Councillors pay tribute to Chief Executive ahead of retirement

At last week's meeting of Westmeath Joint Policing Committee (JPC), best wishes were extended to the Chief Executive of Westmeath County Council, Pat Gallagher, ahead of his impending retirement.

Mr Gallagher, who was attending his last JPC meeting in his capacity as Chief Executive, said it was "a pleasure" to have served two terms on the committee and he extended his thanks to the members of An Garda Siochana for all their work. "In particular I would like to acknowledge the huge amount of work they did in response to Covid and also in relation to the organisation of the the very successful Fleadhs in Mullingar" he added.

Green Party Councillor Hazel Smyth said she would like to thank the Chief Executive for his "hard work and dedication" and she wished him and his family well in his retirement.

Best wishes also came from the Chairman of the JPC, Cllr Paddy Hill, who described the departing Chief Executive as "a gentleman" and added that "if you went to Pat you knew you had a listening ear."

Pat Gallagher will preside over his last meeting of Westmeath County Council on Monday, January 29 next, and is expected to make a statement at the conclusion of the meeting.

The Tullamore native was appointed as Chief Executive of Westmeath County Council in 2014. Prior to taking up a career in the public service, he served one Dail term as a Labour Party TD for the constituency of Laois/Offaly, taking the seat previously held by Fine Gael stalwart, Tom Enright, in the 1992 General Election. However, the seat returned to Tom Enright and Fine Gael at the 1997 General Election and Pat Gallagher was subsequently elected to Seanad Eireann.