Bin charges: Sinn Féin delegates backed demands to force party councillors to vote against service charges in all cases, despite a plea from the party's leadership.
The motion, from the Cathal Brugha Cumann in Waterford and Munster Ógra Shinn Féin, called on all elected representatives "not to vote for service charges under any circumstances".
Furthermore, the motion said the party's ardchomhairle should be mandated "to initiate disciplinary measures against any councillor who votes for estimates which includes service charges, up to and including expulsion from the party".
In a bid to head off the motion, the ardcomhairle put down an amendment that restated the party's opposition to service charges, but which, crucially, did not make it obligatory on councillors to vote against them in all cases.
"Let there be no misunderstanding," Louth TD Arthur Morgan told delegates, "this amendment does not advocate that Sinn Féin councillors should vote in favour of estimates."
Councillors, he said, are now faced with "a new context" since the Government gave city and county managers the power to impose charges for rubbish collection, regardless of the opinion of councillors.
"If Sinn Féin had a majority on every council in the State, we still could not abolish bin charges," he said. The ardchomhairle amendment "seeks to put an end to the myth that by voting against [ local authority] estimates we have the ability to abolish bin charges.
"It would be a tactical mistake to tie the hands of all our councillors in relation to decisions on whether to vote for or against estimates."
He added: "This decision must be made on a case-by-case basis in conjunction with the party leadership. We cannot allow all decisions to be taken on the false premise that by voting against estimates we can bring about the abolition of service charges."
Opposing the leadership's views, however, the party's general election candidate, Cllr David Cullinane said: "There is a world of difference between a county manager imposing service charges and a Sinn Féin councillor doing it. The most logical way to oppose something is to vote against it."
Tipperary South delegate Muiris Ó Suilleabháin said the "only essential" difference between the leadership's amendment and the original motion is that the amendment would "not compel" councillors to vote against the charges.
"The question that has to be asked is, 'why'? There is only one reason why it might be considered advantageous, and that is when we are in power with other parties," he said.
Cllr Joe Kelly from Waterford said Sinn Féin's local election manifesto in 2004 had made the party's opposition to local charges clear. "If we are a party that wants to give strong leadership then let's do so," he said.
Supporting the leadership's "equivocal" amendment made "no sense", he said, since council managers can impose the charges: "It will not cost us anything anyway."
