Collapse in rates collection leaves Leitrim Council in financial crisis

Leitrim, 2 May 1923 - A collapse in the collection of rates has left Leitrim County Council in a state of insolvency.

The cause of the Council’s financial crisis is not the ongoing Civil War, but rather a campaign of opposition to the payment of rates which has already had a significant impact on the programme of works provided by the Council.

Road works have been suspended for some time with the effect that many roads are almost impassable, although fortunately the railways - the main sources of traffic - have continued to function ensuring no disruption to food supplies, even if shopkeepers have been reluctant to carry heavy stocks owing to raids.

Since September 1921, County Council funding for a scheme promoted under the Tuberculosis and Diseases of Animals Act was stopped and all officers employed in connection with its administration have been let go. The Sanatorium dispensary is now derelict.

‘There seems to be little justification for the extraordinary attitude which the general body of ratepayers in Leitrim have adopted in regard to the payment of rates’, a special representative for the Irish Independent reported this morning. ‘For the past two years practically no rates have been paid in the county. On March 31 last the amount outstanding was over £70,000, some of which represent arrears as far back as 1920-21.’  

The chairman of Leitrim County Council, Mr. Tim Ward, recently told a Local Government Board inquiry that at one point there was £33,000 outstanding in the Manorhamilton district. Another witness to that inquiry, Mr. J.M. O’Beirne, mentioned that the collection of rates failed during the Anglo-Irish war - even decrees from Republican Courts could not be enforced - and broke down completely after the Truce.

While the Irish Independent’s special representative points out that non-payment of rates was not attributable to any ‘exceptional poverty amongst the people’, it is nevertheless indicative of the economic challenges that the people of Leitrim - and other western counties - face that the last number of months have seen a marked increase in emigration. Were it not for new Immigration Laws in the U.S. which have placed a limit on the numbers immigrating from European countries, then even greater levels of emigration might well have been experienced.

Although Leitrim has not suffered to the same extent as other counties during the current political upheavals, an increase in the number of military posts and civic guard stations, allied to the availability of better prices for farmers suggests an improvement in general conditions.

And while Leitrim is not a rich county agriculturally, it does boast exceptional mineral wealth which bodes well for its social and economic development when the new State has the opportunity to properly develop its economy.

[Editor's note: This is an article from Century Ireland, a fortnightly online newspaper, written from the perspective of a journalist 100 years ago, based on news reports of the time.]