Anger at council over mayor's remarks

The Lord Mayor of Dublin, Cllr Royston Brady, further infuriated Dublin city councillors last night when he failed to attend a council meeting to explain why he had referred to his council colleagues as "clowns", "pathetic" and a "waste of space".

The council meeting descended into disarray when opposition councillors tried to voice their outrage over comments attributed to Cllr Brady in a Sunday newspaper that council members were, on the whole, "so pathetic", and that "nobody in their right mind would listen to the crap that goes on over there".

Cllr Brady was also reported to have made a personal attack on Labour party group leader Cllr Kevin Humphreys - who had criticised the lord mayor's decision not to hold a Christmas party for councillors this year - calling him a "clown, an absolute clown".

Chairing the meeting in Cllr Brady's absence, deputy lord mayor Cllr Deirdre Heney said he was at another engagement in the north-inner city.

She said she realised some councillors had genuine concerns, but others, she said, were trying "to score political points".

Cllr Humphreys said he found the "personalised attack quite difficult" but the attack on the council was more serious.

Cllr Brady had withdrawn the personal comments by phone yesterday, he said, "but now I would ask him to apologise to the council". Fine Gael group leader Cllr Ruairí McGinley and Sinn Féin group leader Cllr Christy Burke also called for him to withdraw his comments.

Cllr Gerry Breen, Fine Gael, called for Cllr Brady to resign, "whether he apologised or not".

Fianna Fáil group leader, Mr Maurice Ahern, said there was "no question" of Cllr Brady resigning. Cllr Brady could not be contacted last night.