Long-serving Athlone councillor, Frankie Keena, has been named Cathaoirleach of Westmeath County Council.
Cllr Keena received the honour at a special meeting held in the council chambers in Mullingar last Wednesday afternoon. He replaces outgoing Cathaoirleach Paul Daly who is leaving to take his seat in the Seanad.
Cllr Keena will preside over the Westmeath chamber for a total of seven weeks, the time remaining on Senator Daly’s term. The election of a new Cathaoirleach will then take place in line with elections in all other county councils throughout the country.
Speaking in the wake of the announcement, Cllr Keena said: “It is a great honour to receive. I know it is a short term being seven weeks, but it is still a big honour to get it after 21 years in public life. It is good for the Athlone area as well. It is short but if there are a few things I can get involved in and push along, I will certainly be looking at that. You will never get anything finished in seven weeks but you might get a few things started.”
A native of Athlone, Cllr Keena was educated at Cornamaddy National School, Marist College, and later NUI Galway. He was a member of Athlone Town Council from 1995 to 2004. He served as chairman of Athlone Town Council from 1999 to 2000 and has been a member of Westmeath County Council since 2004.
Other notable achievements include: chairman and co-founder of Athlone Drug Awareness Group; founder and chairman of Athlone eCom, the company behind athlone.ie; past member of Tubberclaire Water Scheme; past chairman of Baylin Group Water Scheme; member of Midlands Regional Drug Taskforce.
With his years of outstanding service and dedication, Cllr Keena is sure to be a popular choice among those in the chamber.
