Council pays tribute to long- serving member, Patsy O’Neill

A FORMER Fine Gael councillor who passed away last month was the subject of a tribute at the June meeting of Meath County Council.

Proposing a vote of sympathy to the family, his wife Maureen, children Nigel, Catherine, Shirley, grandchildren, brother, Oliver, sister, Lily Reilly and friends of Patsy O’Neill, Fine Gael Cllr Paddy Meade said that Patsy had given great service to the people of Meath, not only as a county councillor but also a peace commissioner.

"Sitting in Patsy and Maureen’s house, I felt I got a view of what it was all about," Cllr Meade said. "The pictures on the wall tell a story, pictures of his family whom we remember today, pictures of cars, of Patsy’s father who set up a bicycle repair shop which developed into a leading car dealership and car repair shop. Patsy even raced cars in the Phoenix Park and other tracks in his youth before getting involved in vintage car runs in more recent times".

Cllr Meade continued: "A painting and pictures of Wilkinstown shows pride in one’s place, a key requirement of any good community worker; photos and plaques from his work on Meath County Council stand as a testament to all the work he did. From the political side of things within Fine Gael, Cllr Patsy O’Neill was the first from our party to become chair of Meath VEC, something he and our party were very proud of.

“Finally, I would like to thank the members of Meath County Council past and present who answered my call for a very dignified guard of honour on the day. The guard of honour on one side included the Meath County Council cathaoirleach, leas cathaoirleach and the Mayor of Navan, all in chains of office, past and present councillors while on the other side marched the members of Meath Fine Gael party headed up by the Wilkinstown, Rathkenny, Castletown and Lobinstown branch officers and past political canvassers and supporters of the late Patsy."

Patsy O'Neill of Wilkinstown, who died on Friday 13th May last, was a long serving Fine Gael councillor, and was a public representative in the Navan area from 1979 until 2009.

There were also sympathies expressed to the families of late councillors, Oliver Brooks, Dunshaughlin, and John Fanning, Ashbourne, and former engineer, the late Oliver Perkins.