New Council Acting Chief Executive appointed

Catriona Loughran • Published 18 Feb 2010 10:35 0 Comments

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Brendan Hegarty has officially been named as the new Chief Executive(Acting) of Fermanagh District Council to take effect from April 1 this year.

The appointment of the Director of Finance and Information Technology was ratified by councillors at last night's (Wednesday) Policy and Resources Committee meeting at Enniskillen Town Hall.

Mr Hegarty, who has been working in the Council since the 1990's, will be responsible for 300 staff and succeeds Rodney Connor, who is standing down after 10 years in the position at the end of March.

A native of Killyclogher, near Omagh, he and his wife Gemma have three children, a teenager daughter and 11-year-old twin son and daughter.

Mr. Hegarty will assume the role next month for a period of 12 months to be reviewed before the proposed amalgamation of Fermanagh and Omagh Councils in May of next year.

The chief executive of the Local Government Staff Commission who oversees the appointment of Council chief executives, Adrian Kerr sat on the panel and explained how Mr. Hegarty went through a "rigorous" assessment procedure before a selection was made.

"Here at the Staff Commission we have a rigorous selection procedure whereby candidates are assessed by carrying out day-long exercise reports before we can shortlist candidates. If they are successful, they are then called for an interview as well as delivering a 10-minute presentation on the role they have applied for, so it is not as simple as appointing the next person in line. Because of the re-organisation of the Councils, Mr. Hegarty went through what is known as a Vacancy Control System where an internal candidate is appointed to act-up the role until May of next year where the role will then be reviewed."

It's understood two candidates were short-listed for the position and joining Mr. Kerr on the interview panel was an impartial assessor along with Council Chairman, Robert Irvine; SDLP Councillor Frank Britton, Independent Councillor Bernice Swift and Sinn Fein Councillor Thomas O'Reilly.

This article appeared in Impartial Reporter 18 Feb 10

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