Century of service: Shaw, Hill and McDermott sign off

“I’ll bang the bell for the last time,” declared Cllr John Shaw as he brought to a close the last meeting of the present Municipal District of Mullingar Kinnegad and his last meeting as he and veterans Cllr Frank McDermott and Cllr Paddy Hill bow out of local politics.

Frank was first elected to the council in 1967. He remembered, “as a gosson” walking “in that door 57 years ago with Gerry L’Estrange” and sitting down with his Fine Gael colleagues Gerry, John H Keegan, George Allen and Brendan McFadden. He and Paddy Cooney in Athlone are the only surviving members of that era, he remarked, adding that none of the executive from his first 30 years in office are alive.

Cllr McDermott said he was lucky to have “shared my area with a decent, genuine, solid guy – Paddy Hill, a lad I could confide in, share little secrets with, and he did likewise”. He wished John and Paddy health and happiness.

He thanked the thousands that voted for him over the years, and with a chuckle, urged them – “don’t be shy when you see the name with a little twist on the ballot paper”. He wished all those standing in the elections “the height of good luck”.

Paddy remembers the day Frank was elected. He was cutting turf with a sleán when he was told “young McDermott got elected to the council”. Paddy joined Frank in 1974 and served with many of those mentioned.

He recalled, on his first day, being chastised by a fellow councillor for coming in with his shirt unbuttoned. “She said, you should have more respect for the council than coming in here with the neck of your shirt open, and it wasn’t that long after that Tony Gregory went into the Dáil with the neck of his shirt open! How times change,” Paddy mused.

“It was a pleasure to work with Frank and John. I don’t think we ever had a wrong word. We might have had the odd cut at one another, but it was always over when the meeting was over,” Cllr Hill said. He wished Frank and John health and happiness in their retirement. He also wished all those putting their names on the ballot paper “the height of luck, because it takes a good bit of courage to do it, and we need people to stand up and put themselves forward and represent their areas to the best of their ability”.

He thanked the staff, past and present, for their kindness and support. “The work they do is not always fully appreciated by public. They work day and night on behalf of the people of Westmeath,” he said. John Shaw joined the council 15 years ago. “I bounced into politics, unaware of what I was getting into,” he admitted. In 2009, he attended his first Coole area meeting, along with Paddy and Frank and the late Dan McCarthy – “three real heavy weights of local politics”.

“I was like a rabbit in the lion’s den,” he laughed.

Cllr Shaw said the area meetings were “a great learning curve for me about how local politics operated”.

“Whether it is a pothole in Archerstown or Riverdale, or something bigger like the roundabout at McDonald’s, to the people you represent, those questions or motions are of the utmost importance and are at the root of local democracy,” Cllr Shaw stated.

He said he thoroughly enjoyed his 15 years and he could not have had better colleagues than Paddy and Frank. “There was always a healthy rivalry there to get things done, but also a lot of co-operation and a common sense approach. I always found the same approach with the other councillors,” he said.

Cllr Shaw praised the staff, past and present, for their dedication to a difficult job, saying that they have always been committed to local services in Westmeath. He wished the sitting councillors and new candidates all the best.

“It takes courage to put your name on the ballot paper. There is no easy election for anyone, sitting councillor, long serving councillor, or new candidate, it is daunting and pressure, and you won’t have a good night’s sleep until June 7 or 8,” he remarked.

He was confident that all the sitting councillors would be re-elected. “I know the work you’ve done over the last five years in particular,” he said.

Members of the council and the executive paid tribute to the retiring trio and wished them well.