‘Total gentleman’ John Cribbin attends last area meeting as a county councillor

RETIRING county councillor John Cribbin has been remembered as a politician who left no part of his area untouched during his 25 years in office.

Glowing tributes were paid to Cllr Cribbin when he attended his last meeting of Claremorris-Swinford Municipal District Council, with one colleague describing him as ‘a total gentleman’.

The Ballyhaunis-based councillor was first elected to Mayo County Council in 1999 and was re-elected at every subsequent election before announcing his retirement last year.

Cllr Cribbin said he ‘was never politically ambitious’ before being approached to run for Fine Gael in mid-August of 1998.

Well-known in farming circles as a cattle dealer, Cllr Cribbin was asked to run after he attended a meeting where serving councillor Jim Higgins announced he would not be seeking re-election.

He wore the chain of Cathaoirleach of Mayo County Council for one term from 2009-2010 and also served as Cathaoirleach of the Claremorris-Swinford Municipal District Council.

Councillors from all parties extended well wishes and paid tribute to Cllr Cribbin’s service in remarks which lasted over 15 minutes.

Leading the tributes, Cathaoirleach of Claremorris-Swinford Municipal District, Gerry Murray, paid tribute to Cllr Cribbin’s ‘leadership’ during his quarter-century in office.

“He has always been a consensus politician. He has always been happy to work together with the council officials and his elected colleagues, regardless of their political affiliations,” said Cllr Murray.

Other councillors remarked upon Cllr Cribbin’s success in the cattle business and his love of Gaelic football.

His Fine Gael colleague, Cllr Michael Burke, described him as ‘an exceptional politician’, ‘a total gentleman’ and ‘one of the best judges of cattle in the land’.

“It is unknown the amount of work John has done in his area over the 25 years,” said Cllr Burke.

“There is no part of a town or village that he represented that hasn’t been touched by his commitment as a councillor,” added Cllr Burke.

Councillors all paid tribute to Cllr Cribbin’s character, with Cllr Damien Ryan (Fianna Fáil) describing him as a politician ‘who embraced the spirit of cooperation’.

“His contributions to the chamber were very measured, very balanced and well resourced. He spoke when he needed to speak. We have many others down there who speak when they don’t need to speak,” remarked Cllr Ryan.

Compliments were also extended from council officials present at Cllr Cribbin’s final meeting with the Claremorris-Swinford Municipal District.

Padraic Flanagan, Head of the municipal district, thanked him for his ‘commitment, courtesy and level-headedness’ as an elected representative.

“The John Cribbin of 20 years ago is the same as the John Cribbin of today, and I think that is as good a tribute that we, as staff, can pay to Cllr Cribbin. He was an excellent councillor to deal with over the years, he knew the issues, he knew the limits of what could and couldn’t be done, and for that we are extremely grateful,” said Mr Flanagan.

PRIDE

CLLR Cribbin said he looked back on his years as a councillor ‘with a lot of pride and nostalgia’ and described himself as ‘a small spoke in a team that delivered services every day of the week’ throughout Mayo.

“I had no intention of ever putting my name on a ballot paper. Twenty-five years later I have to say I enjoyed every minute of the journey and, yes, I would do it all over again,” he said.

Cllr Cribbin then thanked all the council officials and elected members he worked with and said ‘things never were as good’ in Mayo.

Joanne Grehan, Director of Services for Claremorris-Swinford Municipal District, also paid compliments to Cllr Cribbin before making a presentation to him on behalf of the county council.

A special presentation was made to Cllr Cribbin at his final MD meeting, pictured above, front, from left: Cllr Richard Finn; Lisa Gavin (Assistant Staff Officer, Claremorris), Cllr Patsy O'Brien, Cllr Gerry Murray (Cathaoirleach, Claremorris-Swinford Municipal District), Cllr John Cribbin, Joanne Grehan (MCC Director of Services), Cllr Michael Burke and Cllr Tom Connolly. Back row, from left: Noel Gibbons (Administrative Officer), Cllr Damain Ryan, Padraic Flanagan (Head of MD), Cllr Neil Cruise, Cllr Adrian Forkan and Frank Jennings (Executive Engineer Claremorris). Pic: Trish Forde