Labour's Aoife Breslin takes the captain’s chair in Athy MD
Councillors Ivan Keatley and Aoife Breslin
Athy Municipal District has a new Cathaoirleach – a familiar face in cllr Aoife Breslin.
The Labour councillor was appointed at a meeting of the MD last Thursday morning in Naas. She topped the poll in the recent local elections, storming home on the first count with a mammoth 2,347 first preference votes.
Cllr Breslin was nominated by her party colleague cllr Mark Leigh who spoke of her experience as a public representative and her “unwavering dedication to public service.”
That proposal was seconded by cllr Ivan Keatley, who noted that she performed extremely well at this year’s local elections and said he has no doubt she will do an excellent job for the coming year.
Cllr Breslin duly took the captain’s chair in Áras Chill Dara and said she is “deeply honoured and deeply privileged” that the people of Athy MD have put their faith in her.
She paid tribute to the outgoing Cathaoirleach cllr Veralouise Behan (“you should be very proud”) and said she intends to continue to be inclusive.
“We’re going to work as a team,” she said.
Cllr Keatley, meanwhile, was appointed Leas Cathaoirleach having been proposed by cllr Breslin who said he has done a huge amount of work and it was her privilege to nominate him.
Cllr Brian Dooley seconded that proposal and said of the Fine Gael councillor that he has “the knowledge, the know-how and the expertise.”
Cllr Keatley told the meeting that he was “deeply humbled” by all the nice words and looks forward to working with cllr Breslin over the next year.
He remarked that a huge amount has been achieved over the last number of years and there are a huge number of projects “we now need to press on with.”
It’s been a busy and productive few years for the MD, with a number of projects delivered – not least of all the Southern Distributor Road which opened last October.
Work continues on the refurbishment of the Shackleton Museum (the main construction works are due for March 2025), funding of €2,735,425 from Failte Ireland for the redevelopment and regeneration of Emily Square in the centre of Athy was recently confirmed, while the project which will see a Food, Drinks and Agritech Hub delivered at the former Model School in Athy began in May of this year.
