Calls for a council meeting to be held outside of Mullingar were made at a Mullingar–Kinnegad Municipal District Meeting on Monday, 1 July.
Cllr Glynn — who was appointed Mayor at the meeting — made the suggestion and said a meeting could be held “in one of the rural areas”. He said they could deliver this to mark a “special event” in the area. The Fianna Fáil councillor said he hoped he would receive “a load of proposals” for destinations.
“I think it’d be a nice touch and I’m certainly happy to do that. I’m open to the members,” he said.
Cllr Emily Wallace supported the suggestion and added that they should consider holding the meeting in local schools to engage the community in politics. She said they did this in the previous term and added that it was a chance to show people “what their vote means”. The Fine Gael councillor said it was an opportunity for “budding politicians” to find out how to get involved. Cllr Denis Leonard suggested that the meeting could be held in Kinnegad to coincide with the opening of the new library.
Newly-elected councillor David Jones said they should not “single-out” any community for the meeting. The Sinn Féin politician suggested getting a bus to visit multiple rural areas in the district.
“North Westmeath has been forgotten about for a while,” he said.
In response to Cllr Jones’ address, Cllr Glynn said there will only be one meeting. Cllr Davitt said they could compromise by holding a meeting in a rural area once annually over the five-year term. She said it would be up to the Executive to decide the times and places of the meetings. The Fianna Fáil politician said if it coincided with a community event it would be “a fantastic idea”. Cllr Glynn said they will review this and discuss it further at the September meeting.
“I’ve heard clearly what members from the Kinnegad electoral area have said. We had five great councillors there for the last five years who did great work. Let’s continue the work and continue to serve all areas equally well,” he concluded.
