*Cllr Tony O’Brien. Photograph: Eamon Ward
AS HIS year as Mayor of Clare came to a close, Cllr Tony O’Brien (FF) quickly found himself with a new post.
Succeeded by fellow East Clare man, Cllr Joe Cooney (FG) as the county’s first citizen, Cllr O’Brien took over the mantle from Cllr Alan O’Callaghan (FF) as the Cathaoirleach of the Killaloe Municipal District. With both meetings occurring on the same day, there was a period of two hours where he held both mayoral chains.
Craggaunowen was the setting for the AGM of the Killaloe MD where Cllr Pat Hayes (FF) and Cllr Pat Burke (FG) proposed and seconded the election of the Killaloe man. “He has learned so much about the county going around and delivering so it will be great to have his knowledge back in our MD, there are a lot of the projects going on here and he will hopefully bring them forward,” Hayes commented. Burke noted he was “a great man to promote East Clare”.
O’Brien was “a fantastic Mayor, he has kept us all on our toes, the Executive and us the elected representatives, he considered everyone,” Cllr O’Callaghan maintained.
“I won’t make any promises here, what you see on the tin is what you get, we’ve a lot of work at hand in the Killaloe Municipal District, I acknowledge the work already done, we’re a team and if we don’t stay working as a team then we won’t achieve,” Cllr O’Brien outlined. A bid to get a wastewater treatment scheme for Broadford which is “dragging on” was among the issues raised by the new Chair.
Director of Services, Anne Haugh praised Tony, “we could all see how industrious you were as Cathaoirleach of Clare County Council, Tony’s car was in the car park of Clare County Council more than any staff member of the Council”.
When it came to the AGM of the County Council, O’Brien was emotional when giving his final address. He described the role as “a tremendous honour”. He added, “You always have an ambition in the back of your head, you always want to do the best you can. Meeting the people of Clare at home and abroad has been a huge highlight”.
Particular moments referenced by the former Bus Éireann employee included the trip to Milwaukee promoting the county, the commencement of works on the Killaloe Bridge and Bypass, honouring Clare ladies in sport and the Council being named local authority of the year.
It was when he thanked fellow elected members, his family, parish and club that O’Brien began to choke up. “It was an honour that I was really humbled to accept, an honour of a lifetime, I thank you from the bottom of my heart”.
Speaking at the Council AGM, Cllr Hayes observed that his colleague was “a credit to the role” and represented the county “with huge dignity” and worked hard in the County Development Plan over the line.
Mayor of Clare, Cllr Cooney commended his predecessor, “it has been a privilege to watch you grow in the role, you have represented the county with pride and honour at every launch, function and meeting”.
Clare’s longest serving representative, Cllr PJ Kelly (FF) said Cllr O’Brien would make the top three of Mayors that he had observed in the Chamber.
Chief Executive of the Council, Pat Dowling said the input of Cllr O’Brien was crucial to getting the Shannon Heritage acquisition and County Development Plan completed. “His commitment to the office of Mayor was unique, the amount of work he put in seven days a week was phenomenal, he always available and always great to engage with the people he met no matter what level. The role he played as negotiator, facilitator, he was always focused on the outcome, the way of getting to it can be difficult but he always focused on the outcome and problem solving, there was two key engagements in particular this was evident, the County Development Plan and secondly in getting the acquisition of Shannon Heritage over the line, without your role I’m not sure we would have achieved either”.
