New County Manager to prioritise development of alternative energy

New County Manager to prioritise development of alternative energy


Anton McNulty

THE development of the potential sources of renewable energy in Mayo will be a major priority of Mayo County Council over the coming years according to the new County Manager.
Peter Hynes, the former Town Manager of Westport Town Council was ratified by the members of Mayo County Council as the new County Manager at yesterday’s monthly meeting of the Council which was held in Ballyhaunis. Mr Hynes will immediately take up his role and his appointed will run for a period of seven years.
Speaking to The Mayo News Mr Hynes said that he was proud to be named as the new County Manager and while he admitted there was a number of challenges facing the county he was ready ‘to get stuck into’ the job.
“It is a tough time for everybody but it is no tougher in Mayo than anywhere else and there are opportunities for Mayo. I do believe the county is capable of benefiting from the development of alternative energy and there are still significant opportunities for tourism. There are not all black clouds ahead,” he said.
A native of Moycullen in Galway, Mr Hynes currently lives in Foxford with his wife Catherine and children and admitted he now regarded himself a ‘local’ having joined Mayo County Council in 1984. He succeeds Des Mahon who retired as County Manager last November after almost 20 years in the job and said that the former Manager had left an enormous legacy and wanted to build on it.
“We will be looking to consolidate the gains of the last 20 years and the achievements of my predecessor Des Mahon. He has left an enormous legacy and we will be looking to build on that.”
Despite the cutbacks in the public budget and the discontent among members of the public service in Mayo County Council, he believed they will be able to deliver projects for the county. He cited the Greenway between Mulranny and Newport as a project which the Council can achieve even during tough times.
Having joined Mayo Council Council as an architect Mr Hynes became head architect in 1989 until he was appointed Westport Town Manager and Director of Services for the Belmullet and Westport electoral areas in 2001. During his period of Town Manager, the town was awarded the overall Ireland’s tidy towns award on three occasions.
In 2003, as the Director of Services for the Belmullet Electoral Area, he played a key role in co-ordinating the relief work following the Pullathomas landslides, when 200,000 cubic metres of debris swept down the mountainside.