Hynes ready for County Manager challenge

Hynes ready for challenge


Michael Commins

PETER Hynes became the first manager in the history of Mayo County Council to be officially ratified at a meeting held outside Castlebar. The Foxford-based official, who hails from Moycullen in Co Galway, told the gathering at the Council meeting in Ballyhaunis Parochial Hall last week that, while Mayo faces some serious challenges in the years ahead, there were also considerable opportunities as well.
It was a proud day for Peter as he accepted the good wishes of many of the councillors who spoke highly of his contribution over the past three decades with Mayo County Council. It was also a special day for his wife Catherine and members of the family who were present at the meeting to see him being elevated to the top post in the county.
Cllr Joe Mellett (FG) officially proposed Peter Hynes as County Manager. “Peter has spent his working life for the betterment of Mayo. He has spent 30 years here and has many fine traits.”
Cllr Al McDonnell (FF), seconding the motion, said the new manager would have the support of the elected members. “The criteria was to pick someone with experience and sound judgement as well as vision and integrity in these difficult times. Peter Hynes met all those requirements and emerged from a star studded field of applicants, any of which would have made good managers. The county is in good hands. After the stewardship of Des Mahon and Joe Beirne, the bar is high.”
A number of other councillors, including Austin Francis O’Malley, Margaret Adams, Richard Finn, Annie Mai Reape, |Jimmy Maloney and Michael Burke, joined in the tributes and good wishes to Peter on his elevation to the post of Mayo County Manager.
Sporting a maroon tie (still got an allegiances to Galway!), Peter Hynes said he was deeply honoured to have been chosen to serve as county manager in Mayo. This was the sixth time since 1942 that the County Council had appointed a manager and the first time ever that the ratification process had taken place away from the Council headquarters in Castlebar.
“I do not claim to be a management guru. No one person can achieve anything major working alone. I need the support of the people in the Chamber and much further afield.
“I want to thank John Cribbin and the elected representatives for their kind remarks. I also wish to state that the staff of Mayo County Council are second to none, they are absolutely brilliant,” said Peter.
The new manager said Mayo had made significant progress over the past 30 years. He thanked former managers Michael O’Malley and Des Mahon for their legacies and had a special word for Joe Beirne who “kept the show on the road” for the past six months.
He spoke of the serious challenges that lie ahead and said one of those was the “spiral of rural decline”. He was confident that they could responded to those challenges.
Opportunities were also there to be tackled but he warned that there would be stiff competition from other counties and regions. Among the areas where Mayo could carve out specific niches were energy, gas, tourism, outdoor pursuits, farm production, sea food and marine related matters. He said it was his intention and that of the Council to chase these opportunities with real intent and play to win.
At the end of his acceptance speech, councillors and people present got to their feet and warmly applauded Mr Hynes. However, Cllr Frank Durcan (Ind) from Castlebar remained seated.