In accordance with Section 22(c) and Part V of the Local Government Reform    Act, 2014 to elect the Cathaoirleach of Roscommon County Council to hold office until his/her successor shall have been appointed in accordance with law.

The outgoing Cathaoirleach, Cllr. Murphy invited proposals for the election of Cathaoirleach of Roscommon County Council for the term 2022-2023.

On the PROPOSAL  of Councillor Cummins

               SECONDED by Councillor Fallon

It was AGREED that Councillor Tom Crosby be elected as Cathaoirleach of Roscommon County Council in accordance with Section 22(c) and Part V of the Local Government Reform  Act, 2014 to hold office until his/her successor shall have been appointed in accordance with law.

The new Cathaoirleach, Cllr. Crosby was presented with his chain of office and chaired the remainder of the meeting. He welcomed the members of his family in attendance at today’s meeting – his wife Pauline, daughters Vicky and Pearl and grandson Michael. He thanked his proposer and seconder and the members for the alliance that supported him as 44^th Chairperson and his fourth term as Cathaoirleach of Roscommon County Council since he was first elected in 1991. He thanked the outgoing Cathaoirleach for sis work and representation of the Council over the past year.

He noted there are great challenges ahead but is looking forward to working with the Elected Members, the Chief Executive and Management team and the staff.

Jobs is his greatest concern for the county, and many jobs have been lost with Bord na Mona ceasing peat harvesting and the closure of the power station in Lanesboro. However Atlantic Mills has recently been sold and is being refurbishished and he is looking forward to seeing this come to fruition.

Tourism is a great employer in the county with Lough Key one of the best attractions in the West of Ireland. Strokestown Park House is another great tourist asset and he paid tribute to the Callery Family for the work they have done in the €5m investment in the famine museum.

The River Shannon is a great asset to the county with 60 miles of the river traversing the county boundary. The Shannon tourism masterplan to invest more than €70 million in visitor facilities in the Shannon river region by 2030 and should benefit the county greatly.

County Roscommon is well placed to capture a considerable share of the activity holiday market. The Greenway from Dublin to Galway, through Athlone is also a welcome tourism attraction and the public consultation of the Strokestown, Ballyleague and Rooskey environs linking to the greenway is a welcome proposal – as a Council we need to do our best to facilitate any such initiatives as this.

Another tourist attraction would be to open up more access to rivers and lakes and try to get fishing opened back to the county.

Our tidy towns committees do wonderful work in their local areas and it shows the great civic pride in the county.

We should encourage moue Tus rural schemes – our numbers are low in Roscommon – the work they do is invaluable addition but the rates paid are low and this must be addressed by National Government.

One negative is Litter, one of the great scourges in our county. As a Council we spent almost €500k in combatting littering and dumping.

Thanks to the Chief Executive for his work on the Lough Funshinagh issue – one of the worst disasters in the county. The issue of costs and “no win no costs” must be looked at. Nowhere else in Europe would this situation prevail.

The signing of the N5 contract we look forward to hopefully in the New Year – this is a major infrastructural project that is critical for the improvement of our roads network.

The funding of projects in our towns and villages over the past number of years is welcome and will continue to improve the quality of life for our citizens.

Other areas we will work together over the next year to improve our county and it is my intention to work with everyone in a fair and impartial manner for the betterment of everyone.

The members congratulated the Cathaoirleach on his appointment.