(Pic: Karen Boyle & I, Thank you to Karen who kindly arranged for my name to be listed. I think I'm the 5th women on the list of Chairmen / Cathaoirligh)
Friday the 21st of June 2024 marked my last day as Cathaoirleach of Wicklow County Council. It has been the greatest honour to serve the County. It is near impossible to sum up what this year has meant personally and how unbelievable grateful I will forever be, but I took the opportunity during the meeting to make the following statement.
(Pic: taking position in 2023)
‘I would like to take the opportunity today to reflect briefly on my year as Cathaoirleach and to thank those who have helped me along the way. I have held many roles in my life, I can honestly say that this role has been the most rewarding of any position I’ve ever held.
Over the last year I have had the opportunity to witness the best of Wicklow, the beautiful landscape and most importantly the fantastic diverse communities that keep this county alive and thriving.
I have had the opportunity
· to witness Wicklow hold its first ever Pride Parade
· to formally recognise the contribution of our Civil Defence and Gardaí
· to welcome the Ukraine Ambassador to Bray and to visit the Palestine Ambassador in her residence
· to celebrate our diverse Irish community with festivals of culture celebrating our Irish Indian, Irish African and Irish Chinese Communities with food, dance and stories and welcome new communities who support our retail, health and hospitality sectors as well as our community groups such as Coast Care and Tidy Towns.
I have shared in the 21st Birthday celebration for our County Arts Centre at the Mermaid and most recently celebrated the 10th Birthday celebrations of the Wicklow PPN
I have been able,
· To participate in the National Women’s Enterprise Day
· To mark the opening of Clermont Screen Hub
· To welcome the Made in Wicklow Head, Heart & Hand Creative Strategy
· To see the huge success in the Pride of Place Awards
· And to see Wicklow Awards as the Council of the Year
To name but a few of the unbelieve experiences.
I want to thank the staff of Wicklow for their support over the last year, their guidance and commitment to serve this county and also the people of Bray East Ward for voting and placing your faith in me, and in turn allowing me to put my name forward for the position of first citizen of the County.
I want to also thank each of you in this chamber for your support and for electing me to this role. As many of you are aware I speak openly about my own personal experiences and how they have shaped me, including difficult times when I was extremely fortunate to have been able to access Bray Women’s Refuge for much needed help.
I never thought during that period of my life that a time would come where I would be sitting at this seat, in front of you all as the first citizen of my beloved County. You have not just given me this opportunity but also you encouraged me and stood by my side throughout the year.
During this year you have taken many decisions in this chamber, including a decision which some of you may not realise will put steps in place to create step down housing for women seeking to move on from Brays Women’s Refuge and start the process of rebuilding their lives. This is something that for obviously reasons means a great deal to me and to those whose lives you have had a positive impact on. People often make statements flippantly questioning what impact politics can have, know that within your County you have had more of an impact through these decisions than you will probably ever know.
My sincere best wishes to those newly elected Councillors who join us here today. I wish you all the best for the term ahead and please reach out to me if I can be of any help as you navigate this space.’
Following my contribution the positions of Cathaoirleach and Laes Cathaoirleach for the new term were voted. Huge congratulations to Paul O'Brien the new Cathaoirleach of Wicklow County Council and to Melanie Corrigan elected as Leas Cathaoirleach. The best of luck to you both for the coming year.
(Pic: Emer O'Gorman, Chief Executive, Cllr. Paul O'Brien Cathaoirleach & I)
(Pic: the new Council for the term June 2024 - June 2029)
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