Paddy’s sense of humour and fairness praised by members
OUTGOING chairman of Wexford County Council Paddy Kavanagh said he made no apologies for being an Enniscorthy man during his time in the chair.
Speaking at the Annual General Meeting of Wexford County Council Cllr Kavanagh said that he had been very proud to see a number of projects come on stream during his time in the chair including the Hatch Lab in Gorey.
‘I’m very much an Enniscorthy man and I make no apologies for that. I will always put my own first. The technology park in Enniscorthy is very much in hand and may even be ahead of schedule.
‘ Templeshannon is very much part of me, one side more than the other and I would like to assure people that it is very much in hand but we can’t do things until there is a traffic management plan in place.
‘When people see you in the chair they always say to you about going on junkets. I’ve been on three trips this year, one to London, one to Savannah, Georgia and one to Belgium.’
In respect of his London trip he said that it had been a very worthwhile trip and wished Michael Sills well for the future saying he was the man behind the London Wexford Association.
Speaking about his trip to Savannah Cllr Kavanagh said he had been delighted to get the opportunity to travel to Georgia saying it was ‘somewhere I’ve only read about’.
He said the experience had been very positive and said that there is a lot of shared common ground between Wexford and Savannah and hopefully trade will pick up on this.
‘ This is the start of a very bright future for Wexford and Savannah’, he said.
Cllr Kavanagh said that his final trip had been a trip to Belgium earlier this month. The trip was to commemorate the life of Willie Redmond who died on June 7, 1917.
‘It was very moving at his graveside’, said Cllr Kavanagh before speaking about the 800 Wexford people who lost their lives in World War 1.
Cllr Kavanagh said that his own grandfather had fought in the war but had been lucky enough to come home.
‘ The commemoration was very good for what in hindsight looks like a senseless war.’
He also thanked all the staff in the county council for their help. ‘ There are good and bad staff in every organisation; people who do and people who don’t but the courtesy and respect shown to me by all members of staff particularly during my time in the chair has been second to none. I’d like to thank everyone for their courtesy and goodwill.’
He thanked staff members in the chairman’s office, Barbara and Pat, whom he said, organise everything adding they had been a pleasure to work with.
Cllr Kavanagh thanked all the Director of Services for their help and CEO Tom Enright saying he was ‘always only a phone call away’.
He finished by thanking his family, his colleagues, his vice chairman Cllr Michael Whelan and members of the press paying special thanks to the local press photographers.
Cllr Jim Moore paid tribute to Cllr Kavanagh saying he had carried out his duties as chairman with ‘aplomb and great dignity. Your year was
I’M VERY MUCH AN ENNISCORTHY MAN AND I MAKE NO APOLOGIES FOR THAT. I WILL ALWAYS PUT MY OWN FIRST
characterised by your openness and fairness, by your ability to handle debate and the odd conflict all underpinned by your well developed sense of humour and leadership.’
Cllr Kavanagh’s vice chairman Cllr Michael Whelan also extended his congratulations saying that they had worked well together over the course of the year and thanked him ‘for your fairness in meetings over the year’.
Sinn Fein’s Cllr Johnny Mythen said Cllr Kavanagh represented Enniscorthy and the county very well during his tenure as chairman. ‘It’s not an easy role’, he said adding ‘it is often very thankless.’
Cllr Mary Farrell said Cllr Kavanagh had shown ‘great leadership and great professionalism’ while Cllr George Lawlor congratulated him on ‘an excellent year and your candid manner was most welcome. Congratulations on the way you represented Wexford.’
Cllr Ger Carthy commended Cllr Kavanagh on ‘a very successful year. You are a very proud Enniscorthy man and you spoke very passionately about your parents’.
Cllr Pip Breen said Cllr Kavanagh had been ‘inspirational’ while Cllr Davy Hynes said that ‘although we didn’t see eye to eye politically you have always been very fair to me’.
Cllr Kavanagh’s successor, Cllr John Hegarty said Cllr Kavanagh ‘showed great pride when representing Wexford’ adding he ‘ hopes to build on the work you started’.
CEO of Wexford County Council, Tom Enright, said Cllr Kavanagh had ‘ had a tremendous year which comes off the back of being chair of Enniscorthy Municipal District. It’s been a very busy two years for you with a huge workload. You were often working on the farm and had to shower and change to come into county buildings.
‘You put in a huge effort and a huge amount of time. You spoke with great passion, authenticity and humour. You spoke very well on behalf of the county.’