The newly elected mayor of Clare has demanded that Clare County Council carry out an independent audit of all recent planning decisions.
In her first move as mayor, Cllr Patricia McCarthy is asking the county manager Alec Fleming to appoint an outside independent person to examine all recent planning decisions in the county.
"It was agreed in 2004 that there would be an audit of all planning decisions. But to my regret, that never took place," she said.
"If we can't solve this fractious issue, it will do untold damage to the council."
Cllr McCarthy made her demand after recent figures showed that the sustained protest by councillors against the council's strict planning rules was having minimal impact on the council's refusal rate for one-off homes.
The figures show that individuals were more likely to be successful in securing planning permission in 2003 than last year in spite of continuing councillors' complaints over the enforcement of planning rules.
Planning continues to dominate the local authority's monthly meetings. The council's director for planning, Bernadette Kinsella, has revealed, however, that the refusal rate for one-off homes last year was 25 per cent compared with a 19 per cent refusal rate in 2003.
The move by Cllr McCarthy has been welcomed by all sides. Cllr PJ Kelly (FF) said: "Cllr McCarthy has grasped the nettle and I hope that she achieves what she is seeking because the people of Clare have suffered so much for so long."
Last Friday, the councillors unanimously agreed to elect Cllr McCarthy as mayor - the county's first woman mayor in the council's 107-year history. She is only one of two females on the 32-member council.
Cllr McCarthy said: "Women make up 50 per cent of the population and if the council is to reflect society, until such time as there is 50 per cent of the councillors female, the council won't be reflecting society." She added: "I'm very pleased for the people of Clare, especially for the women of Clare."
First elected in 1979, Cllr McCarthy had told the council's annual meeting at that time that there were only two female councillors and that remains the case today.
Fine Gael councillor Martin Conway said: "It is a great pity that it has taken 107 years to get to this point of electing a woman mayor. Cllr McCarthy asked that councillors not allow anyone demean politics or councillors. She received tributes from all sides before Cllr Bill Chambers (FF) was unanimously elected deputy mayor.
