By Conor Sharkey
OFTEN predictable, sometimes controversial and on occasion, a night to celebrate.
This year however it was an air of sadness that cloaked Strabane District Council's annual general meeting. Tuesday night should indeed have been a night to celebrate for Sinn Fein, as veteran councillor Ivan Barr was due to regain his post as chairman.
Sadly it was not to be and instead it was left to councillor Jarlath McNulty to accept the honour. And this he did, no doubt with a heavy heart but with an equal determination to carry on the legacy left by the late councillor Barr.
It is only three years since councillor McNulty vacated the chair, following a highly successful first term of office.
During his first period as first citizen, the Sinn Fein man was instrumental in securing funding for the Alley Theatre and to the regeneration of Strabane Town Centre.
This year however, councillor McNulty has set himself a different set of goals.
After thanking his predecessor Gerard Foley and out going vice-chair Derek Hussey, the new chairman told the Chamber: "Tonight many councillors, especially from my party have mixed emotions.
"We warmly welcome our new councillor Michaela Boyle to her first council meeting, who I have the most confidence in and who is more than qualified to carry out her duty as a councillor.
"It is also our first time in over 20 years that we do not have Councillor Barr's guiding hand within the Chamber at our AGM, and out thoughts are with the Barr family at this time, especially his wife Judy.
"I believe, like many, that the best tribute that we can pay to Ivan is to continue to work as a council to build immense progress that we as a Council have made over the last ten ten years.
"As a political representative, I am very much aware of the wider political and economic challenges which face our society at present.
"But as a local councillor, I strongly believe it is our duty to promote to the best of our ability the positive image of the area.
"It is also important that we continue to lobby for economic investment and infrastructure development that will put this area firmly on the map within the North West region," he said.
Looking to beyond his time as chair and indeed the life of Strabane Council, he added: "Under the Review of Public Administration (RPA), this council has 36 months to develop and to role out a strategy which will leave a lasting legacy for this council area. As councillors we have to be very mindful of the impact RPA will have on our local communities and indeed on the staff and officers of the Council.
Arguably the biggest surprise of the evening was the re-emergence of the SDLP's Eugene McMenamin, who accepted the vice-chair's position.
Once a prominent politician, councillor McMenamin has appeared relatively quiet since losing his Assembly seat last year.
But that could all be about to change. He told us, "We are all here to represent the people and it will be bread and butter issues from here on in. It has been a tough year but hopefully things will now start to move in a positive direction."
