Westport Town Council meets for the last time

Westport, a celebrated heritage town, has had its town council consigned to just that - history. The authority, like every other town council in the country, ceased to exist at the weekend.

Elected members and officials met for one last time on Thursday night, bringing the curtain down on debates at town level that have been ongoing since 1898. Westport was rightly viewed as one of the most progressive and pioneering town councils in the country, and its guiding arm can be seen in many local developments.Thursday evening’s meeting was a time for reminiscence and nostalgia, and a little emotion too.

Members noted some of the more recent achievements and they asked the members of the new West Mayo Municipal District to continue the cooperation with community groups and organisations, which had been the back bone of the town’s success in more recent times. Of the nine town councillors, three will continue in public life having been elected to Mayo County Council - Councillor Tereasa McGuire, Councillor Brendan Mulroy and Councillor Christy Hyland.

Tributes were paid to outgoing cathaoirleach, Councillor Michael McLaughlin, who was described as having served his year as first citizen of Westport by standing firm for his beliefs, and bringing youth and flair to the chair. One of the cathaoirleach’s final undertakings at the helm of the council was to record the members’ objection to the dissolving of Westport Town Council.

Seconding his proposal, Councillor Myles Staunton described the abolition as ‘an assault on the principal of subsidiarity and access to politics and politicians’. The ending of the council also sees the end of Councillor Margaret Adams’ 40-year career as a councillor. Councillor Adams also held a seat on Mayo County Council but chose not to contest this year’s elections. She reflected on four decades of service on both Westport Town Council and Mayo County Council, saying she had worked with many people, both staff and councillors, who she now considered friends.

There had been some bad times, she noted, and recalled a memorable occasion when the town had no water and there was no such thing as disposable nappies. Mothers, she said, had to wash their baby’s nappies in buckets and in protest at the lack of water, they attended on the council offices, then located on Castlebar Street, with buckets of dirty nappies in hand.