my money to give but the taxpayers," he said.

"I don't believe the taxpayer's money should be given away at the whim of councillors since it is undemocratic and could be misinterpreted as 'buying' votes. If the money was returned to the council pot it would be a missed opportunity for the people of Navan. Therefore, the Navan public is being offered this opportunity to say where the money should be given and it will be repeated throughout my five-year term in office.

"We have identified 23 eligible charities in the Navan Municipal District area and those receiving the top five number of votes will each get €3000 from my fund.

"Those received funding in previous years are not eligible and those who get funding this year will not be eligible next year, so that it is spread around more fairly," he explains.

"If more than five groups receive the same number of highest votes then the entire fund will be divided equally between those groups."

Voting continues until Friday 26th August and the link for voting can be found on Cllr Lawes Facebook page.

Only one vote per person will be accepted and it requires a name, a valid Irish mobile number, email address and location

"I will not be counting the votes. That will be overseen by the editor of the Johnstown Times and a number of others," he explains.

The charities nominated are Alzheimer's Society of Ireland, Cultúr Migrants Centre, Foróige NYPD Project, Irish Cancer Society - Night Nursing, Irish Wheelchair Association, Jigsaw Meath, Joshua Project, Little Blue Heroes Foundation, Meath Autism Network, Meath Food Bank, Meath Travellers Workshops, Meath Women's Refuge and Support Services, Men's Aid Ireland, Navan Arch Club, Navan Meals On Wheels, NCBI, Praxis Care, Sosad Navan, St Anne's Loreto Primary School - Speech & Language Unit, Tabor House, The Last Hope Animal Charity, Third Age Ireland and Youth Work Ireland.