The journey from ‘Minutes’ to ‘Any Other Business’ was taken by the members of Monaghan Town Council for the final time last Wednesday evening.
The final chapter of a chronicle in Irish local government over 170 years in the writing was set down with appropriate reflection as the members of the county town authority met for the last time in the meeting chamber of the Town Hall building at the top of Dublin Street – a location also set to cease to be as a component of municipal administration under the reforms the recent local elections ushered in.
Beyond the inherent history of the occasion, the meeting was distinguished by what was almost certainly the largest gathering of observers ever to grace the Council’s public proceedings.
Former elected members, officials and staff of the authority were invited to attend prior to gathering in the appropriately titled Town Hall Suite of the Westenra Hotel for a social function to sound the last hurrah for the old local government dispensation in the town.
At the conclusion of the conventional business of the meeting (completed in a brisk 25 minutes), time was allotted to the elected members for what the agenda described as “a reflective thought”.
Cathaoirleach Paul McGeown commenced by thanking the people of Monaghan for electing him to Monaghan Town Council.
“It has been a great honour for me to represent …