'I'm honoured to be appointed first citizen of County Kildare'
Cathaoirleach of County Kildare, Cllr Tim Durkan speaks of his recent appointment
Serving Kildare County Council for the past 12 years, Fine Gael councillor Tim Durkan says he is “honoured” to have been recently appointed Cathaoirleach (Mayor) of the county.
Son of former Fine Gael Kildare North TD, Berndard J. Durkan, Cllr Durkan previously held the position of Leas Cathaoirleach of the county, as well as the position of Cathaoirleach of Clane Maynooth municipal district on two occasions.
“Obviously it's a great honour to be Cathaoirleach of the county...its' a busy year ahead and a lot of things I want to look at and hope to make a positive influence on”, Cllr Durkan tells The Leinster Leader this week.
“My first duty as Cathaoirleach was actually a council meeting on Monday, so we had a fair bit of stuff to get through, quite a lengthy agenda, and then I've a municipal district meeting tomorrow but I won't be chairing that, that'll be chaired by the new chair. Then I've a weekend full of events that I have to get to.”
As first citizen of the county of Kildare, Cllr Durkan will be representing the county at a range of events, performing speeches and officiating at grand openings – while proudly displaying his chain of office.
When asked which issues are pertinent to Kildare, he shows no hesitation in raising the issue of housing as a particular concern.
“Housing is obviously one, and in fairness we're building quite a lot of houses and we've only just opened up a new estate in Maynooth. Infrastructure, childcare, playgrounds, roads, and these are things that we're building at the moment.
“The Eastern Orbital Route, which I secured the funding for back in 2017, that construction is in full swing, so that hopefully will be the middle of next year. So there's a lot going on, there'll be 1250 houses built in that section of Maynooth. They're going to be houses for first-time buyers, people moving up the ladder, or even down-sizing.”
Vacancy and dereliction is another issue close to Cllr Durkan's heart. He would like to address the issue, he says, “in the county or in the town.”
Inevevitably, though, the conversation returns to housing.
“...It's making sure that we don't just build a load of houses without infrastructure like schools, creches, and roads. You can't just expect to put in a load of houses - roads, playgrounds creches, all that needs to come along with it.
“We have a number of spatial strategies coming up, Sallins quite soon, Kilcock I think is after that, then Clane and Monasterevin will be coming as well. So in terms of planning and forward planning it's going to be a very busy year.”
And is Cllr Durkan looking forward to the next 12 months as Cathaoirleach?
“Absolutely, it's a great honour to be elected as first citizen of Kildare and Cathaoirleach of Kildare County Council, so obviously Cllr Tracey O'Dwyer is Leas Cathaoirleach and we've already sat down and had a meeting in terms of what we want to get over the line for the year. So I'll be working to achieve those goals.”