Deere is Castlebar’s first citizen

Deere is Castlebar’s first citizen


Edwin McGreal

When Ger Deere and Therese Ruane sat beside each other as innocent kids in Snugboro National School, each probably had some fanciful ambitions that are the preserve of youth.
Those dreams may have been beyond Castlebar Town Council but you would still have been hard pressed to imagine both being elected together to the council in last year’s elections.
And, especially when you consider the polarity on some issues between Deere’s Fine Gael party and Ruane’s Sinn Féin, for Deere to be Mayor and Ruane Deputy Mayor truly is remarkable.
But, many more years on from national school than they’d care to remember, Deere and Ruane became first citizen and deputy first citizen of the town last week.
For Fine Gael’s Deere, just over a year after he was elected to the council for the first time, taking over as Mayor was something he admitted at the council’s AGM made him immensely proud.
“Tonight is a great night for my family, my friends and myself. My hope is that it is just the beginning of a great year for all of Castlebar – I will do my best to make sure that it is.
“Though elected as a Fine Gael councillor, I don’t come from a particularly strong political background. For all of my adult life – indeed, even before I was an adult - I have been involved with community affairs and issues. It was during my time with Foróige that I first came across Enda Kenny. He was then Junior Minister for Education and Youth Affairs. I was so impressed by his ability that I joined the Fine Gael party soon afterwards. It is nice that my election as Mayor of Castlebar coincides with the re-affirmation of Enda’s leadership. It would even nicer if some of my term coincides with some of his time as Taoiseach of our country.”
Admitting that a big focus of his term would be on encouraging greater community spirit and activity in the town, Cllr Deere stressed that it was important that politicians restore faith to a public who had become disillusioned. He also outlined a number of projects he was targeting, including the purchase of the Imperial Hotel by the council and the creation of a ‘Parade of Stars’ in the Mall, in conjunction with Mayo County Council.
For her part, Deputy Mayor Therese Ruane spoke of the privilege of her appointment.
“It's a real honour and privilege for me to be elected Deputy Mayor of Castlebar. I look forward to working closely with the Mayor Ger Deere and all the Councillors to make Castlebar a better place for everyone. This is what local politics is all about, working together, working collaboratively to bring about real and positive change for the people of the County Town. I will dedicate myself and work tirelessly for the betterment of Castlebar in my role as Deputy Mayor."