RIP Laura Buckley Noonan
Search
06 Sept 2025
Search
06 Sept 2025
Please allow ads as they help fund our trusted local news content.
Kindly add us to your ad blocker whitelist.
If you want further access to Ireland's best local journalism, consider contributing and/or subscribing to our free daily Newsletter .
Support our mission and join our community now.
To continue reading this article, you can subscribe for as little as €0.50 per week which will also give you access to all of our premium content and archived articles!
Alternatively, you can pay €0.50 per article, capped at €1 per day.
Thank you for supporting Ireland's best local journalism!
Tim Kelly is bestowed with the Freedom of Donegal by Cahaoirleach Cllr Martin Harley. Photo: Thomas Gallagher
The outgoing Cathaoirleach of Donegal County Council, Councillor Martin Harley, has reflected on a 'fantastic year' as the county's first citizen.
Before handing over the Mayoral chain to Councillor Niamh Kennedy at Friday's AGM at the County House in Lifford, Councillor Harley looked back on his last 12 months.
He pointed to the conferring of the Freedom of Donegal on Tim Kelly, the Frosses-born businessman, as being the highlight.
“The biggest moment of the year for me was the Freedom of the County going to Tim Kelly,” Councillor Harley said.
“He gave more than enough people work in London and he has got the Freedom of London too. Tim was very generous after getting the Freedom of the County. He made donations to two charities, the Bluestack Foundation and the Family Resource Centre in Stranorlar, giving over €50,000 to each one.
“It was a credit to Tim and that was a very special day for me.”
The Ballybofey-based Fine Gael representative also recalled the 50th anniversary celebrations for the 28th Infantry Battalion at Finner Camp in October.
“Inspecting the troops was a special moment,” Councillor Harley said. “To see the work they do also was fantastic and laying a wreath for the members lost was very important to do.”
Councillor Harley said Donegal has 'come forward' remarkably as a tourist destination and said the Council must impress upon national representatives the importance of improving facilities, such as the €25million Greencastle Harbour Breakwater, which opened earlier this year.
“We have a beautiful county to show,” he said.
During the year, Councillor Harley met with ambassadors from China, Norway and the United States and said the TBEX 2025 conference coming to Donegal represented a massive chance to showcase the county.
Councillor Harley thanked his own family and the staff of Donegal County Council.
He added: “We are very lucky as a Council to have such a fantastic team. We see all the fantastic work in the county and a lot of it is down to the work they do and the time they give.”
Subscribe or register today to discover more from DonegalLive.ie
Buy the e-paper of the Donegal Democrat, Donegal People's Press, Donegal Post and Inish Times here for instant access to Donegal's premier news titles.
Keep up with the latest news from Donegal with our daily newsletter featuring the most important stories of the day delivered to your inbox every evening at 5pm.
This publication supports the work of the Press Council of Ireland and Office of the Press Ombudsman, and our staff operate within the Code of Practice of the Press Council. You can obtain a copy of the Code, or contact the Council, at www.presscouncil.ie, Lo-call 1800 208 080 or email: info@presscouncil.ie.
