Long serving head of council finance applauded as he retires

The May meeting of Westmeath County Council was an emotional one, as three long-serving councillors, and the long-serving head of finance, Jimmy Dalton, bid farewell to the chamber.

Mr Dalton is retiring after 22 years of service to the council. He was applauded by members and the newly appointed chief executive, Barry Kehoe, for having steered the local authority through difficult years.

Overcome by emotion, Mr Dalton was speechless when called on to respond to the accolades bestowed on him. He thanked the speakers “most sincerely”.

“It was a pleasure and a privilege,” he stated falteringly. “I’ve been very lucky,” he said: “I wanted to be a chartered accountant in national school. To be a head of finance in a county in which I had been born and bred is a huge privilege.”

“I have been well paid for what I do; I don’t require any thanks or appreciation, but I am thankful for your comments,” Mr Dalton said.

“When I moved from industry into the public sector, I did it because I wanted a change. I didn’t want to leave industry at the time, but I knew it was the right thing to do and I know now this is the right thing to do because I am leaving it when I still love it. Thank you all,” he concluded.

“As a fellow Ballinagore man, I wish you well,” the cathaoirleach, Cllr Liam McDaniel, told Mr Dalton. “You have been an excellent person to work with and an excellent manager,” he said.

Mr Kehoe said Jimmy had worked with the council since 2002, firstly as a financial accountant and then as head of finance, when Eddie Hynes retired in 2010.

He trained in Mullingar with Kinnear and Company and previously worked with C&D Foods.

Jimmy was the first whole time financial accountant, and he brought a whole new set of skills to the organisation, Mr Kehoe said.

He applauded Jimmy’s “innate ability to make sense of complex financial issues and considerations for us all, management team and members”.

“His stewardship of the council’s finances over the last 22 years has been exemplary and his sound advice to the council and to the management team was of the utmost quality and importance,” he said.

“Jimmy has always sought to solve problems and to resolve issues and, as he’d say himself, to make things better for those who come after us and not to leave a problem behind for others to sort,” Mr Kehoe continued.

“But now members, that long dreaded day, certainly for me, when Jimmy will depart the council for a well-earned break after 42 years of dedicated work, 22 of them with Westmeath County Council,” has come, but “Jimmy leaves a lasting legacy of which he can be very proud,” he remarked.

On behalf of the management team and all the staff of the council, Mr Kehoe extended best wishes to Jimmy, his wife Mandy, and sons Mark, Brian, Andrew, and Cormac. “Thank you, Jimmy, for your dedicated service. We will miss you as a colleague and as a friend,” the CE concluded.

Cllr Tom Farrell, on behalf of the Fine Gael group, said Jimmy gave “great service and great advice”.

“You always tried to solve a problem and to understand where councillors were coming from,” he said.

He wished him and his family “all the very best”.

Cllr Ken Glynn, on behalf of the Fianna Fail members, thanked Mr Dalton for the work he had done for Westmeath and the help he had given the members.

“Many a time we were in a room and Jimmy would come in and tell us straight, ‘this is how it is’, but we always found a solution,” he said.

“His advice and expertise were much appreciated by the members and Westmeath County Council will be all the poorer for Jimmy’s departure, but I wish you and your family the best of health and happiness for the future,” Cllr Glynn stated.

On behalf of the Labour group, Cllr Johnnie Penrose thanked “Jim for his help and advice”.

“He was a great man for minding the money; he looked after Westmeath well and I wish him and his family well in the future,” he said.

Cllr Mick Dollard was “taken aback and surprised at the news of Jimmy retiring”.

He said, “the people of Westmeath owe him a lot in that he always brought forward a balanced budget and was a great public servant, serving under “four or five different county managers”.

“There is life after the public sector,” he assured Mr Dalton.

Cllr Paul Hogan said Jimmy had an excellent management record over 22 years in terms of his stewardship of the finances of the county. “I learned a lot from our pre-budget discussions,” he said, and quipped that “Jimmy’s one-liners were legendary”. Hopefully, our paths will cross again,” he concluded.