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Knees-up for new Buncrana Mayor
09.06.11
by Linda McGrory
COUNCILLOR Nicholas Crossan had a knees-up after his
election last night as Buncrana Town Mayor - but
only because he's on crutches.
The long-standing councillor recently had knee
surgery but says he'll hit the ground running as the
town's first citizen in 2011-2012.
"I'll be off the crutches in the next few days," he
said. "But I'll take all the sympathy that's going
until then," he joked.
This is the second time the Independent local
politician has served as council leader, having been
chairman in 1996-1997. His deputy for the next 12
months will be Sinn Féin's Mary Kelly. He takes over
as mayor from fellow Independent, Cllr Michael
Grant. Cllr Crossan concedes his last term at the
helm saw the start of what would be a decade-long
boom while 2011 is more financially challenging for
the local authority.
"These are challenging times, there's no doubt about
that, but we have to go back to basics and take
local decisions at a local level," he said. |
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Buncrana Town Mayor,
Cllr Nicholas Crossan is congratulated by outgoing
mayor, Cllr Michael Grant. |
The Buncrana-born
representative is a strong advocate for local
government and is a past president of the
Association of Municipal Authorities of Ireland (AMAI).
He was instrumental in bringing the AMAI annual
conference and its 300 delegates to his hometown
last year. He describes local councils as the "core
of democracy" and says he would fight any attempt to
abolish them.
"We are an elected body of people who are the most
accessible to those who elect us - more accessible
than senators or TDs," he said.
Meanwhile, he said another key focus of his year as
mayor will be recognising the hard work of community
groups throughout the town and region. He wants to
make good on an election promise to host a public
forum to allow such groups in Buncrana and wider
peninsula to come together. The event would allow
community and voluntary groups to discuss the work
they do, the pressures they face and would give them
a chance to explore any synergies that would allow
them share skills, expertise or facilities.
"There are so many groups doing great work out
there. There are some we all know like the Tidy
Towns and the Meals on Wheels, but there are plenty
we don't hear about. These groups are the backbone
of our community and touch so many lives yet
sometimes we don't even know they exist.” |
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