Confidence vote in mayor not on table following legal advice

Members of Donegal County Council have been furnished with legal advice suggesting it would be virtually impossible to force a vote of no confidence in the mayor.
In the letter, prepared at the behest of Mayor Brendan Byrne, the council’s solicitors say that his handling of the vote which saw this year’s budget passed in the chamber was correct, and he acted legally and within the council’s standing orders at all times.
The advice also says that such a vote could not be taken in the absense of the mayor, but if he were in the chamber, he would have to chair the meeting himself, and that in itself would create an extremely difficult situation.
Members of the other parties are questioning the content of the advice, and whether or not the mayor should have sought advice at the council’s expense.
The letter was circulated at a special meeting which is continuing in Lifford to discuss the various meetings leading up to the budget meeting in December.