Meade elected Cathaoirleach of Laytown/Bettystown Municipal Council
Fine Gael Cllr Paddy Meade was elected Cathaoirleach of the Laytown/Bettystown Municipal District Council this afternoon at the council's annual meeting.
Cllr Meade was proposed by party colleague Sharon Tolan whose nomination was seconded by Fianna Fail Cllr and outgoing Cathaoirleach Stephen McKee.
Cllr Harding was elected vice chair.
"It is a great honour to be here, I have never worn a chain in my life before so it'll take some getting used to," said Meade on his election as Cathaoirleach .
"I want to commiserate with the two councillors who lost their seat, two councillors in this district who did a very good job over the the last five years and they have sadly lost out, that's democracy but I want to commend them for the work that they have done for the last five years," he added.
"More importantly we are here today as Laytown/Bettystown councillors and we have a vast variety of aims but whether you are a new councillor or an old councillor it doesn't matter.
"The people who voted for you are as equal as the people who voted for me. So when you sit at this table, it is very important that you feel as equal as every other councillor that's in this room."
Meade added that the elected members needed to work together to deliver for the area.
"We cover a varied district from Bettystown right up to Lobinstown and we as a district need to work together to get the most for our area," said the new Cathaoirleach of the Laytown/Bettystown Municipal District Council.
"We have 19% of the county's population in our district, we might fight over things at a district level but I'd like to see us as councillors work together to get our percentages on every budget," he added.
"We might be challenging the executive at times but I'd hope over the next year that we will work together for this district."
Tolan proposed Cllr Harding for Leas Cathaoirleach which was also seconded by Mckee.
Harding congratulated Sharon Tolan on being elected Cathaoirleach of Meath County Council last week and reacted to her comments about the toxicity of social media where Tolan described some of the platforms as “hunting grounds for the disgruntled.”
Harding said although not everyone he met on the doorsteps voted for him they were all respectful.
"I met polite, decent people who engaged with the democratic process and I think there is a minority who engage in what are vile and horrendous acts but that didn't show up on the door steps," said the Fianna Fail Cllr.
" Some people told me that they wouldn't vote for me, some people told me they would, but they were polite, honest and engaging," he added.
Meanwhile Independent Cllr Carol Lennon said she hoped councillors would learn to work together and not against each other in the term ahead.
"Honesty, integrity, trust and transparency and accountablility are the five things that I promised in my election campaign and I intend to adhere to them," she said.