The June meetings of Waterford’s district and county councils, saw a changing of the guard as the Mayoral term came to an end, and each of the districts elected a new Cathaoirleach to chair their meetings, while last week saw the election of a new Metropolitan Mayor, Cllr Lola O’Sullivan.
Following Annual General Meetings, the new Cathaoirleach for the Dungarvan Lismore was Cllr John Pratt, with Cllr Thomas Phelan elected as his deputy; in the Comeragh region it was Cllr Seanie Power who will take the Cathaoirleach’s seat, with the incumbent John O’Leary moving to the role of Leas Cathaoirleach; for the Metropolitan Area (which includes Waterford City and Tramore along with it’s surrounding areas) Lola O’Sullivan was elected Mayor, while Declan Barry became her Deputy.
Metro Mayor not ‘optimum’
All of these handovers were marked by personal words of thanks and congratulations, some witnessed by close family members who sat in the public area.
The election of the Metropolitan Mayor was particularly notable, as some of the Councillors used the occasion to question the reduced role of what is effectively the City Mayor.
Also noticeable was the praise the Adam Wyse received as he concluded his term a Metropolitan Mayor.
The Council’s St Patrick’s day trip to Boston received intense scrutiny, but Cllr Joe Kelly used the occasion of Cllr. Wyse’s departure to comment that the was impressed by the way the (now former) Metropolitan Mayor represented the County at high level meetings with US delegates.
“The media and our membership would not have picked up on it but you were very impressive at the meetings, how you engaged with business leaders in Boston, and community leaders, and indeed academic leaders in Boston college. It wasn’t a matter of sitting back and letting Sean McKeown (Council CEO) carry the can, you were very strong at key points and pointing out Waterford’s institutions, tourism, and education facilities,” Cllr. Kelly said.
“You were excellent at it. I don’t know if we could have a better person doing it than you at the time.”
Among the praise however, there were also comments questioning the role of the metropolitan mayor in Waterford in general.
“The truth of the matter is, the Metro mayor is now subordinate to the City and County Mayor in the Plenary Council,” said Cllr Mary Roche.
“That is not a situation that is optimum for the City, and I think it’s an awful shame that we have the most historic mayoralty in the City, we have the most impressive chain, we have the most history, and that has more or less been washed away now with the chain that is locked up in a cabinet downstairs and I think we should never forget that,” she added.
AARON KENT
Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme
