'I am deeply honoured and privileged' new Laois Cathaoirleach

A new Laois County Council Cathaoirleach has taken the chain of office, for what is his second time.

It was a foregone conclusion at the council AGM on June 21 as Fianna Fáil Cllr Paschal McEvoy handed over the chain of office to his party colleague, Cllr Padraig Fleming following a vote.

The high profile Laois honour comes with a generous allowance as well as multiple photo opportunities for the Cathaoirleach to keep them in the public eye, helping their chance of reelection in five years time.

"I am deeply honoured and privileged, and I thank Paschal who represented the county so well and made a major contribution. I congratulate all who were reelected, it shows the level of work you did in your communities," Cllr Fleming said.

"Commiserations to those who didn't make it back. I welcome Vivienne Phelan and Tommy Mulligan and assure them of our support in the coming term. 

"The issues remain housing, roads, community development and climate change. Laois County Council is the second highest for the number of social houses built in the country per head of population and that is a tribute to the recently retired CEO," he said.

Independent Cllr James Kelly had been nominated but with seven votes knew he had no chance of being elected.

"It's always important that we have competition for these places, it's democracy. We now have seven people in the technical (non FF/FG) group). When I came in we were the famous five, now we're the magnificent seven. All hard working councillors.

"I applaud all candidates who went for election, it was one of the toughest canvasses ever, with a lot more houses, electric gates and video doorbells where they can see you coming. It's tough on anybody who didn't get through," he said.

The Leas Cathaoirleach (vice chair) role was given to Fine Gael Cllr John King.

"It's a great honour. I am 15 years elected. My wish was to bring the council to the people and that has happened. Now we have town teams. I've accepted all the cultures in all our towns. It's good to see that schools have 35 or 40 different nationalities now. I welcome change. Our role is to be the link between the people and the council and I look forward to the next five years," he said.

The technical group had voted for Cllr Ben Brennan to take the vice chair role.

"I knew I wasn't going to make it but we are breaking down the parties and that's no harm. On the campaign there were a lot of issues and I'm going to work with people to get results. We are getting council houses but we need more privately built houses and more one off houses in our area. So everyone can stay in their own area and not have to move into towns. You beat me this time but we're getting closer," he said.