Lenihan honoured for work in East Clare

AN engraved piece of Tipperary Crystal was presented to a local authority engineer at a meeting in Scariff last week, acknowledging the work he has carried out in East Clare over the last five years.
Tributes were paid to senior executive engineer Seán Lenihan, who is moving from the Scariff area office to a new engineering post in the Environment and Sanitary Services section at the county council headquarters in New Road, Ennis.
Addressing councillors, Mr Lenihan said it was a privilege to work in East Clare for the local authority. He said the work was “never boring” and had great variety.
Acknowledging the support he received from council employees and the roads team in their area offices in Scariff and Westbury, he said all staff did their best to provide a quality service for the public.
Stressing the importance of adding value to the council projects and public infrastructure, he paid tribute to the work completed by a host of community groups and organisations such as Tidy Towns and development associations.
“There is a very amount of people in community groups who don’t get paid, yet they put in a massive amount of voluntary efforts to make improvements in their own localities.
“I was fortunate that my time coincided with the community playground scheme, which provided new playgrounds in places such as Feakle, Tulla, Meelick, O’Briensbridge, Killaloe and Mountshannon.
“I hope I have made a contribution since I came to work in East Clare in 2006. I remember working in a prefabricated building in Tulla when I started work before new modern area offices were opened in Scariff and Westbury.
“I am sorry to be leaving East Clare and I liked working with all the councillors. Councillor Pat Hayes has a challenging year ahead of him as the new Mayor of Clare but I am sure he will acquit himself well in his new role,” he said.
Finance director of service, Noleen Fitzgerald noted Mr Lenihan had made a huge difference to East Clare and felt the area had a seventh or extra public representative because of all the projects he put on the table requesting finance.
Electoral area chairman Councillor Joe Cooney, who made the official presentation, said Mr Lenihan worked hard to complete projects in East Clare and was always very frank and honest with community groups when it came to requests for financial assistance.
Councillor Cooney said the departing engineer always tried to come up with a resolution to any problem, if one was to be found.
Wishing Mr Lenihan the best of luck in his new role, Mayor of Clare, Councillor Pat Hayes described him as the public face of the council in East Clare.
Councillor Hayes said everyone community group found Mr Lenihan very agreeable and competent when they were trying to access funding for projects in East Clare.
He noted that the engineer often contacted him outside office hours and made himself available out of hours when the need arose.
Councillor Pascal Fitzgerald said the engineer was available 24 hours a day to respond to issues raised by councillors and constituents and always spoke his mind when solutions to problems were being discussed.
The Ardnacrusha-based councillor noted Mr Lenihan worked with residents and statutory agencies battling flood waters in Shannon Banks and Clonlara in December 2009.
Councillor Crowe said Mr Lenihan’s legacy was his contribution to several local authority projects and infrastructure throughout East Clare.
“I remember meeting Seán at 3am in the morning at the back of a tractor when there was flooding in Springfield, Clonlara. Yesterday when I contacted him, he was on annual leave, yet he still got back to me with an answer to my query,” he said.
Councillor Pat Burke admitted Mr Lenihan’s local knowledge or every bend and road junction in East Clare never ceased to amaze him. “I am only here two years but I couldn’t but have the height of praise for Seán,” he said.
Councillor Michael Begley felt it was a pity Mr Lenihan had to leave at this stage in the middle of a roads programme and also thanked him for his work and assistance in the past.