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Councillors' tributes to
retired Town Clerk
14.01.08
by Damien Dowds, Inishowen Independent
WARM tributes were paid at Buncrana Town Council’s
monthly meeting to Town Clerk Paul Doyle who has
resigned his post on grounds of permanent
ill-health. The resignation took effect from January
2.
Originally from Whitehall in Dublin’s north inner
city, Mr Doyle (57) had served as Town Clerk for
more than 30 years. Leading the tributes, Mayor Paul
Bradley said he was disappointed that Buncrana had
lost such a loyal public servant.
“He often spoke about the stress of the job,”
Bradley said. “The public was demanding and we
councillors are demanding too, but Paul was very
accommodating. He was also excellent at keeping up
with new legislation that affected our work.” |
Councillor Nicholas
Crossan also paid tribute to Mr Doyle’s loyalty to
Buncrana, saying that his ability was such that he
could have sought promotion elsewhere in the public
service. “He was always his own man and I admired
him greatly for it,” Crossan said. “He was very
bright and did a difficult and often thankless job.
He gave guidance to me when I served as mayor.”
Councillor Pádraig MacLochlainn said Mr. Doyle was
the youngest town clerk in Ireland when he was
appointed more than 30 years ago. “If he had |
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a fault it was that he
wasn’t a strong communicator,” MacLochlainn said.
“The public may have misinterpreted that, but he was
a very able and talented man, ingenuis in the ways
in which he could deal with figures and accounts.
“If anything, he was guilty of being too open,
honest and accessible,” MacLochlainn continued.
“People could come to the office and ask to meet him
and he would do so. I wish him well. His early
retirement will allow him to indulge himself in
travel and his love of sailing.”
Councillor Joe Doherty said: “He was always
approachable and very capable.
He did Trojan work for Buncrana and was an excellent
town clerk. I wish him a speedy return to good
health.”
Assistant county manager Liam Kelly said he had
worked with Mr. Doyle for most of his 30 years as
town clerk and acknowledged the great work that he
did for Buncrana.
Mr. Doyle’s early departure will, however, impact on
the Town Council’s budget for 2008. Mayor Bradley
said that an exceptional once-off payment to Mr.
Doyle will swallow up the additional €100,000 made
available from the Local Government Fund to
compensate for the loss of commercial rates from
Fruit of the Loom.
The search for a new town clerk will soon get under
way. With fewer than half a dozen town clerks
remaining in the country, Councillor Crossan was
assured by Liam Kelly that the position would be
filled on a full-time basis and not part-time as has
been the case elsewhere in the State.
Donegal County Council expects to advertise the job,
which carries a salary of €42,000 to €55,000, within
the next week. For interview with Paul Doyle,
click here |
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