The warring SNP and Labour groups could be ready to call a truce and consider working together again.
But both remain bitter as the fallout continues from this month’s North Ayrshire Council budget when the SNP joined forces with the Tory opposition to help get it over the line.
They also clashed heavily over parking charge proposals, with the SNP backing the move and Labour heavily opposing it, despite previously being in favour.
Irvine East Labour councillor Nairn McDonald told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: “At the budget, council leader Marie Burns walked straight past us to the Conservative room.
“I thought the SNP would talk to us. It feels like a one-way street but hopefully that will change.
"There are a lot of things we can work together on, a lot of policies we can agree on, including child poverty and community wealth building to make sure contracts are given to local companies. The Tories don’t believe in that as they are free marketers but that is their prerogative.
"There are places where we can work together. Tempers rise and passions are high in the chambers. But we are all there to work for our constituents.
"If Marie Burns called me tomorrow to grab a coffee and discuss things in Irvine East I would happily do that. Marie, me and Angela Stephen are all ward members.
“Marie’s politics and mine are much closer than either of us to Angela.
"On community issues we could really work together and support the local area going forward.”
Depute leader and SNP Irvine West councillor Shaun Macaulay said: “When the SNP were in opposition we put our differences aside and approached Labour to work constructively with them as the administration to pass a budget on shared commitments for the people of North Ayrshire.
“We received no such approach from the Labour group this year.
“No councillor should be as reckless as to vote for something like the Labour proposal which was deemed by the North Ayrshire Council financial director to cause "significant financial risk".
“If they are now having a U-turn in approach and want to work constructively with the SNP then I welcome that but time will tell.
"The SNP administration’s focus will be to continue to be working to strengthen our communities, tackle climate change and reduce poverty.”
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