Rift healed after Offaly councillors 'war of words'

THE rift has been healed and put aside after a war of words incident between two Offaly county councillors.
During the November meeting of the local authority, Cllrs Aoife Masterson and John Leahy, Cathaoirleach, had strong words for one another when they were discussing a motion about live streaming.
Cllr Aoife Masterson was putting forward a motion which, if passed, would allow members of the public to attend the monthly meetings of Offaly County Council via the internet. However, prior tension bubbled over and the motion never got passed.
Things went off script during the November meeting when Cllr Masterson alleged that Cllr Leahy had a tense interchange with her earlier in the day in the Áras canteen.
During this Canteen interchange, Cllr Masterson alleged that Cllr Leahy had said to her, “Go f**k yourself” when she requested a meeting with him to discuss what he had said during a Midlands 103 interview the previous week about the proposed motion.
Cllr Leahy immediately denied the allegation, pointing out that he didn't say “Go f*** yourself” in the canteen. Cllr Leahy said he hadn't been aggressive, but had said in a lighthearted way, “Please don't bring this bu****it to me, Aoife.”
During the more recent, December monthly meeting, Cllr Leahy thanked Cllr Masterson's Sinn Féin colleague Seán Maher for helping to resolve the issue. “Cllr Maher talked to Cllr Masterson and talked to me and we agreed to move on from the issue and put it behind us. I also want to say that I would like to see Cllr Masterson's motion about live streaming meetings come before the Council again.”
Cllr Ollie Bryant (Fianna Fáil) said he would like Cllr Masterson to apologise for her comments during the November meeting. Cllr Declan Harvey (Fianna Fáil) agreed. He said it is not in Cllr Leahy's nature to swear in the way which Cllr Masterson claimed he did. Cllr Frank Moran (Fianna Fáil) said Cllr Leahy would never stoop that low.
Cllr Leahy thanked the Fianna Fáil Councillors for their support but he asked them to let the matter be. “There is no need to say anymore. Aoife and I have dealt with it in private and we are moving on from it.”

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