A bid to remove a spoken prayer at the start of council meetings has been rejected by the majority of Waterford councillors.

Independent Cllr Mary Roche proposed replacing the prayer with a moment of silent reflection in a motion at this week's Metropolitan meeting of Waterford City and County Council.

The motion read: “That Waterford City & County Council resolves to replace the recitation of the Opening Prayer by the members with ‘a moment of silent personal prayer or reflection’ with the duration at the discretion of the Mayor”.
Reg. No. 61 (dated, 19th October, 2021)

The motion led to a heated debate among city Cllrs, with 10 councillors voting against the move, and six in favour

WLR News journalist Aoife Kearns has this report on the prayer...