AN APPOINTMENT HAS BEEN MADE within Clare County Council to lead the county’s response to the ongoing war in Ukraine.
Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Darragh O’Brien (FF) confirmed at the end of April that each local authority would be equipped with a dedicated Director of Service level staff member, supported by a small team to coordinate the local response between all of the agencies and community groups engaged in support and service provision to the Ukrainians.
Co Clare is understood to account for an approximate 10 percent of all the displaced Ukrainians living in Ireland.
Data published by the Central Statistics Office last month detailed that 2,452 Personal Public Services Numbers (PPSN) have been issued to Ukrainians in Clare. Of this, 1,165 of were in the Ennistymon electoral area which is 7.28% of its population from the 2016 Census, and this is a greater proportion than almost every other area in the country, including some entire counties and cities.
In Clare, Jason Murphy who had been senior executive officer in the Shannon Municipal District has been announced as the Acting Director of Service and he will be working with various partners such as the Community Response Forum, NGOs and agencies.
Based in Clonlara, Jason had previously been Head of HR in the Council. Prior to this, he worked in Limerick City and County Council as a senior executive officer and was heavily involved with the Regeneration Programme that initially was billed at €3bn but later brought back to €300m.
Though currently on annual leave, the Limerick native assumed his new role on July 4th. His most recent role saw him take an active role in the drafting of a masterplan for Shannon Town and key projects in the Municipal District.
He left a positive impression on councillors in the Shannon MD, among them Cllr John Crowe (FG). “I know he has everything needed to drive his Directorship, on behalf of all councillors and staff, we wish him well, we’re so sorry you’re leaving us, since you’ve come in you have done trojan work and been very good with the councillors”. Newly elected Cathaoirleach of the Shannon MD, Cllr Michael Begley (IND) lauded Jason’s communication and co-ordination skills.
Director of Service, Liam Conneally noted the importance of Jason’s role in the county’s response to displaced Ukrainians. He stated, “I’m really sorry Jason is going but it is heartening to see he is going on promotion to Acting Director of Service. The job you’re about to take on will certainly not be as varied as the one you’re leaving, you may have had issues to deal with but you can certainly say this was an interesting post”.
