Jobs first and last on my agenda, says new council chairperson

Fine Gael's Cllr Anne Dillon Gallagher was elected cathaoirleach of Meath County Council at the annual meeting on Monday. The Fine Gael councillor is only the second female to hold the position and the first Fine Gael woman to take the chain of office. She replaces Cllr Willie Carey to whom she presented a medal in recognition of his work in the chair over the past year. Cllr Dillon Gallagher defeated Cllr Shane Cassells by a 19 votes to nine margin with the support of Fine Gael, Labour and independent councillors. Cllr Cassells was supported by his Fianna Fail colleagues and Sinn Fein's Cllr Joe Reilly. He was later elected unopposed as leas-cathaoirleach of the council, replacing his Fianna Fail colleague, Cllr Noel Leonard. Cllr Dillon Gallagher was proposed as cathaoirleach by Cllr John Farrelly, who said that she was from a great political and football family. The former Meath footballer Martin O'Connell is her nephew. Cllr Farrelly said he was sad that her late brother, Junie Dillon, a great Fine Gael campaigner, was not there to see his sister elected cathaoirleach. He said that Cllr Dillon Gallagher would bring her cool, calm and collected way of dealing with public life to the role of cathaoirleach. She was seconded by Labour's Cllr Eoin Holmes, who said he had the pleasure to work with Cllr Dillon Gallagher in the Slane electoral area and he described her as honest, hardworking, committed and a genuinely kind person. Cllr Cassells was proposed by Cllr Tommy Reilly who said Cllr Cassells was never afraid to put his neck on the line for the people of Meath. Cllr Nick Killian seconded the proposal. Cllr Dillon Gallagher said Cllr Carey would be a hard act to follow. She said she hoped that the councillors, county manager and council staff would get together to create jobs for county Meath. "This is the first and last item on my agenda; so many people are unemployed at the moment," she said. Cllr Carey recalled the many functions he attended over the past year, including the official opening of the M3 motorway. This, along with the launch of the Meath Around the World website, were very important projects for the county, he said. He spoke of the excellent services provided by the council, including the library service which had launched six books by Meath writers over the past year and who had set up the library for Travellers. He paid tribute to the work of the environment section, which was educating schoolchildren on the importance of the environment and he recalled that one of the most moving ceremonies he attended in the past year was the Famine commemoration in Kells. He paid tribute to the outgoing leas-cathaoirleach, Noel Leonard, who took over his duties for him for three months earlier this year when he was indisposed due to an injury. Cllr Brian Fitzgerald paid tribute to Cllr Carey for his year in office. Cllr Cassells said the outgoing chairman had carried out his duties in an exemplary manner and paid tribute to the way he used the opening of the M3 to market the county and the way he had led the delegation on behalf of Quinn employees in the county.