DEATH OF A MAN OF VISION FOR HIS TOWN - RAYMOND DEMPSEY
IT was late June 1980 and the heat was on.
Who would become the next mayor of Drogheda and would Raymond Dempsey, the 46-yearold Fine Gael candidate, achieve the top role in the town?
There were three in the hat for the job - Raymond, Johnny Connor of Fianna Fail and Alderman Frank Godfrey.
He would clinch it on a 7-5 majority, Labour backing the FG man too.
Raymond said it was a day for the Dempsey family, particularly his mother who has served the people of the town for 50 years and had lived to see her son become mayor.
The Mayor said he would be calling for an all-out effort to improve the general appearance of the town and the recruitment of more Corporation outdoor staff.
He said that day, “In a civilised society we have a responsibility to ourselves and our town to make a better effort to improve our standards and to declare war on the litter bugs and vandals without further delay.’
His mother, Kathleen, was almost 90 when Raymond was elected, his late father, Vincent Dempsey, belonged to old Sinn Fein and became District Court Registrar for Drogheda and Dunleer areas on the setting up of the State, a position which he held until his death at an early age.
The news of Raymond’s death last Wednesday ended another link to old Drogheda - a place that Raymond adored.
Speaking at his funeral mass in St Peter’s on Friday last, Michael Halligan said Raymond was a man who led by example, with a love of politics in his blood.
In Sandyford Terrace - ‘ the house on the hill’ - he’d get first hand lessons in how the game worked and in 1974 he would replace his mother on the Corporation, a role he held for 25 years.
He always said he had two great ladies in his life, his mother (Lady Kate - writing her life story late last year) and his beloved wife Olive. ‘He said Olive was the love of his life. She was the apple of his eye and I have never seen a more devoted couple,’ Michael added.
He said Raymond made a difference to his community and his town and that would be his legacy.
‘He was a man of integrity and honesty and always bridged the political devide.’
Raymond had a huge interest in every aspect of the town, of tourism, of ‘Beauty on the Boyne’, the restoration of Millmount and many more.
In 1985, Raymond, the Corporation’s Director of Tourism at that stage, revealed his dream for Drogheda, a two-part project involving the setting up of a Interpretation Centre on the southside of Drogheda and the second, the building of a bridge across the dual carriageway giving pedestrian access to the existing Millmount Museum.
He pointed out that each year neighbouring Newgrange attracts over 100,000 visitors. He reckoned that with some more tourist attractions of its own Drogheda could —and should attract a percentage of that total.
Mayor Pio Smith, fellow councillors and political figures and the Taoseach’s Aide-de- Camp all attended Friday’s funeral with the mayor thanked for placing the chain of office by the side of Raymond’s coffin.