Town clerk-elect for Athlone Hugh O’Reilly has refused to confirm he has been appointed to the position vacated by the retirement of John Walsh today (Friday ).
“That’s news to me. That assumption has been made, but let’s say there’s no official decision made yet,” said Hugh yesterday afternoon.
“In respect of the man in the position it would be disrespectful to speculate on his replacement while he’s still in it,” he added.
“It’s not confirmed yet. Not, obviously, til John goes, and he doesn’t finish til tomorrow. I assume the [county] manager will make a decision after that,” he said.
“It’s not just a simple case of one person taking over. There may be some shifting [of duties].”
The position is officially in the gift of the county manager, Danny McLoughlin, and he has not made any announcement on either the candidates or, more specifically, what the new position is going to be called.
The job as held by John Walsh for the last 28 years no longer exists after a 2001 re-organisation of local authorities, which also did away with county secretaries and county engineers, replacing the specific staff with directors of services and senior executive officers as the previous incumbents retired.
“There’s a whole new staff structure, and there’s no definitive role,” Mr O’Reilly continued.
“The position had certain statutory roles depending where you were. Different town clerks would have different roles. There’s no one-size-fits-all,” he said.
“In theory there would be some re-organisation [for the position] but most of it was done in 2001. There won’t be a town clerk from now on as we know it, and it would be very difficult to compare the old with the new,” he said.
It is expected the county manager will name an incumbent and clarify the new position at the first meeting after the summer of Athlone Town Council in the civic offices on Monday evening.
The position, as a senior executive officer, will be under director of services for Athlone and Kilbeggan, Barry Kehoe. Along with the two towns, Mr Kehoe also has responsibility at county level for roads, transportation, community and enterprise, and planning.
John Walsh joined Athlone Urban District Council as it was then known in 1983, and in the interim, has overseen the town as it got a new bridge, a motorway, two shopping centres, four hotels, an award-winning civic centre, a marina, and the regeneration of Battery Heights. He leaves the completion of the castle, the art gallery, and St Mel’s Terrace for his succcessor.
