First female Town Clerk appointed

Athlone's first female Town Clerk has been appointed in the past week. Edel Martin, who spent the last five years as Athlone Town Council's Housing Officer, took up the role of Acting Town Clerk on Thursday last. Ms Martin will also hold the post of Senior Executive Officer for the Athlone and Kilbeggan areas. She takes over the post from Hugh O'Reilly, who spent only two months in the job before being appointed as Director of Services for the Mullingar area. Mr O'Reilly succeeded John Walsh as Town Clerk when Mr Walsh retired after 28 years in the job. Speaking about her new position this week, Ms Martin told the Westmeath Independent: "It is something completely new for me. I'm really looking forward to it." Ms Martin added that there were some major projects underway, such as the Athlone Castle refurbishment and the art gallery at Fr Mathew Hall, and said she hoped to continue the good work of former Town Clerk John Walsh on these projects. She said the council was always trying to improve the profile of Athlone, to attract businesses and tourists to the town, and she would see this as an important part of the Town Clerk role. A native of Ballymore who now lives in Moate, Ms Martin joined Westmeath local authorities in 1986 and this week joked: "I was a child prodigy!" Seven years ago she transferred to Athlone Town Council, where she worked in a planning role for two years before taking up the post of Housing Officer. Over the years Ms Martin has worked in housing, roads, water services and corporate services and will bring her expertise in all of these areas to the role of Town Clerk. While she said this week she doesn't know how long her tenure as Acting Town Clerk will be, she said she is looking forward to the role. "I see it as a challenge. I have big shoes to fill," she said, adding that she hadn't given too much thought to the fact that she was the first female Town Clerk in Athlone.