Australian council honours Garvey

A FORMER mayor will travel 10,000 miles later this year to unveil a plaque dedicated to himself in the county town’s namesake.

Former mayor of Clare, Inagh’s Flan Garvey will visit Ennis car park in Clare, 140km north of Adelaide in South Australia at the end of next month, where he will see a tree planted in his honour and unveil a plaque dedicated to himself at a ceremony on November 5.
“This all started two years ago,” the former councillor recalled. “It was when Mayor Allan Aughey addressed the council. I was a member at the time and he gave the invitation verbally to me to come out,” he continued.
The plaque commemorates Mr Garvey’s role in building links between Clare, Ireland and the Clare and Gilbert Valleys in South Australia.
“It is because of my work with Clare County Council and the Clare and Gilbert Valleys Council there. I have been to Clare in South Australia seven times now and I know what people will say, that I did it at taxpayers’ expense but I will admit that once it was at taxpayers’ expense but not the other times.
“I love it there. I have also been involved with schools in Clare Valley for over 25 years and that is the reason for this recognition,” Mr Garvey explained.
Clare County Council began to forge links with the Clare and Gilbert Valleys in 1986 after a visit by former president Dr Patrick Hillery to South Australia the previous year. Commercial, social and educational relationships continue to exist between the two areas.
“When he was there, Dr Hillery learned that it got its name from East Clare man Edward Burton Gleeson in 1840. It reminded Gleeson of his own place close to Ogonnolloe with its landscape of rolling hills. Dr Hillery was the first Irish president to visit Australia while in office. When he returned, he wrote formally to Clare County Council asking the council to renew links with Clare, Australia. That was in 1985.
“Then in 1986, an official delegation went to Clare in South Australia and I was part of that. Before we went on that trip, I was principal of St Flannan’s National School in Inagh and a teacher from Clare Valley wrote to Clare County Council asking that a school here would form a pen-pal relationship with them. I did that and it still continues today,” Mr Garvey stated.
“The tree is planted in the Ennis car park, which was named after the first trip there in 1986. The tree itself was planted in my name before the visit of the mayor here two years ago. Then the invitation was extended to unveil a plaque recognising that memory,” he continued.
Mr Garvey will begin his trip to South Australia on October 30, with the unveiling ceremony taking place in the Clare Valley on November 5.
“Because there are so many young people from Clare who have emigrated from Ireland to Australia, I want to say to them that they are more than welcome to come and attend that ceremony. Clare Valley is located approximately 80 miles north of Adelaide and anyone who is in the area from here would be more than welcome to come along to the unveiling,” Mr Garvey added.
While he said he does not yet know what the plaque will say, the former councillor said he is delighted to be honoured in this way.
“It is better that they do this when I am alive, rather than dead,” Mr Garvey laughed.