This article is from page 24 of the 2007-07-03 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 24 JPG
OUTGOING mayor Councillor Stephen O’Gorman was full of praise for his native town as he wore the chain of office for the last time.
“I could speak all night about how Kilrush is progressing at a very fast rate,’ he said pointing to the many achievements of the town over the past 12 months.
During his reign as mayor, the John Paul Estate resident also faced down anti-social behaviour in his area and suffered the consequences.
In his parting speech he thanked the people of Kilrush “who stood by me in tough times and especially the residents of John Paul Estate’.
It was at the end of his term in of- fice that the Fianna Fail town coun- cillor saw the beginning of the pilot scheme for the regeneration project at John Paul Estate – a project close to his heart.
This was just one of the many things he highlighted as the chang- ing face of Kilrush.
The outgoing mayor pointed to the decentralisation of the Revenue
offices to the west Clare capital ex- pected in a few weeks as just one of the positive changes ahead.
He also spoke of the employment brought to the town by the planned Tesco centre, the Place de Plouzane shopping centre, the development at Glynn’s Mills on Hector Street, and the €40 million investment at the marina.
He welcomed broadband to Kil- rush, the construction work at Quay’s Mills and the opening of the Com- haltas building. He praised the work of the Tidy Towns for securing the
silver medal last year and hoped for news of gold this year.
He told the Annual General Meet- ing of the town council that among his greatest memories from his sec- ond year, aS mayor was the two visits by the Taoiseach Bertie Ahern to the town and the civic reception for the crew of “the Spirit of Kilrush”.
‘To be born and reared in Kilrush and become mayor of your own town is a great honour,’ he told council- Kovacs
“Working together is the key to the future.”