‘A special year for a special town’

Cathaoirleach of Trim Municipal Council, Cllr Noel French

2023 was a major year for Trim and surrounds. Some of the highlights included the opening of the new Swift Cultural Centre in Trim, the new library in Enfield, the new library for Ballivor was sanctioned, a new special school for Enfield and President Michael D Higgins visited Trim to celebrate the winning of the national Tidy Towns awards and more.

In the coming year hopefully plans for a new visitor centre at the Town Hall will progress and become a worthy place for all our visitors. A number of community halls like Kildalkey, Dunderry, Longwood, Enfield have groups working hard to preserve these community amenities and I hope that this year they can be supported. I look forward to the Enfield Town Centre plans progressing.

On a personal level 2023 was a difficult year as I left my political party – we will see if I can survive without the support of a major party. The coming year is a big year for local government with local elections. People get a choice as to who they want to represent them at a local level – that choice is important. This past year saw the retirement of Jackie Maguire, the Council Chief Executive Officer, after 10 years of service and she had a very positive influence on the whole council. We have a newly appointed CEO Kieran Kehoe and I look forward to working with him to prioritise needed community resources in the Trim area.

Transport and speeding are issues that continue to concern especially in Summerhill and Ballivor. The Trim/Rathmolyon water difficulties will hopefully be addressed this year and I look to getting back to a normal situation without restrictions.

I am aware that some people are facing major challenges in surviving at present and I would urge them to reach out to services. We have to remember people are often fighting their own battles, some visible like poverty, food shortage, homelessness – other hidden: addiction, mental health difficulties so please be kind.

I wish good health and happiness to everyone in the coming year.

Athbhliain faoi shéan is faoi mhaise daoibh.