The new mayor of Limerick, Cllr Diarmuid Scully, has appeared before a Fine Gael disciplinary committee to explain his side in the controversy which followed his election to the mayoralty against party orders.
Cllr Scully and the four other Fine Gael members on Limerick City Council appeared before the special committee of members of the Fine Gael national executive in Portlaoise on Wednesday night.
Each councillor appeared separately before the four-person committee to give their account of the controversial events which led to Cllr Scully's election as the 809th mayor of Limerick.
Cllr Scully voted against his party's candidate for the mayoralty last week when he was elected mayor with the support of the Independent and Fianna Fáil councillors on Limerick City Council.
The 33-year-old Fine Gael councillor dramatically crossed the floor to secure the mayoralty by just one vote from his party's candidate, Cllr Maria Byrne.
His move shocked his fellow Fine Gael councillors in Limerick who had all voted for the party's official candidate, Cllr Byrne.
The outgoing Fine Gael mayor of Limerick, Cllr Michael Hourigan said Cllr Scully's actions had let the party down.
It is understood that Cllr Scully had expected the Fine Gael nomination ahead of the mayoral election, and was angered to learn that Cllr Byrne was instead given the nod. Following the controversy, Cllr Scully insisted that he was still a member of Fine Gael, the party he first joined as a 16-year-old.
However, sources speculated that his decision to cross the floor could lead to his expulsion from the party.
A spokesperson for Fine Gael headquarters confirmed yesterday that the disciplinary committee was now considering what course of action to take following Wednesday night's meeting in Portlaoise. That decision is expected to be known within a matter of days.
Cllr Scully, who was first elected to Limerick City Council in 1999, is a graduate in Business Studies from the University of Limerick.