This article is from page 38 of the 2009-06-09 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 38 JPG
THERE were tears from Geraldine Lambert, a prepared speech from Sean Hillery, while Mike McKee reminisced about being arrested sev- eral years ago, as a Sinn Féin activist. Emotions ran high as three outgoing Shannon town councillors made their final speeches at their last ever meet- ing last Tuesday.
More than two decades of involve- ment in Shannon Town Council came to a close as the three council- lors decided not to seek re-election to the local authority. Nostalgia was in abundance as tributes were also paid to town manager Ger Dollard, who is moving to Ennis, and town clerk Tomas MacCormaic, whose re- tirement will take effect later in the summer, after 27 years in the post.
Fianna Fail Town Councillor Sean Hillery – who was also a county councillor between 1985 and 2004 – said he had thoroughly enjoyed the past 24 years of public life and said the town council was a “totally dif- ferent kettle of fish” to the county council. “In the county council we were pulled and dragged. In Shan- non it was a community effort,” he said.
“T can relax in the knowledge that I helped or tried to help every person who came to me looking for help,” said Mr Hillery.
He said when he is asked why he is retiring, he explains to those enquir- ing, “I feel I’ve given enough. I have other ideas in my head that I want pursue,” he said.
He said Mr MacCormaic was “more than a town clerk to me. Tomas was a friend from college, a friend from my youth. He is very straight, upfront.”
Independent councillor Mike Mc- Kee said he was “for the last time speaking here after 24 years.” He said that while there were some good
times, he could not remember any bad times.
He recalled, with humour, the lifting of the broadcasting ban on members of Sinn Féin speaking in the media in Ireland. “I think I was the first Sinn Fein person to speak on radio, Clare FM. When Caimin Jones asked me the first question, my lips just froze. I was like a robot. He couldn’t deci- pher what I said,” he recalled.
The former Sinn Féin councillor said that over the 24 years, he just missed two meetings out of 240. “One I was arrested as a Sinn Féin activist. They wouldn’t let me make a second phone call,’ he recalled.
Geraldine Lambert fought back the tears as she bid farewell to her days on the council, telling her colleagues it was “an absolute privilege” to work alongside them.
Fine Gael councillor Tony Mulc- ahy’s words rang true: “Half of us won’t be here in September.” Five of the 11 people around the table – the nine councillors, manager and clerk – will no longer be part of it all in the
autumn.
Mr Mulcahy said Mr Dollard’s de- parture was Shannon’s loss, but En- nis’ gain, while he referred to Mr MacCormaic as “a kind of monu- ment in the town hall.”
His party colleague Sean McLough- lin addressed Mr Dollard and said he was “definitely a people’s person. Whatever you did you did for the sake of the people and of the town, not for the council.”
Independent councillor Patricia McCarthy said she had the pleasure and honour of serving with the three outgoing councillors since they were first elected more than 20 years ago. “They were incisive, but they were never divisive. Whenever we hit a wall we worked to solve it,’ she said. She said Mr Dollard was very hon- est, open and receptive to dealing with people, while Mr MacCormaic was a diligent town clerk who did his job “without fear or favour.”