Buggy takes Portlaoise chair on his first day

NEW Laois county councillor Paddy Buggy took the top role at his first meeting of Portlaoise Municipal District today.

Cllr Buggy (FG) was elected chairperson (cathaoirleach) of the district this morning, replacing party colleague and former councillor Willie Aird, who was returned to Dáil Éireann for the first time in November’s general election.

Deputy Aird had been chairperson of Portlaoise Municipal District since the local elections last June. Cllr Buggy was co-opted by Fine Gael as his replacement on Laois County Council in December and now he has taken over as district chairperson until next June.

The largest municipal district in Laois takes in Abbeyleix, Ballinakill and surrounding areas, as well as urban and rural Portlaoise.

With Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael holding a majority on the seven-seat district council, Cllr Buggy’s election as chair was a foregone conclusion under the ongoing pact between the two parties. He was proposed for the role by Cllr Barry Walsh (FG) and seconded by Cllr John Joe Fennelly (FF).

A resident of Kyletalesha and originally from Shaen, Cllr Buggy contested his first local election in 2004 and narrowly lost out on the last seat in 2024, before finally taking his place by co-option. He was famously defeated by just 11 votes in the 2009 local election by Cllr Catherine Fitzgerald (FF), after a marathon recount that lasted almost a week.

In his first motion at the district meeting in county hall, just a week after the big freeze, Cllr Buggy asked the council extend the areas for salting and gritting in the Portlaoise municipal area, particularly around Kyletelesha, Sluggies Cross and secondary schools.

The long-serving manager of Mountmellick Development Association (MDA), Cllr Buggy has played a key role in local enterprise and many community organisations for decades, including the Local Community Development Committee (LCDC).