The former Newry Mourne and Down District Council Slieve Croob Councillor Patrick Clarke has been removed from office by the Local Government Ombudsman.
Following a decision by the Local Government Commissioner for Standards to impose a sanction on Councillor Patrick Clarke of disqualification for a period of three years for being or becoming a Councillor, Newry Mourne and Down District Council has notified the Chief Electoral Officer of this situation.
A Council spokesperson said yesterday (20 October) following the Tribunal decision: “As Councillor Clarke stood for election in the name of the Alliance Party, the Chief Electoral Officer will, in line with legislation, request the nominating officer for the Alliance party to nominate a person to fill this vacancy.”
Former Slieve Croob Councillor Patrick Clarke is the first councillor in Northern Ireland to face such a ban under the 2014 Code of Conduct policed by the Northern Ireland Local Government Ombudsman’s office.
Just two weeks after the public audio-recorded tribunal hearing held in the Downshire Civic Centre in Downpatrick on Thursday 6 October, the Commissioner made a final decision putting an end to Patrick Clarke’s political career as one of the 41 councillors who sat on Newry Mourne and Down District Council.
Patrick Clarke was elected to the new sunpercouncil on 22 May 2014 as an Independent and became one of the five members of the Independent councillors grouping.
Former Councillor Clarke has acknowledged publicly that he suffered from mental health issues and an alcohol problem and will be addressing this in the future. However, since 2014, he has faced a number of court convictions that ultimately brought him down.
* in 2010 he withdrew around £2000 for his own use from the Drumaroad Community Association’s bank account.
* in 2014 he removed £750 from the Dundrum Community Association while acting as an officer of the committee.
* at a Christmas party held in a Newcastle hotel on Christmas 2014 he sexually assaulted a female at the party gave a guilty plea in court when facing the charges.
* in 2015 he entered a neighbours home with a hammer and caused damage in the property and again was found guilty.
Patrick Clarke refused to resign from his post as Slieve Croob Councillor and was determined to stick out his elected term in office. He maintained that he had only received a suspended sentence in court and therefore under the legislation could remain as councillor as he had not actually been sentenced to prison. However, the straw that broke the camel’s back ultimately came when the Local Government Ombudsman decided he has broken the Code and struck his off as a councillor.
Now Patrick Clarke will try to rebuild his life and address the personal issues that have affected him in recent years.
Meanwhile, the Alliance Party will be internally considering who in its ranks will fill the vacant position on Councillor in the Slieve Croob district in Newry Mourne and Down District Council.
Patrick Clarke had become an Alliance Councillor in the 2014 sunpercouncil election, but later stepped back form being a member of the Alliance Party and became an Independent member. His seat is therefore to be passed to the Alliance Party to fill.
Councillor Patrick Brown, the Alliance Councillor from Rowallene, will soon have a colleague in Council, but it should not make a huge lot of difference to the dynamics of the chamber as Alliance have already aligned themselves to the group of Independent Councillors of which the former councillor Patrick Clarke was one. Whether this arrangement continues remains to be seen.
Down News understands that under the current legislation, the Alliance Party have 28 days to select and submit a candidate with the relevant number of nominations. The person going forward has to live and work in the Council area. That person will have to present themselves to the local South Down Alliance branch for selection and the branch will then subsequently vote. It would be expected that the new Alliance councillor would be in post around the beginning of December at the latest.
