County Librarian Mr Donald Brady, who has also been Tramore’s Deputy Town Manager for the past five years, has notified the Mayor of Tramore, Cllr Pat O’Callaghan, of his impending retirement at year’s end. He did so in a letter in which he spoke in glowing terms of the town and its public representatives and said he was leaving the service of the County Council “with the greatest regret”.
In the letter he said that initial apprehension over his appointment as Deputy Town Manager was alleviated through his positive working relationship with many of the Town Councillors. He recalled many critical developments in Tramore during that period, with which he said he was extremely pleased to have been associated. They included: Celebration of the Council’s 60th Anniversary; the Lafcadio Hearn event on 26th September 2004; implementation of measures to protect of the Back Strand; promotion of the importance of Tramore Bay and its hinterland; the commercial development of the town; and preparatory work for its new amalgamated school.
“While my involvement with these and other developments was in many ways peripheral, I found the links I developed with Mayors Paddy O’Callaghan, Lola O’Sullivan, Ann Marie Power, Joe Conway, Raymond Hayden and other Councillors extraordinarily rewarding”, he wrote.
Essential role
“The Council has an essential role to play in three areas: firstly it is a Board of Directors with an onerous range of responsibilities for services delivered; secondly it has an extremely difficult responsibility to represent what is now a multi-cultural community with a varied range of expectations and demands; thirdly it acts as an initiator of activities to improve the town. In all of these areas I found the Tramore Town Council one of the most positive organisations.
“In my work with the Town Council over five years, my faith in the need for and the importance of Local Government has been rekindled and enormously strengthened. Despite the creation of many additional strands of “representation” I believe that the role performed by Tramore Town Council is absolutely critical to the well-being and development of the town.
“In conclusion I can unequivocally state that, despite my initial concerns, my involvement with Tramore Town Council has been one of my most positive and rewarding experiences of the past five years and I would like to convey my deepest appreciation to Mayor O’Callaghan, the entire Council and all the staff allocated to the Civic Offices in Tramore”.
The Council members, as one, spoke in glowing terms of Mr Brady’s contribution both to Tramore and to County Waterford over the years and Town Clerk Mr John O’Sullivan said that as a Council colleague he would be sadly missed. Mr Brady, a noted historian, is a native of County Cavan.
