Baptism of fire for new town manager

Trim Town Council's new town manager has had a roller-coaster first few days in the job and now will be tasked with addressing the massive rates arrears in the town. The new manager is Des Foley, a Navan native who spent eight years as Drogheda town clerk before moving on to become director of environmental services with Louth County Council. His first day on the job was a remarkable one. On Monday 9th January, Trim was announced as the country's tidiest town by the Irish Business Against Litter (IBAL) group. It was a momentous day for the town, which had put years of work and spent millions of euro into improving the aesthetic appearance of the heritage town. His next day, however, in contrast to one of the best days in the town's history, was one of the most difficult for the council as the town passed a "skeletal" budget for 2012. The biggest issue confronting the town's beleaguered finances are rates arrears, Mr Foley was told by Cllr Gerry Reilly. "Rates are a huge issue," said Cllr Reilly. "We have to get businesses open to the idea of talking to the town clerk and town manager about them. I would suggest to the town manager that, as a piece of PR, that he write to the businesses in the town introducing yourself as the new manager and explaining to them how dependent on rates the town is." Mr Foley said he would draft letters of introduction on the issue. At one point last year, over half the businesses in the town were in arrears of paying their rates and, at their budget meeting on Tuesday 10th January, councillors heard that the dire situation was not improving, with €114,000 worth of rates now in the 'irrecoverable' category and around €365,000 in arrears. The entire amount due by the town's businesses is €844,000. Town Council chairman, Cllr James O'Shea, welcomed Mr Foley to the new position, saying that if he "wins an award on the first day on the job, you'd wonder what the next 12 months hold". Other councillors welcomed the new manager, who said he was looking forward to working with them all.