Votes of congratulations
A vote of congratulations was passed for the retiring inter-county referee Joe McQuillan at the July monthly meeting of Cavan County Council.
The All-Ireland SFC semi-final between Kerry and Tyrone was Mr McQuillan's last assignment. The four-time All-Ireland SFC final referee from Kill turns 50 this year, meaning he has to step down under the GAA's age eligibility rule.
Fine Gael's Carmel Brady proposed the vote saying that the Kill Shamrock's clubman was recognised for his “fairness and consistency” with the whistle. She said people in the local community are “proud” of Mr McQuillan and wished him well in his impending retirement.
The proposal was supported by Sinn Féin's Stiofán Conaty, Fianna Fáil's Niall Smith, Independent Brendan Fay, and Fine Gael's Trevor Smith.
Recognised too at the meeting was Cavan native Ray McAdam, elected as the 358th Lord Mayor of Dublin at the annual meeting of Dublin City Council in City Hall.
He succeeded Cllr Emma Blain in the role and for the next year will act as an Ambassador for the city locally and internationally and will preside over City Council meetings.
Fianna Fáil's John Paul Feeley said Mr McAdam was the second if not third person hailing from the Breffni County to role the chain of office.
New principal
Fine Gael's Niamh Brady meanwhile congratulated John Galligan in his appointment as the new principal of Loreto College in Cavan Town.
The Kilnavara man previously taught at the Royal School where he was also acting deputy principal from 2017 to 2019.
More recently, he served as deputy principal and acting principal at Wilson’s Hospital School in Multyfarnham.
She said she had known Mr Galligan a long time and was sure he would “do a great job”.
Retiring GP
Fine Gael's TP O'Reilly made special mention of the work done over the years in Virginia by the retiring local GP Gareth Igoe; while several councillors paid tribute to the work of the retiring Cavan County Council engineer, Pat Gaynor.
Chief Executive Eoin Doyle thanked Mr Gaynor for his years of service.
Finally, Independent Ireland's Shane P O'Reilly asked that the council extend their thanks to Colette (neé Duggan) Herrmann and to the Bishop of Wurzburg, Franz Jung, for hosting the annual delegation from Cavan to Germany recently.
He said that trips in honour of Cavan saint St Kilian had progressed over the past 10 years, and highlighted how a group of several dozen pilgrims were expected to arrive in a reciprocal journey in early September, with the expected spin-off set to benefit the local economy.
Cllr Feeley, who as Cathaoirleach, led the recent trip to Bavaria noted that another group would arrive in October.
Responding on behalf of the executive, Mr Doyle recognised the “common interest” of St Kilian and how that legacy had transcended generations to bring two distinct communities thousands of miles apart closer together.