Keena holds on to Mayoral chain in Athlone

“Meet the new boss, same as the old boss,” goes the line from a 1971 song by The Who, and it came to mind on Monday afternoon when Cllr Frankie Keena was elected as the Mayor of Athlone for the year ahead, having just served in the role for the past twelve months.

The re-election of the man from Moydrum was a result of Fianna Fáil's voting pact with the Green Party, which has given the former Government coalition partners a narrow majority on Westmeath County Council.

It means Cllr Keena, who topped the poll in the Athlone area at the recent local elections, is now heading into his third term as Mayor since 2014. “Nobody can say you don't have the experience for the role anyway!” quipped Cllr John Dolan.

The election of Mayor was the main item on the agenda at the first-ever meeting of the Athlone-Moate Municipal District, held in Athlone Civic Centre. Cllr Aengus O'Rourke proposed his Fianna Fáil colleague for the role, and this was seconded by Cllr Vinny McCormack.

Cllr O'Rourke praised Cllr Keena's appetite for hard work, saying he had been “a great Mayor on more than one occasion” previously.

“This is a new district and I think it would be helpful having that continuity... it would be helpful if our outgoing Mayor was also our incoming Mayor,” said Cllr O'Rourke.

Cllr Keena said his retention of the Mayoral chain was “a great honour for me personally” but he acknowledged that there would be “a settling-in period” while councillors and local authority staff adjusted to the sprawling new Athlone-Moate Municipal District.

The area, he pointed out, “now covers nearly half of the county stretching from Athlone to Kilbeggan, and from Tyrellspass to Rathowen.”

Cllr Keena spoke about the three urban regeneration projects planned by the local authority in Athlone town: the development of the area around the former St Mel's Terrace, at Loughanaskin; a redevelopment of the west side of Athlone; and the extension of the new Church Street streetscape eastwards toward Irishtown.

“These are three major projects and we are ready to hit the ground running on them once we receive the necessary documentation from the Department,” he said.

He stated that Athlone was “only at the tip of the iceberg” in terms of its future employment and education growth, and he was hoping to see progress this year on the extension of the Greenway and the development of two new link roads - one at the so-called Railway Field, and the other between Athlone Regional Sports Centre and the Retreat Road.

Cllr Keena also spoke about the importance of addressing the shortage of housing locally. 

“All in all, there is a serious workload ahead of us as elected members and it is really important as it will lay the blueprint for the overall development of Athlone, the Municipal District, and the county for the next five years. As Mayor, I look forward to leading the way for year one," he said.

One of the councillors from the outer reaches of the new district - Ballinagore's Liam McDaniel - was elected as the new Deputy Mayor, having been proposed for the role by Green Party councillor Louise Heavin.