David Gilroy is new chair of Meath County Council

The readers of this blog might like to know a little more about the newly-elected Cathaoirleach (Chairperson for those of you without the first official language) of Meath County Council, Councillor David Gilroy who won the election for the post which was also contested by the indefatigable and indestructible independent Cllr Joe Bonner. He succeeded Cllr Wayne Harding.

David Gilroy is the new Cathaoirleach of Meath County Council.

David is the son of Paddy (now deceased) and Nora, and brother of Fr Tom Gilroy (now Kinnegad and formerly St Mary’s, Drogheda), and John (former councillor and Senator), and Martina Gaffney (a midwife who has been working right through the pandemic), and healthcare professional Paula Lynagh. He is 44, a reminder to some of us that when the councillors start looking younger, it means the rest of us are getting older! 

Athboy is his home place and was educated at the Convent of Mercy before going on to study electronics in the 1990s and then worked for 16 years in manufacturing/process engineering until 2012 when he became a professional photographer, a calling he has followed since then. Both his parents were heavily involved in all aspects of community life and that seems to be in the blood of the rest of their family. David was first elected to the county council in 2014 for the Kells Municipal District. He is the current chair of Boyne Valley Tourism and here’s the list of everything else he’s involved in (where DOES he get the time?) – chair of Meath Climate Change strategic policy committee; founding member of Athboy Hub; Chair Athboy Community School Board of Management; member St Oliver’s PPS BOM, Oldcastle; member Meath Traveller Accommodation Committee; Director of Athboy Social Needs and Development Company; Director Meath Partnership; Director of Athboy Creche Company; Director Athboy Development Company; Participant Development Officer Athboy Community Employment Scheme; Chair of Athboy 100 Heritage Group; former member  Meath Heritage.

In his speech following his election he said: “Being an elected member doesn’t make you an expert but it puts you in the room who are. I’m not afraid to ask questions and bring what I leasn with me. By working together we can accomplish more than we can alone and I believe that a significant part of the role of the councillor is to bring people along with you. To strive to make our communities better places, I have yet to meet a councillor who does not have that belief at the centre of their work. While we may disagree on how thing should be done, our objective is the same.”

At the same council meeting, there was something of a “changing of the guard” when two new members were co-opted to the council. Annie Hoey of the Labour Party had been elected to the council in last year’s local elections and then she was whizzed off to the Seanad (by election of course) and she is being replaced by Elaine McGinty (of whom more anon). 

Independent Cllr Sharon Keogan who was also elected to the Seanad is being replaced by her sister Geraldine who was co-opted to the Meath council on Monday. Keogan’s (Senator) electoral organisational abilities are sometimes underrated. She’s had a remarkable few years, having been elected to the county council in 2014. Last year, she stood in two separate municipal district (Laytown-Bettystown and Ashbourne) and managed to achieve a personal target of landing two seats. She can only represent one at a time and opted for Laytown-Bettystown and had her Duleek office colleague Amanda Smith co-opted to the county council. Smith aims to hold onto the Ashbourne seat by establishing an office in Stamullen. 

Sharon Keogan could lay claim to having a formidable “political party” at this stage. Her tactic of organising the country’s independent councillors into some form of fighting force made the difference when it came to hauling in Seanad votes.

Labour’s fortunes on Meath County Council have waned since the heady days when they had three councillors sitting in the council chamber in Railway street – Dominic Hannigan, Eon Holmes and Niamh McGowan. The tide turned last year when Annie Hoey was elected for Laytown-Bettystown. Now she has been replaced by Kerry woman Elaine McGinty who was co-opted on Monday. As she took her seat she was watched from the public gallery by her husband Cathal and sons Conor, Senan and Padraic. In her speech, she said she was a proud trade unionist, champion of workers’ rights, equality, and supporting the marginalised. She has watched, with others, the extraordinary events of the last few months when Covid-19 hit and she says she is proud of our communities who have shown such decency in the middle of the crisis. “I recognise and believe that these shared experiences have been transformative. I recognise and believe that the transformation into a more community-base society has already begun.”

And finally, as they used say on ITN News, there were generous tributes to two long-serving public officials who are retiring from the county council, Kevin Stewart, Director of Services, and Pat Gallagher, Senior Planner. In one of the many tributes from councillors one member told Kevin “on yer bike”, not in the Norman Tebbit style, but in recognition of Kevin’s well known love of  cycling. Thanks to new Government guidelines, he has now been given the freedom of the county – otherwise he might have been cycling round in circles!