Tributes to the late Ceann Comhairle Sean Treacy at Cashel Tipperary Municipal District

Glowing tributes were paid to the late Sean Treacy at this month’s Cashel Tipperary Municipal District meeting.

Opening the meeting, Cathaoirleach Cllr Michael Fitzgerald said Mr Treacy had served in every position in politics in Co. Tipperary, was to the forefront of the then Clonmel Town Council, was Chairman of Tipperary Co. Council, and Ceann Comhairle, a position he occupied for over 20 years.

Mr Treacy “had the respect of two or three Taoisigh” and Cllr Fitzgerald had the pleasure of serving alongside Mr Treacy on the Co. Council. “He was always willing to give advice and encouragement. He brought his own dignity and flavour to the office, and it was something he was very proud of, especially in his hometown of Clonmel.”
Cllr Roger Kennedy was present at Mr Treacy’s Removal. “He was a legend,” said Cllr Kennedy. Mr Treacy’s career spanned 36 years in Dáil Eireann, and he served as Chairman of Tipperary Co. Council in 1961, 1963, and 1967. He held every high political office a person could hold in the County, said Cllr Kennedy.

Cllr Kennedy recounted a humorous anecdote of the late Clonmel man. Mr Treacy was personally present at the address by visiting US President John F Kennedy to the houses of the Oireachtas in 1963. Years later, as President Bill Clinton visited, he was again Ceann Comhairle. Mr Treacy was heard to declare wistfully that he didn’t have the same powers as the Speaker of the House of Representatives in the United States, “but one can always hope.”