Councillors’ meeting is adjourned as a mark of respect to Paul Conmy

MONDAY’s monthly meeting of Sligo County Council was adjourned until tomorrow, Friday, as a mark of respect to former councillor Paul Conmy, who passed away at his home at Meenaun, Culleens, on June 2.

He had served as a member of the council, representing west Sligo for 30 years.

A member of Fine Gael, he was first elected in 1979 in the Dromore electoral area. He was subsequently relected in 1985 and 1991, topping the poll with more than a quarter of the first preference votes on both occasions. He retained his seat again in the elections of 1999 and 2004 before losing his seat in the local elections of 2009. Proposing the adjournment at Monday’s meeting, cathaoirleach Councillor Dara Mulvey led the tributes to his former colleague and extended sympathy to Mr Conmy’s wife Breda and family on behalf of the elected members and staff. He recalled that the late councillor was “a dedicated public representative who gave a lifetime of service to his community”.

Cllr Mulvey said that he was greatly respected by the elected members he served with.

He said that Conmy had held a number of important positions in the council, including being leas cathaoirleach in 2000, served on the council Environment committee and during his time on the council had also made a major contribution to the health service in the region as chairman of the North Western Health Board.

“He gave great service to this council and to the county,” the cathaoirleach said.

Cllr Gerard Mullaney said that he had served with Paul Conmy from 2004 to 2009 and he was “one of the most hard-working councillors” he had come across.

“He was very enthusiastic and the fact that he got 30 years in office says more about him than anything I can say,” he said.

Cllr Declan Bree said that Paul

Conmy was a very loyal member of Fine Gael and they had had their political differences.

“But he was always straight talking which led to many lively debates in the chamber, “he said.

And he said that he had shown great commitment to the people that he served.

Cllr Joe Queenan said that he worked hard on local issues and was “one of the great characters of the council”.

“We had our differences but when it came to local issues we worked as a team,” he said.

He also recalled that while the former councillor was a staunch member of Fine Gael “ironically one of his great heroes was Jackie Healy Rae”. Cllr Michael Clarke described him as “an outstanding public representative” whose achievements, such as Waterworld in Enniscrone, were still there.

He also referred his work on planning and his being “an ardent advocate” for cancer services in the area.

“His legacy will live long into the future and he is still highly regarded in west Sligo, as the huge attendance at his funeral showed.”

Cllr Tom Fox recalled that his late father and Paul Conmy had been selected as candidates at the same convention.

He said he was a “larger than life character” who was “never shy about speaking his mind”.

“He was very passionate about representing the people and you can see that in what he achieved,” he said. Cllr Arthur Gibbons offered sympathy to Mr Conmy’s family on behalf of Sinn Fein.

He said that he had been involved with him in the Save Our Cancer Services campaign, in which he was “passionately involved” and he said that he was “a very straight person”. Cllr Martin Baker described him as a “truly dedicated member of the council” referred to his “commitment to his area and the county”.

And he said: “We always had a very lively chamber when Paul was there.”

The late Paul Conmy.

Cllr Rosaleen O’Grady said that she had had the privilege of working with Conmy on the North Western Health Board and had spent a lot of time with him as members of the hospitals visitation committee.

“He always spoke highly of his wife Breda and his children and he obviously had great support from home,” she said.

Cllrs Donal Gilroy, Martin Connolly and Marie Casserly also associated themselves with the tributes and vote of sympathy to the family.

The council’s acting chief executive Tom Kilfeather joined in the expression of sympathy on behalf of the present and former council staff. He said that he had had the pleasure of working with Conmy over a number of years and he was a “fine public representative”.