All change in Kinnegad as Leonard claims seat

A new face from Kinnegad will sit on Westmeath County Council and its various committees from this month onward, with Labour"s Denis Leonard scooping 872 first preference votes in last Friday"s local election.Cllr. Leonard - who also served as First Alternate for Susan O"Keeffe, Labour"s European election candidate in Ireland North West - picked up 872 first preference votes (13.5 percent), 484 of them coming from a combination of the four boxes in Kinnegad (three) and Coralstown.A teacher and guidance counsellor who is a long-serving political activist in Kinnegad, Cllr. Leonard also polled well in Gainstown, where he claimed 55 of his party"s 151 first preference votes.Last Saturday"s election count in Mullingar saw incumbent councillor, Coralstown"s Pat McLoughlin (Fine Gael), lose his seat after twelve years of service.Mr. McLoughlin, the outgoing chairman of Westmeath County Council"s Mullingar Area Committee, held a seat won in 1999 at the 2004 elections.But the recent realignment of local electoral areas saw him lose a significant quantity of his votes in Killucan and Rathwire to the Coole area, and this hit him hard at the polls.Coupled with this was the success of Fine Gael"s Mullingar candidate Peter Burke, who took the Fine Gael seat in Mullingar East after building on his effort in the 2007 general election.There were two other election candidates in Kinnegad - Fianna Fáil"s Georgina Bagnall, and Independent candidate Errol Leigh Farrell.Ms. Bagnall, daughter of Hilamar Hotel proprietor Robert Bagnall, made a good account of herself in East, attracting 310 first preference votes in a very busy electoral area. She picked up 143 votes from the four Kinnegad area boxes, and another 45 in Milltownpass, making her the strongest candidate in Milltownpass after poll-topper, Cllr. Mick Dollard.Finally, independent candidate Errol Leigh Farrell - a quality control technician living on Kinnegad"s Trim Road - came away with just sixteen votes after Friday"s poll.Cardinal marks Kinnegad centenaryKinnegad Parish was graced with the presence of the Lord Primate of All Ireland, Sean Cardinal Brady on Sunday last, as all corners of the parish came together to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the opening of the Church of the Assumption, Kinnegad.With election fever gripping the area, it was nevertheless clear that parishioners were prepared to set aside matters political to focus their minds on higher things from 3pm on Sunday afternoon, as the most significant day of the parish church centenary celebrations played out.Concelebrating Mass with Most Rev. Dr. Michael Smith, Bishop of Meath and Cardinal Brady, were Fr. Tom Gilroy (PP, Kinnegad) and former parish priest, Monsignor Eamonn Marron. They were joined by priests and religious from surrounding parishes in the Diocese of Meath, clergy who had one point been based in Kinnegad, and priests with family connections to the parish.Sunday"s Mass is the latest in a number of initiatives pursued by members of the parish for the centenary year. At Christmas, the parish centenary committee produced a centenary year calendar, which has sold very well.Fr. Gilroy has also invited a number of prominent speakers to the parish, the latest of whom is Cardinal Brady; a number of other events will take place throughout the rest of the year.Sunday"s Mass included a ceremony of light, special prayers and readings, a homily from Cardinal Brady and the unveiling of a gold plaque to mark the Kinnegad church centenary.After Mass, a celebration ceremony took place in the Hilamar Hotel, Kinnegad, with food and refreshments enjoyed by parishioners in a fitting end to the day"s celebrations.A special mention must be afforded to the Kinnegad Church Centenary Committee, which has worked extremely hard over the past year to organise events planned for the centenary year of 2009.