Cllr Joe Reilly to retire from County Council next month

PAUL MURPHY

Long serving Sinn Fein Cllr Joe Reilly is to retire from the County Council next month, it was announced today. 
Outgoing Council Cathaoirleach Gerry O’Connor told the 40-member Council that the veteran public representative would be standing down in the early days of June. 
Members will gather just before the next meeting of the Council to pay tribute to him.
Cllr Reilly was first elected to Meath County Council in 1994 and was for many years his party’s only representative on it until he was joined by a further seven colleagues at the last local elections. 
A former general secretary of Sinn Fein he is also a community activist, former Northern Ireland talks negotiator and ex-republican prisoner. He also served as Mayor of Navan. He announced in January that he was suffering from terminal illness. 
He attended Monday’s meeting of the Council but had left before the Cathaoirleach announced his pending retirement.