THE VOTE TO fill the Dublin City Council seat held by the late councillor Anthony Flynn has been deferred.

The vote, which was due to take place at this evening’s monthly council meeting, will be back on the agenda in the near future.

Prior to this evening, city councillors were split over the best approach to take when filling the seat held by Flynn.

A number of independent councillors put forward Geraldine Molloy, an ICHH volunteer, to fill the seat. It’s understood that Flynn’s family also supports the move.

Investigations are continuing into allegations of sexual assault against Anthony Flynn, the late founder of Inner City Helping Homeless (ICHH). The 34-year-old north inner city councillor was found dead in tragic circumstances at his home in East Wall in August.

An internal report for ICHH, released last month, detailed four serious allegations made against Flynn. Barrister Remy Farrell SC has been appointed to conduct a review of the controversy surrounding these allegations.

The Dublin Regional Homeless Executive (DRHE) did not fund ICHH but this week said it believed the charity should be wound down

Prior to this evening’s meeting, Social Democrat Councillor Catherine Stocker said the SocDems group would be “vigorously opposing” the nomination and were seeking a deferral:

“In the context of very serious and credible allegations and ongoing investigations into both Anthony Flynn and ICHH we feel that it would be deeply inappropriate for the council to accept the nomination of a candidate so closely linked to both,” Cllr Stocker tweeted.

The duty to fill the vacancy is that of the Council as Flynn was an Independent councillor with no nominated replacement. It’s understood that councillors were in agreement to defer the vote this evening in order to familiarise themselves with Molloy as a candidate.  

- With reporting from Órla Ryan