Councillor who spent seven months in jail deplores rise in crime in county
Cllr Michael "Stroke" Fahy returned to a warm welcome when he attended his first meeting of Galway County Council yesterday less than a week after being released from jail.
It was back to business as usual for the Independent councillor after the Court of Criminal Appeal last week set aside his conviction for fraud and attempted theft and ordered that a retrial take place.
Cllr Fahy spent seven months in jail having been sentenced to 12 months' imprisonment and fined €75,000 after he was found guilty at Galway Circuit Criminal Court of misappropriating county council funds and attempted theft.
The 56-year-old, who resigned from Fianna Fáil when he was first charged, declined to speak to reporters as he entered County Hall, but once he was inside the building he was greeted by colleagues from all parties.
Cllr Fahy, the longest-serving member of Galway County Council, having been elected a Fianna Fáil councillor at every local contest since his first election to the council in 1979, signed the members' book as soon as he entered the council chamber.
A large number of photographers, cameramen and reporters followed his every move as councillors came over to greet him before the commotion died down when Mayor Seán Canny called for the usual prayer to be said before the meeting.
After the prayer Mr Canny said Cllr Fahy wished to address the meeting. Cllr Fahy congratulated Galway County Council on a number of initiatives carried out over the past few months.
He said he was particularly pleased the council had appointed its first female county manager and he looked forward to the day when Martina Moloney might be welcoming America's first woman president to Galway if Senator Hillary Clinton is successful.
Ms Moloney was appointed while Cllr Fahy was serving his sentence in Castlerea Prison. Cllr Canny and his deputy, Cllr SeáKyne, who took up office during the summer, were also congratulated on their election by Cllr Fahy.
Cllr Fahy did not refer to his own absence - he last attended a meeting of Galway County Council on February 26th this year before beginning his jail sentence on April 23rd - but noted other developments such as the green light for the reopening of the Athenry-Limerick railway line.
"It lifted my heart last Friday when I arrived back near my own home to see the work started on the railway line. It will be a huge boost for south Galway.
"It gives me great honour to be a member of Galway County Council on the third of December 2007 to see this sort of work being carried out," he said.
However, he noted that crime in south Galway had risen, especially in the last few months. "It is just not good enough that people who are out at the shops or at Mass come home to find their houses ransacked. The people who do this sort of crime need to be caught and punished.
"I am proposing that we write to the Garda Commissioner and the chief superintendent demanding that every effort is made to bring these culprits to justice," said Cllr Fahy, whose speech was greeted by applause, largely by the Fianna Fáil members.