New council leader wants to maximise tourism potential of county Tipperary

Last Friday was a big day in the political careers of two long serving public representatives.
Ardcroney man Cllr Ger Darcy was elected Chairman of Tipperary County Council, while Cllr Seamus Hannifin was elected vice-chairman of the local authority.

It was a proud and emotional day for both men. Cllr Darcy was following in his fathers footsteps who had held the position of chairman of North Tipperary County Council.

On the other hand, Cllr Hanafin, who announced he would not be standing at the next local elections, said his decision not to stand brought an end to seventy years of service from his family at county council level.
Cllr Darcy was proposed for the position by Cllr Noel Coonan and seconded by Cllr Marie Murphy.
There were no other nominations and Cllr Darcy was elected unanimously.
Cllr Darcy told the meeting, which was held in Knockavilla, that it was truly a great honour for him to be elected to the position.
Cllr Darcy said that not only was it a great honour for himself but it was an honour for his family.

POLITICAL CAREER
He thanked his colleagues in Fine Gael for their support throughout his political career.

“I have been elected on six occasions as a councillor and you don’t do that on your own, thank you to my Fine Gael colleagues and members of my family,” said Cllr Darcy.
He thanked his proposer and seconder and said being elected to the position unanimously meant a lot to him.
Setting out his objectives for the year ahead, Cllr Darcy, said that Tipperary had huge potential to develop tourism and he wanted to play a role in that.

Cllr Darcy told the meeting that he wanted tourism projects to realise their potential for the brand of Tipperary.
“We need to maximise that potential,” he told his colleagues.
He said the brand of Tipperary was known all over the world and insisted that they could achieve a lot by working together for the entire county.

Cllr Darcy said he was interested in playing a role in developing the county council climate action plan.
He also wanted to see progress on the provision of houses in the county.
“We are meeting our targets but it is a big issue and we will have to improve on what we have been doing,” said the new chairman.

Cllr Darcy said he would strive to secure URDF funding for towns throughout Tipperary so that plans that were in place for the development of those towns would come to fruition.
He said Tipperary was a unique and diverse county with a lot of busy provincial towns.

Cllr Darcy said he would be determined to see progress made on important infrastructural projects such as the N24 upgrade and the provision of the new bridge between Killaloe and Ballina.
The new chairman was congratulated by representatives of each political grouping on the local authority.

They all wished him well in the role and pledged their support to work with him for the benefit of the county.
County Manager Joe MacGrath congratulated Cllr Darcy on his election.
The county manager told the new chairman and the staff of the council were looking forward to working with him in the year ahead and facing the challenges that lie ahead.
The first task of the new chairman was to call for nominations for his vice-chairman.
Cllr Seamus Hanafin was proposed for the position by Cllr Siobhan Ambrose and seconded by Cllr Sean Ryan.
“You could not get a stronger person at your back,” chairman Cllr Darcy told the meeting after declaring Cllr Hanafin elected as vice-chairman when no other nominations for the position were made.

HANAFIN FAMILY
Cllr Hanafin told the meeting that this would be his last AGM as he had decided not to run in the local elections due to be held next May.

His decision, he said, would bring 70 years of the Hanafin family association with the county council to an end.
Cllr Hanafin said it was an honour for himself and his family to be elected vice-chairman in his last year as a public representative after being a councillor for 21 years.
At the beginning of the meeting tributes were paid to the out-going chairman Cllr Roger Kennedy.
Members and officials associated themselves with the tributes paid.