Westmeath's top council official says role is "a huge honour"

Barry Kehoe, a Wexford native who has been based in Westmeath for just over three decades, was recently appointed as the top council official in the Lake County.

Speaking about becoming chief executive of Westmeath County Council, with overall responsibility for a team of more than 570 staff, Mr Kehoe describes it as "a huge honour".

"It's a privilege to be chief executive, especially in a county that I know so well, a county that I've worked in for over 30 years, with people that I know. It's a great opportunity and I'm honoured to be in that position.

"My objective is do the best for the county, and to avail of whatever opportunities are there for further development to enhance the quality of life of people who live and visit here.

"Challenges are inevitable, and my objective is to deal with them as best I can, with the team that's there," he tells the Westmeath Independent, during an interview in Athlone's Civic Centre.

"We have a great team of staff across the whole organisation; indoor staff, outdoor staff, technical people, and administrative people.

"We have a new team of 20 councillors, recently elected, and they, like us, are focused on the delivery of services, improving infrastructure, and providing what people need in the county, as best we can."

Listing some of the challenges facing the council as he settles into the new role, following his formal appointment in May, he mentions housing, a growing population which is adding to demands on council services, climate action, and traffic - particularly in Athlone and Mullingar.

Mr Kehoe is originally from an area near New Ross, and was one of five children in a family that, he explains, was involved more in the business and medical fields than in public service.

He went to college in Cork and got his first experience of Athlone when he befriended Martin Quinn, from Retreat Park, and visited the town to socialise with him in the SGS and other nightspots of the late 80s.

"Martin Quinn was a good friend of mine in college, and still is. He lives in Mullingar. I used to come to Athlone regularly with Martin, and he always spoke about the great town that Athlone was!

"Little did I think that, 15 years on, I would end up here as director of services and, effectively, as town and district manager. But that's the way it goes."

After studying engineering in college, Mr Kehoe worked for a consultancy in London for a year, before being appointed as a graduate engineer with Dublin City Council in 1991.

After two enjoyable years in the capital, a vacancy arose in road design with Westmeath County Council, and he moved to Mullingar to take up that position.

He has been living in the county town ever since, and became a director of services with the local authority in 2004, a position which meant much of his work was focused on Athlone and South Westmeath.

Mr Kehoe is married to Ann, and they have a daughter, Amy, and a son, Oisín.

Outside of work, he has long been a keen cyclist. "I don't do as much cycling anymore, but I do cycle to work every day, when I'm in Mullingar, and cycle home again for my lunch.

"I also enjoy a game of golf with my children, who are taking part in a bit of golf now as well. I enjoy going out with them, and playing a bit of golf at the weekends and in the evenings."

He says one of the advantages he has in the chief executive role is the knowledge of Westmeath he has attained since he began working here in 1993.

"I know Mullingar well, and I've been director of services in the Athlone district for 20 years, so I have a very good knowledge of the entire county, which is an advantage in terms of the job I have to do now," he comments.

BARRY KEHOE ON...

Traffic problems in Athlone

"We are continuously striving to improve Athlone and to improve the centre of the town, and we're making significant investment in that regard.

"But that investment, and the improvement in facilities for pedestrians and public realm - for people to linger and enjoy a sense of place within Athlone - comes at somewhat of a cost in terms of traffic.

"There's only so much road space in the town, and if road space is moved or taken from traffic, and given over to improved facilities for pedestrians and cyclists, it can have a knock-on effect.

"It's a knock-on effect that, in my view, is manageable. The district engineer and staff here are working to resolve the issues that are currently arising as a result of the pedestrianisation of part of Sean Costello Street. I'm confident that we'll work through that, and it will settle down, and we'll solve it.

"We want to make it easy for people to drive into the town centre, park their car, and walk, in a pleasant environment, to their destination. We don't necessarily want people to drive through town - because if people want to go from east to west, or from one side of Athlone to the other - we would encourage them to use the Athlone relief road (N6), rather come across the centre of town and clog up the centre of town unnecessarily."

The Railway Field Road saga

"(The fact that it hasn't been built) is a source of frustration. I took up the cudgels on it back in 2005, but we haven't been able to deliver it since then for various reasons. I hope to see it done during my tenure but, after 20 years, I live more in hope than expectation.

"It is an important piece of infrastructure, but (the fact that it's not there is) not contributing significantly to the traffic issues at the moment."

Athlone's next big project

"From my perspective, the next area for major public realm investment will be St Peter's Square, the market square on the west side, and up Pearse Street into Connaught Street. And linking down then, around Athlone Castle, to the river.

"We have a project there to improve the access to the castle and to put in a nice public realm space between the castle and the river. We've been through planning (on that project), and we'll be going to tender on it shortly.

"The next piece, then, is to do the market square. To put a high-quality public realm scheme in place there that will link up Main Street, the castle, the church, the Luan Gallery, the town bridge, and on to the cycleway bridge.

"That scheme will effectively link all those attractions up from a pedestrian perspective. People will be able to move easily from one to another, and we'll reduce the car dominance of that space and make it more attractive for people to linger in and walk around. So that's the next big project."

Support for more hotels

"The hotel infrastructure in Athlone is strong compared to most other towns outside of the main cities in Ireland. We'd like to build on that if we can. Hotels generate tourism by just being there, and having accommodation available to people.

"So we would be very supportive of any future investment in hotel-type accommodation in the town, because it's a critical foundation and enabler for a strong tourist industry, and for the conferences that can come as well."

Addressing the housing crisis

"The whole housing issue is extremely complex. It's not as simple as building houses, either, because an important aspect is that the houses have to be affordable to the people who need them.

"What I am really keen on is that everybody would be provided for within Athlone, be that people who require social housing, affordable housing, or private housing.

"We do support the provision of housing in places like Moate, Ballymore, and other villages that have the appropriate level of services and can accommodate housing development.

"And we do allow rural housing, to maintain the rural area, and for people who are an intrinsic part of the rural area. There are requirements around that, and we administer those fairly across the board, to the best of our ability.

"So housing is going to be a challenge, but we're working to meet it, and you will see a good pipeline of houses coming through in Athlone.

"We hope to get the Lissywollen development moving between now and Christmas, get it signed up shortly, and get the contractor on site before Christmas. That's our hope, and that's over 500 units to be delivered on that site alone."