Offaly's Independent Ireland councillor is new chair of Edenderry Municipal District

EDENDERRY man Fergus McDonnell has completed his comeback to Offaly County Council by being elected Cathaoirleach of Edenderry Municipal District.

Cllr McDonnell, who returned to the local authority in the election earlier this month as a candidate for the new Independent Ireland party, was nominated for the Edenderry chair by the Fine Gael party.

The move brings Fianna Fail's chance of getting the position to an end and the Fine Gael deal with Cllr McDonnell is a reaction to the outcome of last week's County Council annual meeting which saw Fine Gael frozen out of the Offaly Cathaoirleach post.

On Offaly County Council, which has 19 councillors, the eight-strong Fianna Fail group got the chair and vice chair positions with the support of two Independents, Cllrs John Leahy and Sean O'Brien.

This afternoon's annual meeting of the six-member Edenderry Municipal District, the first since the June 7 election which saw Claire Murray of Fianna Fail and Claire Murray of Sinn Fein win seats for the first time, was initially chaired by the incumbent Fine Gael's Cllr Noel Cribbin.

After welcoming the newly elected councillors and describing Cllr McDonnell as a man who needed no introduction, he recalled how well the previous six-member Municipal District had done.

“We worked together for the better of the area,” said Cllr Cribbin.

He then proposed Cllr McDonnell as the new chair and was seconded by his party colleague, Cllr Liam Quinn.

In the absence of any other proposals Cllr McDonnell was elected without a vote.

Taking up the position, Cllr McDonnell thanked his proposer and seconder and said: “Like the outgoing Cathaoirleach said, we're here to work together collectively for the betterment of the whole Edenderry Municipal District area.”

He said he was looking forward to the year ahead. “There's a load of things we can do collectively to improve the lives and the area we live in.”

Cllr Quinn wished Cllr McDonnell the best in the year ahead and also paid tribute to the two councillors who had lost their seats, Robert McDermott, Fianna Fail and Mark Hackett, Green Party.

“Obviously I didn't share their politics but we got on very well together and they were two exceptionally nice men to work with and real gentlemen and had very much the best interest of the area at heart,” said Cllr Quinn.

He welcomed the new councillors, both of whom are local to the Rhode area and joked: “It'd probably be handier if we had the MD (Municipal District) meetings in Rhode.”

The Fine Gael councillor then moved to proposing a vice chair and said in the interests “of geography and gender” he was proposing Cllr Murray of Fianna Fail (pictured below on the right with Cllr McDonnell and council official Louise Direen).

Cllr Murray was seconded by her party colleague Cllr Eddie Fitzpatrick and again in the absence of any other nominations the Fianna Fail woman was elected.

Cllr McDonnell then remarked: “I'm delighted to see new faces involved in politics at local level or any level. I think it augurs well for democracy into the future.”

Cllr Fitzpatrick wished the chair and vice chair well and also acknowledged the work done by former councillors McDermott and Hackett.

“Everyone worked well over the last term of the council,” said the Cloneyhurke man.

The new district also rubberstamped all six members to take their places on the North Offaly Development Fund Ltd board.

It was established after the ESB closed its peat-fired electricity generating station in Rhode.

Cllr Cribbin was returned to Edenderry Swimming Pool committee and the corporate policy group of Offaly County Council.