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Mary's panache will be missed by colleagues

May 22nd, 2019 12:15 PM

By Jackie Keogh

Mary receives her bouquet from the county mayor.

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West Cork's ‘first lady', Cllr Mary Hegarty, was presented with a beautiful bouquet by her male colleagues and admirers at her last meeting as a public representat

WEST Cork’s ‘first lady’, Cllr Mary Hegarty, was presented with a beautiful bouquet by her male colleagues and admirers at her last meeting as a public representative.

Cllr Hegarty (FG) is the only female member of the West Cork Municipal District, but there are three women standing in the Bantry electoral area on May 24th, including Fine Gael’s Katie Murphy, Holly McKeever Cairns of the Social Democrats and Lorraine Deane Ross of Aontú.

The Municipal District chairman Cllr Danny Collins (Ind) undersold the bonhomie at the meeting when he said: ‘This is our final meeting. We have all worked well together. None of us fell out.’

But none of the councillors held back when they paid tribute to Cllr Hegarty. They said she added ‘panache’ to the meetings. And that she was an excellent ambassador – not just for Bantry, but all of West Cork.

They praised her efforts to promote the arts and the three hugely popular festivals in her adopted town of Bantry, including the world-class West Cork Chamber Music Festival.

They noted that she and Council official James Fogarty, had done tremendous work in helping to develop the cruise liner business in West Cork and described it as a new growth area for the region.

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