Fitzpatrick elected Bailieborough-Cootehill Chair

Fianna Fáil's Aiden Fitzpatrick has been elected Cathaoirleach of the Bailieborough-Cootehill Municipal District.

First elected in 2019, the Cootehill man previously held the Leas-Cathaoirleach post of Cavan County Council between 2020 and 2021.

He was elected unopposed to the post at the MD's AGM held in Cootehill Courthouse yesterday afternoon after being proposed by party colleague Cllr Clifford Kelly and seconded by Áontu Cllr Sarah O'Reilly.

Fine Gael's Carmel Brady was elected Leas Cathaoirleach for the second year running.

Both top positions in the Bailieborough-Cootehill area are now held by Councillors from Cootehill.

Cllr Fitzpatrick replaces Sinn Féin's Paddy McDonald, who held the role for the past 12 months. Speaking at the meeting, he said it had been an honour to hold the position and thanked Councillors and MD staff for their help:

"This is my last meeting as Chair. I was to thank everyone for their support over the year. I want to thank Alan and his staff. We work well together and that needs to continue."

He also thanked Cllr Brady for her support.

Speaking to the Celt following his election, Cathaoirleach Fitzpatrick said he was delighted to be taking up the role. He said he has a number of priorities for the year ahead:

"I'm just hoping to work well for the whole area of Bailieborough-Cootehill. I want to see an improvement in people's lives in general, not necessarily just roads. I want to work for minorities and that could even just be a cyclist, it doesn't have to just be race or creed."

"He also said he's hopeful of seeing progress on projects in Cootehill town:

"I hope to get progress on the Bank of Ireland. I hope to get that bought [by the Council] and we hope to get that turned into a flexible space for the town; a multi-purpose space.

"It could be used for anything, remote working, an exhibition space, whatever."