Search Results for 'Paddy McGuinness'

“Perhaps I should have ran for the county council before when I was a bit younger, but I have enjoyed my four and a half years so far and I’m looking forward to seeing out the last few months.” With the official news breaking this week that Fine Gael party whip Paddy McGuinness would not be running for re-election, it brings to an end the public life for a second time of the popular County Monaghan native. McGuinness, who had stepped away from public life before after a number of terms on Castlebar Town Council, was tempted back into public life when Enda Kenny came calling before the last local elections. “I had come in to do a job last time around and I was very tempted to stay on, but I had made a decision before that I would be doing one term and I had to stick with it.” The job as McGuinness saw it was to help the party grow and bring them all together as one for the term of the council which, for the most part, he has done very successfully.

Fine Gael Councillor Paddy McGuinness took some time at the monthly meeting of the Castlebar Electoral Area meeting to clarify his position in relation to Traveller accommodation in private camp sites. Cllr McGuinness told the meeting, “At a meeting here previously, I spoke about the transient sites for Travellers. I put forward a number of ideas on this issue, one of these I suggest to be looked into is that private camp sites may be opened up to the Travelling community who stay for short periods of time during the summer in and around the Knock festival and Reek Sunday. I wasn’t calling on these camp sites to be opened up, it was only one suggestion of a number that I made that day, which was synopsised in the press and some people took up as me calling for these sites to be opened up.”

The people of Carnacon paid special tribute to retiring Councillors Paddy McGuinness and Johnny Mee at the Castlebar electoral area meeting held in the village last Friday night. The area meeting was moved out of the county town to pay tribute to the Carnacon ladies’ GAA team who captured their third All-Ireland senior football last year. Walter Hughes from the Carnacon Community Council welcomed the members to the village saying: “It’s a rare and unique achievement for a rural area to see All-Ireland titles come our way. We are delighted to have such an occasion to recognise the achievements and the honour the girls brought to the area.”