After being elected Mayor of Mallow, Cllr. Noel O Connor outlined his hopes for Mallow for his year of office:
As Mayor of Mallow I pledge to treat all councillors with respect and with fairness. In my capacity as Mayor, I will be the servant of the people of Mallow as their first citizen. It is indeed a great honour for me, and for my wife and family, to be elected Mayor of Mallow.
It is vitally important, as Mallow seeks to establish itself as a dynamic town with a lot to offer it’s citizens, that we acknowledge difference and diversity within our society. In acknowledging this diversity, it is imperative that, as a society we, the people of Mallow, embrace difference. It is my intention, in my year of office, to set out to visibly support those with special needs in Mallow,to support those newcomers to town who despite the colour of their skin or in spite of having a native tongue different from our own, are now very much Mallow/Irish—voting in Irish elections, to visibly support those who have physical disabilities, and to support those who have mental issues perhaps, as a result of coming to terms with the stresses of living in the difficult times we live in or the stresses of bereavement.
I wish to support the schools in our town in their efforts to stamp out Bullying. The bully is not accepted in Mallow. Let Mallow be a “bully-free” town. Let the impetus for this campaign come from my office, the Mayor’s Office, in Mallow Town Hall. The outgoing Mayor Cllr. Dan Joe Fitzgerald and his Deputy Mayor, Cllr. Richard Dempsey worked hard to get the business life of Mallow Town Centre back to what it should be. They forged new links between Mallow Town Council, Mallow Chamber of Commerce and the Traders Action Group. I commit myself to continue to progress the work started, on this matter, by the outgoing Mayoral Team.
The purchase of Mallow Castle, by Cork County Council, was a huge boost to the morale of the people of the town. I will be pushing to lay-out the 32 acres here as a Park for the people of the town and for visitors to Mallow to spend their leisure time in. Hopefully the Main Hall or room in the castle can be used by clubs and societies in the town for their General Meetings.
The ‘jewel in the crown’ for Mallow people would be to complete the River Project through the purchase of Mallow Town Park. I will make myself available to act as a mediator between the Jeffersons and the Council to endevour to reach a conclusion on the purchase of the Town Park.
It is my hope, that within twelve months, work will have commenced on the Boardwalk along Mallow Bridge. This project is dear to my heart having proposed this at Council many years ago. The ‘Boardwalk Project’ has passed through the planning process and, all that remains to bring the boardwalk to construction, is to seek out the funding to commence this and I am confident that I can source this. I look forward to the major Planning Permission Application from Dairygokd. This proposed project, for development works on the Co-op’s site in Mallow, will have a major possitive effect on employment in Mallow on completion.
I believe, that it is vital that our Council continues to support the various project being undertaken by the Mallow Development Partnership Group. The idea of Mallow being a living active laboratory for a new generation of computer applications is unique. I congratulate MDP for their work in this regard. As Mayor of Mallow I congratulate Mallow Tidy Towns Committee on their work. Their work, on the entrances to our town, has made Mallow a very welcoming town for people approaching Mallow from Cork ,Limerick or Fermoy.
This is the year that the Council commences the renewal of the streetscape. The initial works will be in the lower part of Davis Street in the general area of the Clockhouse.
The Council will continue to support major events and festivals in Mallow. I will be having discussions with various interested parties on the possibility of having a ‘welcome in the New Year in Mallow’ event, complete with fireworks at midnight. I will be looking for a major sponsor for this and I do believe that we can make this a wonderful family occasion.
Much work is ongoing in preparation for the anniversaries of Canon Sheehan and Thomas Davis. I pledge the support of Mallow Town Council to these projects.
Mallow is a vibrant sporting town with some great sporting facilities, in particular Mallow Racecourse and Mallow GAA Sports Complex. I look forward to attending many events at these venues.The local Soccer club, Rugby club ,Handball club and Basketball club do so much great work with the youth of Mallow . I will be supporting these clubs during the year.
Our town is so lucky to have a wonderful Hospital. It is timely, as I take over the position of Mayor of Mallow, that a major extension is about to commence in Mallow General Hospital. As Mayor, I wish to thank all the doctors, nurses and general staff who have worked so hard over the years to maintain the high standard of service to our sick, to which we have become accustomed. May I also thank all those involved in Mallow’s Primary Health Care centre in Gouldshill. The brave decision to embark on this major project, by a nunmber of GP’s in the area working together, has really enhanced the health services available to the people of Mallow.
Mallow Town Council has a great web site. I will be working with the Management to investigate the possibilities of using other social media techniques, such as Facebook and Twitter, to promote our town and the services provided by our Council. Finally Mallow Town Council has served the people of Mallow well. Change in local government will happen. But, I pledge, as your Mayor to do everything possible to ensure that whatever happens, Mallow Town Council, as an entity, will continue to serve the people of Mallow. Mallow Abu’. Signed: Noel O Connor, Mayor of Mallow
