Fianna Fail’s Cllr Paul Canning is set to be the new Cathaoirleach of Donegal County Council when the AGM takes place next month. It will be the Newtowncunningham based Cllr’s first time to hold this position. He will succeed Independent Cllr Niamh Kennedy. The Killybegs-based Cllr had an extremely busy year attending events locally, nationally and abroad. Paul Canning has been a Cllr for the Inishowen Electoral Area since 2011 when he replaced Charlie MacConalogue who was elected in the Dail. He is regarded as a very hard working Cllr and a very popular public representative for the Buncrana Electoral Area. Meanwhile, there will be a Fianna Fail Cllr as the new Mayor of the Letterkenny/Milford Municipal District. It’s understood that it will be either Cllr Ciaran Brogan or Liam Blaney. The current Mayor is Sinn Fein Cllr Gerry McMonagle. Cllr. Kennedy is just one of three women on the newly-formed county council. She was the first Independent woman Cllr to be elected as Cathaoirleach and only the fourth woman in it’s 125 year history. of Donegal County Council. expected to be completed on a new €1.4 million building at Letterkenny Community Centre in the next fortnight. The first sod was turned on the new development in March of last year by Cllr Kevin Bradley, the then Mayor of the Letterkenny-Milford Municipal District. The new building will be named after the late Jim Lynch who played a huge role at the Letterkenny Community Centre for close on 40 years. He was also the editor of the Letterkenny & District Christmas Annual which was produced at the Community Centre. The new community building, with two new state-of-the-art dressing rooms, will be built beside the existing astroturf (4G) playing pitch which has been a huge success since it was completed in 2019. Funding for the project is coming from the Dept. for Rural and Community Development, who has approved a grant of €300,000 from the Community Centre Investment Fund and a further €100,000 from the Dormant Accounts Fund, with Donegal County Council providing a grant of €200,000.
