*Photograph: John Mangan
FRUSTRATION IS close to boiling point for North Clare councillors over the six month wait to fill the post of senior executive officer for the local authority in Ennistymon.
Liam Conneally’s appointment as Chief Executive of Galway County Council in March resulted in a shuffle of positions among senior management in Clare County Council.
Prior to his move across the border, the Quin man had been Director of Economic Development and the Shannon Municipal District.
His exit saw Siobhán McNulty move from her role as senior executive officer in the West Clare Municipal District with responsibility for the Ennistymon local electoral area to become Acting Director of Physical Development and the Shannon MD.
These changes have left the West Clare MD without one senior executive officer in North Clare with John O’Malley responsible for the Kilrush electoral area. West Clare MD had two senior executive officers since the summer of 2022.
Not for the first time, Cllr Shane Talty (FF) voiced his frustration on the matter. “We’re sitting here for whatever length without a senior executive officer in North Clare, the role of the Active Travel officer is effectively another senior executive officer for Shannon and Ennis seeing as we can’t get any funding for it”.
“To say there is no focus or that we’ve been bucked around and left on the hind tit is a fact. I keep asking that it be raised on the Corporate Policy Group and we’ll be told ‘it is the recruitment process and what about ye’, it is not good enough,” Cllr Talty added.
Difficulties with resources were acknowledged back in July by the Director of Services in the West Clare MD, Leonard Cleary. “It is critical, everything is falling towards John (O’Malley), it needs to be progressed,” Cathaoirleach of the West Clare MD, Cllr Ian Lynch (IND) stated.
Reporting to a Director of Service, the senior executive officer is charged with the efficient management, direction and development of the directorates/department and function to which they are assigned. They are second in command to the Director in each Municipal District.
