For the first time in history the honorary freedom of Castlebar was bestowed on one of its greatest sons last night. Johnny Mee, who has served the town as a town and county councillor for over three decades, as well as through numerous voluntary organisations such as Western Care, was awarded the honour after he announced his retirement from politics earlier this year.
Johnny was very gracious about his award when he spoke to the Mayo Advertiser earlier this week. “It’s a great honour for myself and my family and I would like to thank the council and the executive for giving me this honour. There are many people in Castlebar who do many great and wonderful things through numerous voluntary organisations, who don’t get the platform to put things across like I did through politics and I will be thinking of those people when I get the award.”
The award was presented to Johnny by Castlebar Town Council, an institution he served on continuously since 1974 when he was first elected for the Labour party, and he served until he stood down his seat at the end of last year. His time on the council and the changes that he has seen in Castlebar are something that Johnny is very proud of. “I served on the council since I was elected to the old Urban Council in 1974 and the people of Castlebar returned me every time after, thankfully. But I have met and worked with some wonderful people and some great characters over the years; both members and officials and we all did what we thought was best for Castlebar. And you only have to look at the changes in the town since I got first elected to what we have become now, what I like to think of as a small city from where we were not too long ago.”
Mayor of Castlebar Kevin Guthrie was glowing in his tribute to Johnny this week saying: “Johnny has given many years of great service to the town both in and outside the council. He was a founder member of Western Care and one of the driving forces behind that whole project and if it wasn’t for him and a few other dedicated people we probably wouldn’t have it. He is also a great believer in facilities for the youth especially sporting ones. He was never afraid to make the tough decisions in the council, no matter how they effected him politically. He always did what was right for the town. He will be missed as great community worker and I wish him and his family the best for his future and his retirement.”
One man who has served with Johnny Mee over the years is Cllr Michael Kilcoyne, who paid a glowing tribute to his former party colleague. “He has given a wonderful service to the town over the past number of decades. This is a truly great honour to give to a man who has done his best for Castlebar for a long time and it is deserved. We shared the same political party for a long time and even though we went our separate ways, we both remained good friends and worked very well together as he did with every councillor he sat with. It’s a great honour for Johnny and his family and I wish him well for the future.”
Since becoming Town Clerk of Castlebar eight years ago, Marie Crowley has worked side by side with Johnny Mee right until his decision to step down from the council. His dedication to the town is something that she commended: “His unabashed and unrelenting work on behalf of the people of Castlebar is something that has to be commended. As a councillor he gave an awful lot to the people of the town and he made my work easier as he was always available when needed to work on issues and whenever a new member of staff came on board, Johnny was always there to welcome them to the council. This is the first time this particular honour will be given out and it shows the esteem that Johnny was held in by his fellow councillors, the people of Castlebar and the council itself.”
The esteem that the people of Castlebar hold Johnny in is reciprocated by Johnny towards the hundreds of people who give of their time on a voluntary basis every week as he told the Mayo Advertiser: “There are people every week who give their time to different voluntary and charitable organisations and that’s something I hope to see continue, because these people are the backbone of the town and community as a whole.”
