SF selects two new members for Navan and Trim town councils

SINN Fein has selected two new councillors who will be co-opted onto Navan and Trim Town Councils to replace the two members who resigned recently.

The party in Navan has selected Peadar Tóibín to replace Anne Gibney who announced her retirement at the October monthly meeting, while party members in Trim have selected Caroline Lynch to replace Mags McGivern who has resigned from Trim Town Council.

Peadar Tóibín is the son of Bridge Street garage man, Jack Tobin, and former teacher Ban Tóibín. He stood for Sinn Féin in the 2004 local elections, narrowly missing out on a council seat.

He works as a management consultant specialising in marketing for an all-Ireland consultancy firm. Through his role as a consultant, he has worked with InterTrade Ireland, county enterprise boards and many other enterprise development agencies in Ireland and Britain.

Mr Tóibín has been a member of Sinn Féin for 10 years and is well-known for his work on a number of local issues. He has held a number of different positions within Sinn Féin, including Meath PRO and Meath and Leinster education officer, and he currently holds the position of leas cathaoirleach of Comhairle Ceantar na Mí. He said he was looking forward to getting "stuck into the new role" as soon as possible.

"I have been working on the ground on a number of different issues including bringing the rail line to Navan and seeking to safeguarding Navan Hospital for years. I intend to use my experience in the area of enterprise development in an effort to address the years of economic, commercial and infrastructural neglect of Navan by successive Fianna Fáil Governments," he said.

He added he intended to use his experience as a community activist to ensure the fair distribution of services such as health, education and housing to all in Navan.

"As a Republican, I intend to ensure that Navan avails of the growing economic opportunities which are being created by increased cross-border cooperation and integration." He paid tribute to Anne Gibney for the hard work she put in over the last three years.

Caroline Lynch is a mother of two young daughters, Siofra and Alannnah, and is married to the cathaoirleach of Comhairle Ceantar na Mí, John Lynch.

She is a qualified teacher and has spent all of her career working with young people in various contexts. She comes from a strong Republican background and, from an early age, has had a deep-rooted interest in politics and social justice issues, having studied sociology and politics at university. 

She joined Sinn Fein in 2002 and, since that time, has held various positions within the party including secretary of the Comhairle Ceantair and equality officer.

Responding to the criticism which was levelled at previous female Trim Town councillors, she said it was with great honour and enthusiasm that she undertakes the role of councillor.

"I understand that it will be difficult and challenging work. I would like to pay tribute to my other female colleagues who, due to health and personal circumstances, were unable to see out the full term. I would also invite those few vocal critics to take time out to understand the difficulties which my colleagues experienced. Sinn Féin is committed to representation for all in society," she said.

"We believe it is the responsibility of all who are involved in the political process to ensure that forums such as Trim Town Council are not cold houses for women, ethnic minorities or people with disabilities. Efforts at making political capital from situations where people are forced to resign due to personal circumstance does little to encourage others with similar experiences to participate in the political process," she added.