Bradley Bytes – a sort of political column with Dara Bradley 

Compiling the Galway City Development Plan has been a long, difficult and technical task for city councillors, and it’s no wonder they’re getting tired and making mistakes.

At the fourth or fifth meeting in quick succession last Wednesday, Councillor Donal Lyons (Ind) announced that he was “open to erection”.

The development plan may be exciting for some and we’re open to correction, but was the King of Knocknacarra referring to edifices or anatomy?

Debate was dominated by whether another part of a different councillor’s body was upright or not. It seemed like about 80% of the time was spent on people discussing where Terry O’Flaherty’s (Ind) hands were.

“Is my hand taken down,” she asked of her virtual, yellow emoji Zoom hand. Later she was asked if her hand was up. “I don’t know, is it?” It was. “Can you take it down?,” was the reply from a Council official.

When it was raised again, Mayor Clodagh Higgins (FG) called Terry’s name twice to invite her to make a contribution but it turned out it was up in error, again.

Moving swiftly along . . . Terry had to withdraw a motion about a road in the City Development Plan, after conceding she did not know what road she was talking about.

Earlier Councillor Frank Fahy (FG) could operate his hands but needed clarity from officials on how to stop his phone from ringing during the Zoom meeting.

Speaking of phones, Councillor Eddie Hoare (FG) was trying to multi-task at the same meeting. Attending remotely, he accidentally voted against something but came back in later to correct himself and said he was in favour of it.

He then forgot to mute his microphone and could be heard chatting to someone, presumably on another call.

“Sorry, there was just some Zoom thing on there in the background,” he was heard saying.

Some Zoom thing indeed!

(Photo: Look ma, no hands! Cllr Terry O’Flaherty’s virtual hand was all over the place at a recent meeting on the City Development Plan when she took part via Zoom).

This is a shortened preview version of this article. For more Bradley Bytes, see the July 22 edition of the Galway City Tribune. You can buy a digital edition HERE.