Louise Heavin becomes Athlone's first female Mayor in ten years

Councillor Louise Heavin was elected as the Mayor of the Athlone Moate Municipal District for the year ahead at its AGM in the town's civic centre this afternoon (Monday).

In succeeding Cllr Vinny McCormack, the Green Party representative becomes the first female Mayor of Athlone since then-councillor Gabrielle McFadden was elected to the role in 2013.

Cllr Heavin and the four Fianna Fáil members of the nine-member district have maintained a voting pact at the AGM since the last local elections in 2019. Her selection as Mayor was proposed today by Cllr Aengus O'Rourke, and seconded by his Fianna Fáil colleague Cllr Liam McDaniel.

As no other candidates were proposed for the role, Cllr Heavin was ratified as the new Mayor without the need for a vote to be taken.

Family and supporters of Cllr Heavin watched on from the public gallery as she accepted the Mayoral chain and spoke about how she "couldn't have imagined" when she ran for the council that she would find herself in this position just a few years later.

* For more, see this week's Westmeath Independent