Damien Kivlehan wearing his chain of office.

Kevin Carney

Independent councillor Damien Kivlehan vowed to encourage development when he was elected as the new Chairman of Cootehill Town Council.

At the body's annual meeting this week, Councillor Kivelehan was elected unopposed.

The new chairman - the only independent councillor on the town council - was proposed and seconded by Fine Gael councillors Aidan Boyle and Paddy Halton respectively.

Fine Gael's Paddy Halton was thereafter unanimously elected as vice-chairman for the coming year after being proposed by party colleague councillor Aidan Boyle, seconded by Fianna Fail's Sean Igoe.

In his acceptance speech, the new chairman said he intended to be "fair and honest" in his new role and expressed the view that "we as councillors have a duty to do what we can for the less well-off in our community and to bring the concerns of these people to the table."

"I would encourage the development of an even greater community spirit in Cootehill," councillor Kivlehan added.

"So much can be done for the old and vulnerable in our society. When we work together there's no boundary too big that we can't overcome."

The electoral arrangement within the nine-member town council follows in line with the rotation of the positions of chairman and vice-chairman as agreed by the Fianna Fail, Fine Gael, Sinn Fein and Independent representatives on the council prior to the 2006 local authority elections.

Each of the councillors were generous in expressing their appreciation for the work carried out by outgoing chairman Harry McCabe (Sinn Fein) during his 12 months in office.