Westmeath chain of office goes to Athlone!
Cllr Frankie Keena has been elected as Cathaoirleach of Westmeath County Council following a special meeting to replace newly elected senator Paul Daly.
Cllr Keena was nominated by Cllr Ken Glynn, who praised his hard work in the south of the county, and this was seconded by Cllr John Dolan.
As there were no other nominations Cllr Keena was deemed to be elected.
The new Cathaoirleach extended his sincere thanks to his proposer and seconder and for the support of all the council members.
“It is a great honour for me, my family and for Athlone,” commented the new Cathaoirleach. “I look forward to working with the (council) executive and members and the people of Westmeath over the next seven weeks.”
Keena, who first sat on Athlone Town Council in 1995, and on Westmeath County Council since 2004, congratulated Paul Daly, Aidan Davitt and Gabrielle McFadden on their election to the Senate.
“It is a great achievement for Westmeath to have seven Oireachtas members, four TDs and three senators,” he commented, extending his commiserations to Cllr Aengus O’Rourke before adding that his day at national level will no doubt come yet.
Congratulating the new cathaoirleach, who will sit for just a seven-week period, was Cllr Mick Dollard, who said it was a great honour to be elected as first citizen of Westmeath. Also wishing him the very best in his new role was Cllr Ken Glynn (FF), while Cllr John Dolan on behalf of Fine Gael, said it was only fitting for Keena to fill Paul Daly’s shoes, and said it was an honour to see the chain of office coming to Athlone.
“It is very well deserved,” reiterated Athlone Mayor, Cllr Tom Farrell, while congratulating Cllr Keena on behalf of the Sinn Fein party was Cllr Paul Hogan, who called him a true “community grafter”.
Cllr Johnny Penrose said that while it was a short term, it was a busy term, and wished him the best of luck, as did Cllrs Frank McDermott and John Shaw who had no doubt Cllr Keena would represent the Westmeath people and council members very well.
Cllr Paddy Hill said Cllr Keena had been an outstanding vice-chairman during his own term as cathaoirleach, while Cllr Avril Whitney said that while the council chamber had seen a number of changes in the last week, change was a good thing.
Reiterating previous comments of congratulations was Cllr Andrew Duncan, while chief executive of Westmeath County Council, Mr Pat Gallagher assured the new cathaoirleach of the executive’s support.