*Cllr PJ Kelly (FF). Photograph: Eamon Ward
CLLR PJ Kelly (FF) created history on Friday as he attended his fiftieth Annual General Meeting of Clare County Council.
First elected in 1974, Cllr Kelly is one of three politicians nationally to have given such service to local government. In his lifetime in politics, the Lissycasey native has served alongside a total of 709 elected members of Clare County Council, prevailing in each of the nine elections he has contested.
Outgoing Mayor of Clare, Cllr Tony O’Brien (FF) presented his colleague with a figurine of a horse due to his involvement in the equine business while his wife Maura was given a bouquet of flowers. “For a man from a disadvantaged area and a slow learner he has done well,” Cllr O’Brien stated in reference to two of the many catchphrases espoused by Cllr Kelly.
Staff and elected members of the Council all took to the floor to give Cllr Kelly a standing ovation to mark the milestone.
“I’m rarely stuck for words but this is an occasion,” an emotional but proud Kelly told the meeting. “This is a wonderful occasion, when I entered the Council in 1974 I didn’t expect to be around for my fiftieth AGM, I thank the people around me, the people from the disadvantaged area I’m from who have elected me down through the years”.
He recalled that his first occasion to the Chamber may have been “a controversial entrance”. He stated, “I’m a firm believer of community work, the changes are unbelievable, Cllr McMahon joined me two and a half years later, no other councillor would have seen the changes we’ve seen, we have seen some councillors arrive on bicycles and others walked to meetings”. The introduction of a power-sharing agreement with the parties in the Council must continue, he said.
As he has often done, PJ applauded the work of the late County Manager, Joe Boland who had many achievements including the introduction of a community grant scheme in 1978 which aided parishes to put a field or community centre in their locality with funding of £9000 provided. He also spearheaded the rollout of the West Clare water scheme, one of the largest in the country at the time, connecting Doolough to Loop Head. “It seems small today but it brought a GAA field into every village today, could have bought two houses at every time”.
“We haven’t the same level of staffing today, we didn’t know what the word consultant was then and now it’s costing us €100,000 a week, I can’t say everything has changed for the better,” Kelly lamented.
Never afraid to hold people to task, Cllr Kelly also used the occasion to urge the county’s TDs and Oireachtas members to pull up their socks. “One change that concerns me, rural Ireland gone very much into decline, so many parts of West Clare, many colleagues have lost seats because of rural decline, bureaucracy has taken over in a big way. Planning was one time for development, now the emphasis is on non-development. I do hope our TDs would have a serious look at their role”.
PJ paid tribute to his “good wife” Maura “who was my secretary and support, when people called to their door she was the caterer. When I was technically challenged, my family came to my aid with computers and what not. Many of our colleagues have gone to heaven, some day we’ll join them,” he concluded. A highlight included welcoming the National League winning Clare hurling team in 1977 when he was Mayor, “I look forward to Cllr Cooney welcoming home the Clare team when they beat Limerick in the All-Ireland by more than a single point”.
Chief Executive of the Council, Pat Dowling remarked, “it is great to see after fifty years you’re still giving us advice”. He said PJ was one of only three councillors to have had such a lengthy term, “it is a huge achievement for anybody to attain such a long service in the public area giving of your time. You were elected on 19th June 1974, two days before Spancilhill Fair which only happened last week, it’s still going strong like yourself”.
Cllr Alan O’Callaghan (FF) who for the past nine years has sat beside Cllr Kelly in the Chamber commented, “it is the first time in my life I saw a tear in his eye, I have a tear in my eye every time he speaks, I’m deaf in one ear from him, if I’m still here in fifty years doing this will someone please shoot me”.
