We should not lose confidence in our own ability to shape our own future says new Cathaoirleach of Fingal County Council
Issued : Friday 19 June, 2009
Inaugural speech of Councillor Ciaran Byrne, Mayor Of Fingal, June 19, 2009
I would like to thank you for the honour of being elected as Mayor of this great county of Fingal for the coming year. On a personal vote I would like to thank my colleagues, canvassers, friends, and especially my long suffering family, for their support.
As Mayor, I wish to acknowledge the efforts of all the candidates in the Local Elections, from all parties and from none, who have not secured a mandate on this occasion and to acknowledge the work of former colleagues in this Chamber who were unsuccessful in the recent election. As Winston Churchill said, 'democracy is the worst form of government - apart from all the alternatives'.
The voters of Fingal have given this Council a mandate for change. The economic circumstances in which that mandate has been given is not one that any of us would have chosen, but we all stood for election knowing what these circumstances are.
Over the past year the people of Fingal, and indeed the staff of this Council, have suffered a serious deterioration in living standards and the prospect of an uncertain future. Some of our citizens have lost their jobs or their businesses and some may even lose their family home, a profound indictment of national government's economic incompetence.
Over the next year we are going to have to grapple with how best to carry out our duties as public representatives in Fingal, in conditions that are not of our making and in which we have limited powers and shrinking resources.
But while our options are constrained, we are not powerless and we should use this crisis to re-think our development strategy for Fingal over the next five years and to identify new opportunities for our shared future.
This has to be a joint effort between the elected members and the management of the Council in the first instance. Elected members and Council management are going to have to work more closely together in the framing of budgets, in setting development priorities and in identifying and delivering on new economic opportunities, particularly 'green jobs'. We must also do what we can to retain employment, especially in the aviation sector, Fingal's key industry. Education and re-training will also be key elements in our success.
The deficiencies of the Local Government Act should not deter us from doing whatever is necessary in the interests of the people of Fingal.
The deficiencies of recent national Governments should not inhibit our own efforts to address, as best we can, the local consequences of their mismanagement of the national economy.
Above all else we should not lose confidence in our own ability to shape our own future. In the midst of the Great Depression of the 1930's the new American President, Franklin D. Roosevelt, said ' the only thing we have to fear, is fear itself'. The people of Fingal have taken their courage in their hands and mandated us to govern in their interests. We must rise to this challenge in the years ahead. Thank you.
Cllr 
