The appointment of a Fianna Fáil councillor to a council job with a policing project in Co Waterford has been questioned by members.
Eddie Mulligan was appointed last month as coordinator of the local Community Safety Partnership (CSP), which is one of three pilot projects - along with Longford and Dublin's north inner city - formed by Minister for Justice Helen McEntee with a view to replacing the existing joint policing committees.
Mr Mulligan resigned from the council's elected body to take the job.
At a meeting this evening one member representing the public expressed their "absolute disappointment", while the vice-chair of the group questioned the ex-councillor's appointment as he had recently been "extremely critical" of the project's work.
The CSP sees senior members of An Garda Síochána, local authorities and the HSE meet with elected councillors and members of the public.
The latter grouping is picked from the Public Participation Network (PPN), which is made up of voluntary and community representatives who are not elected councillors.
Conflict has arisen in recent months as the pilot project is partly designed to enhance the role of non-elected members of the community by increasing their membership and decreasing the number of councillors - something which Mr Mulligan in the past criticised as effectively meaning "the role of the public representative has been undermined".
The Waterford CSP is chaired by former secretary general of the Department of Justice, Sean Aylward, who closed off questioning of Mr Mulligan's appointment, citing a concern that it "would not help the cohesion of the organisation".
It is understood a letter was sent to the council executive with responsibility for the project last week, unsuccessfully seeking a meeting to discuss the appointment with members of the PPN, saying there had been a "history of criticism of the CSP and the process" by Mr Mulligan.
One PPN member, Breda Halligan, told this evening's remote meeting that members "did look for a meeting to discuss" the appointment, adding she wanted to voice her "absolute disappointment" at how it played out.
She said she was disappointed to learn of it from social media and said that the vice chair of the group - also a PPN member - was not informed either.
Referencing a meeting with Ms McEntee earlier this year, Ms Halligan said the minister "emphasised the participation of the PPN", adding that clarity was needed as the new coordinator had "slightly different views" of the group.
The group's vice-chair, Donal Murphy, wished Mr Mulligan well in the role and said: "At our last meeting Eddie was extremely critical of this group, the CSP, the way it was going, that it was slow ... how does he feel now that he's inside looking out rather than outside looking in?"
Mr Aylward interjected at this point and said he would not allow a response as it was "not fair" to Mr Mulligan.
"He's now in an executive role where he's here to note the views of the meeting and keep the wheels turning, but's he not here to express personal opinions."
He added: "It wouldn't be helpful to the cohesion of the organisation to go into this any further. I'm going to close this now."
Earlier, Mr Mulligan said he had always been committed to policing matters in his past role as a councillor and apologised for not informing members of his changed role.
Waterford City and County Council's director of services, Ivan Grimes, said the local authority does not announce appointments with the exception of its chief executive.
Outlining that an open recruitment process took place with an external interview board establishing a panel of candidates, Mr Grimes said Mr Mulligan was the "next qualified" person when the role of coordinator became available recently following the promotion of the previous coordinator.
He added any extension of the pilot is under ongoing review and will be made by the Department of Justice.
