Westmeath retains chair of HSE forum

Published: Tue 28 Jul 2009, 12:00 PM

Last updated: Tue 28 Jul 2009, 4:57 PM

For the second term in a row, the chairman of the HSE's Dublin/Mid-Leinster Regional Health Forum will be a Westmeath man, with Westmeath county councillor Mick Dollard (Labour) stepping into the big seat in Tullamore last week.Cllr. Dollard replaces his Westmeath County Council colleague, Fine Gael's Cllr. Frank McDermott, as chairman of the consultative body, which is made up of 42 councillors from Westmeath, Longford, Laois, Offaly, Kildare, Wicklow and Dublin.The forum acts as a platform where local politicians in the Dublin/Mid-Leinster area can liaise with senior management of the Health Service Executive on a variety of issues.Cllr. Dollard, who served as vice-chairperson during Cllr. McDermott's term of office, has served on the Regional Health Forum for five years, and this is his first time in the chair. He is a former chairman of Westmeath County and Mullingar Town Councils.On the newly reconstituted forum, Cllr. Dollard will be joined by Westmeath County Council colleagues, Cllrs Peter Burke (FG) and Aidan Davitt (Fianna Fáil).