Longford County Council officially welcomes new member

Longford County Council's newest elected member Colin Dalton was given a rapturous welcome into the chamber on Wednesday following his selection by the Fine Gael party.

Councillor Paul Ross said Mr Dalton was co-opted at the selection convention on April 3 to fill the councillor vacancy left following Senator Paraic Brady's election to Seanad Eireann.

The Legan man addressed executive members and representatives and he formally proposed Mr Dalton for the position of councillor.

"He has been a hardworking councillor for the past four years, he has worked hard since the local elections last June and I am sure he will be an excellent councillor for the Granard Municipal area," Cllr Ross added.

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Fine Gael Cllr Gerry Hagan seconded the nomination and praised the Ballinalee native and wished him well.

"It's a great honour for Colin and his family, Hughie and Mary and his brother and sister for him to join Longford County Council again and I wish him the very best of luck over the next four and a half years and I am sure he is going to work tirelessly like he has done like his previous four and a half years."

Cllr Hagan also congratulated Senator Paraic Brady once again on his election to the Upper House.

Fianna Fáil Councillor Seamus Butler "On our side we would like to welcome Colin back, he was always a constructive member when he was here and I'm sure he will more than contribute to Longford County Council and I wish him well for his tenure.

Longford County Council Chief Executive Paddy Mahon then said on that note he wanted to "welcome county councillor Colin Dalton to the chamber" and there was a big round of applause as he entered.

Cllr Dalton addressed executive members and local representatives and he said he was absolutely delighted to return.

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"I suppose it was a nine month holiday so I continued to work with my groups and as Gerry said there it was a great success for Paraic to get to the senate and I wish him the best of luck."

Cllr Dalton also wished Cian Brady and Kathleen McGahern well and he said it was fantastic to come out on the right side of the vote.

"I am honoured and privileged and I'm looking forward to working for the whole county and with elected members.

"There are some new faces here but I know them all because I've been involved with fundraisers and football and different things down through the years so there is no-one here that I don't know or haven't engaged with over the years so I'm looking forward to working with everyone again."