*Cllr Pat Hayes (FF) and Cllr Pat Burke (FG).
WITHIN his own parish of Mountshannon, Cllr Pat Burke (FG) became Cathaoirleach of the Killaloe Municipal District for the third time.
On the week that the multi-million euro Inis Cealtra Visitor Experience opened in Mountshannon, the Clare County Council owned tourist attraction was the venue for the Annual General Meeting of the Killaloe Municipal District on Friday morning.
Proposed by Cllr Conor Ryan (FG) and seconded by Cllr Alan O’Callaghan (FF), Cllr Burke succeeds Cllr Pat Hayes (FF) in the role. Cllr Tony O’Brien (FF) was elected as Leas Cathaoirleach of the Killaloe MD.
Speaking at Friday’s AGM, Cllr Burke thanked his colleagues for their trust in electing him to the position for the coming twelve months. “It is a great honour, I’m the type of councillor who shies away from the media, this morning I was thinking of a few words on what to say making my way over. Coming from the parish of Mountshannon and Whitegate, it is a great honour to be elected Cathaoirleach on the opening of the Inis Cealtra visitor centre this week”.
As he looked out the window upstairs of the Visitor Centre, Cllr Burke quipped, “five minutes with a chainsaw and I’ve had have a great view of Holy Island altogether”.
He praised senior planner and Killaloe MD coordinator Brian McCarthy for suggesting Inis Cealtra’s visitor centre as the venue for the AGM, “that is the vision of Brian McCarthy who thinks of everything”.
Burke spoke of his own involvement in “taking the bulls by the horns” to encourage the local authority to acquire the property which was formerly a house and is now home of the Visitor Centre. “I go back to four or five years ago and following a public meeting in hall in Mountshannon where the presentation was given by officials from the Council and the preferred sites for a visitor centre for Holy Island, the preferred site was for a new build on Aistear Park as I look out and to build a visitor centre out there on the park, a lot of passionate people spoke that night, they were passionately opposed to new visitor centre in the park for the reasons the park was developed, the faith and the spirit, they had the vision in the 1990s to develop a park as opposed to it being given to a developer to build houses. I knew there was strong genuine opposition from strong genuine people that development would not take place in the park”.
Following this meeting, he raised the matter with then Director of Tourism Development, Leonard Cleary. “After a few days I went to the headquarters in Ennis and pleaded with then Tourism Director Leonard Cleary to look at this house, we’ve learned from the Cliffs of Moher that to purchase something which isn’t for sale can be difficult, Mr Ryan who owned the house wasn’t living here at the time, he had done some work and had maybe intended on retiring to this beautiful setting, but when the Council made approach, he was willing to negotiation but he was a tough negotiator and got himself a good deal. I am glad I took the bull by the horns when I approached top officials in the County Council and pleaded with them to look at this property, it is a multi-million euro investment between development and regeneration, we’re all aware of the costs of building work, it is no bother spending a couple of million with building costs”.
An elected member of the Council since 2009, Cllr Burke defended the input of consultants on projects led by the local authority. “People criticise the cost spent on consultants, when you walk through exhibition centre you can see why because they are good at their job”. The inclusion of local figures by Brendan Bugler, Ger Madden, Martin Hayes and fishermen was praised by Cllr Burke.
“I’ve a great feeling that this place will take off, we don’t ever want it to have the numbers the Cliffs of Moher have but it will be successful. Mountshannon is fortunate to be where it is situated on the lake, I’m from the village of Whitegate which is part of this parish and we’re proud of it, it’s two miles from the lake. Millions have been invested in the area because it is a tourism hotspot,” he added.
Cllr Burke appealed to the “legal teams” representing Mountshannon Community Council and Clare County Council to come to a resolution and open the gate by Aistear Park “via a right of way or whatever means”.
Rural villages face “plenty of challenges,” he acknowledged. “We are the envy of the rest of the county and I know that from speaking to the rest of the county,” Cllr Burke remarked of the relationships between East Clare councillors. He praised Cllr O’Callaghan for his term as Mayor of Clare and Cllr Hayes for his time as Cathaoirleach in the Killaloe MD.
Director of Services for Rural Development, Ann Reynolds congratulated both Cllr Burke and Cllr O’Brien on their elections. “I have worked with you both before, Tony as Cathaoirleach of Clare County Council and Pat as Leas Cathaoirleach. You are both straight-talking and practical people. Our doors are always open, we’ll work well together”.
Killaloe MD coordinator McCarthy noted, “It is a great honour to Cathaoirleach of MD and more so in this setting”.
