Appointments to committees and groups at county council
At the first meeting of the new county council, appointments were made to various committees and groups that are part of the council, or on which the council is entitled to representation.
It was agreed that all 20 members would form a finance committee, but councillors decided also that there was no point in appointing 13 members to the Westmeath Joint Policing Committee since the structure is to be reformed in the next couple of months.
Elected as chairpersons of the four Strategic Policy Committees were Cllrs Ken Glynn (FF), Frankie Keena (FF), Aengus O’Rourke (FF) and Andrew Duncan (FG).
Appointed to the Westmeath Local Community Development Committee were Cllrs Alfie Devine (FF), Bill Collentine (FF) and Tom Farrell (FG).
Cllrs John Dolan (FG) and Andrew Duncan (FG) were both appointed to the Local Traveller Accommodation Consultative Committee, while Cllr Frankie Keena was appointed as chairperson and Cllr Emily Wallace (FG) as a member of Westmeath Heritage Forum.
Appointed to the Westmeath Biodiversity Working Group was Cllr Bill Collentine (FF). Cllr Ken Glynn (FF) was appointed to the Culture and Creativity Steering Group. A second position on that body was not filled as there were no nominations made.
The councillors appointed to the Westmeath County Council Road Safety Working Together Committee were Cllr McDaniel (FF) and Cllr Farrell (FG).
Cllr Paul Hogan (Ind Irl) was appointed as a council representative on the Midlands Region Joint Homelessness Consultative Forum. The three members selected to serve on the Association of Irish Local Government (AILG) were Cllrs O’Rourke (FF), Niall Gaffney (FF) and Farrell (FG).
The cathaoirleach, Cllr McDaniel (FF), was appointed to serve on LAMA, the Local Authority Members Association, while Cllr Vinnie McCormack (FF) was appointed to the Irish Public Bodies Mutual Insurance Limited.
Selected to serve with the Eastern and Midland Regional Assembly were Cllrs O’Rourke (FF) and Gaffney (FF).
The eight members selected to serve on the Longford and Westmeath Education and Training Board were Cllrs Aoife Davitt (FF), Frankie Keena (FF), Ken Glynn (FF), Alfie Devine (FF), Denis Leonard (Lab), Mick Dollard (Ind), John Dolan (FG), and Emily Wallace.
Three members were appointed to the Westmeath Recreation and Sport Forum, Cllrs Devine (FF), McCormack (FF) and Wallace (FG). There were two appointments to the Westmeath Enterprise and Innovation Designated Activity Company, Cllrs Collentine (FF) and Duncan (FG).
The four nominees to serve as directors of Mullingar Arts Centre Ltd are Cllrs Dollard (Ind), Gaffney (FF) and Julie McCourt (SF), along with the existing chairperson of that body, John McGrath.
Appointed to serve on the Belvedere House and Gardens Committee were Cllrs Davitt (FF), Collentine (FF) and Wallace (FG) . Cllr O’Rourke (FF) and Cllr Hogan were appointed to Athlone Arts and Tourism Ltd, while those selected to serve with the Athlone Regional Sports Centre Limited were Cllrs Dolan (FF) and Keena (FF); Cllr Hogan was appointed to serve with the Dean Crowe Theatre Trust. He was also appointed to serve on the Midland Regional Drugs and Alcohol Task Force.
The three members appointed to the Local Rural Water Monitoring Committee were Cllrs McCormack, Devine and Farrell. Cllr McCormack was also appointed to the Longford Westmeath Community Transport CLG, and Cllr McDaniel to the Midlands Region Transition Team Steering Committee.
It was agreed that the chairman or either of the mayors would attend the opening of tenders for council projects.