CLONLARA’s cllr Michael Begley (IND) was re-elected as Cathaoirleach of Shannon MD for the next 12 months at the district AGM on Wednesday.
The independent was returned to the role he served in 2022 at Building 4000 of Westpark Innovation Campus in the county’s second town.
Cllrs James Ryan (SF), Rachel Hartigan (FF), David Griffin (FF), Patrick O’Gorman (FF) attended the meeting in person while cllr Tony Mulcahy (FF) observed the election via video link.
“The father of the house”, was proposed for the position by cllr Griffin and seconded by O’Gorman. Griffin himself was elected to the position of Leas-Chathaoirleach after a proposal by party colleagues Patrick O’Gorman and seconding by Rachel Hartigan.
Outgoing Cathaoirleach cllr John Crowe (FF) gave a short address to the assembled representatives and local media where he praised the teamwork of the district’s members and staff. The Sixmilebridge man mentioned several projects that had been completed under his tenure, stating that the team was “flat out to the boards”, to ensure their delivery.
Key highlights from Crowe’s time in the hotseat included the delivery of road, footpath, drainage maintenance, grass/hedge cutting, and village maintenance programs throughout the district. Successful management of the €5.2m flood relief scheme in Springfield and progress on the Shannon Town environment flood relief scheme were also referenced.
Crowe bid farewell to departing staff members, including Alan Farrell and Tom Mellet, while welcoming new officials such as Noleen Fitzgerald (Director of Services) and Kieran O’Donnell (Senior Executive Engineer) to the district.
The time then came to hand over the chain for the next 12 months with cllr Begley proudly accepting the honour. Cllr Crowe remarked “pressure off”, as the handover was completed and Begley took his seat at the top of the table.
Noted for his efficiency despite his years, the former Mayor of Clare wasted no time in getting down to business and outlined his plans for the coming year. The independent thanked John and members of the district for their work over the past year before categorising the district’s projects into controlled vs uncontrolled areas.
“There are things that we have very little control over, but we would like to keep them high in the agenda and keep pushing all the places that need to be pushed to see if we can advance those which would be not alone to the benefit of the county but for the surrounding Midwest”, said the Clonlara man.
Begley criticised the lack of input the MD is able to have on large scale projects outside of its control including the Athlunkard northern distributor road, flood defences and a proposed rail link to Shannon.
“If there’s one thing we’re good at, its complicating things that are quite simple. I would hope that we’ll be able to move some of those projects along as we go through the year. We’re in a very big shape at the moment with over a thousand employees. We have no control over that. We need to get the best from whoever we have here, and I’m sure we’ll get that over the next few months”, Begley concluded.
