Bilingual chains of office will be worn by the Chair and Vice Chair of Fermanagh and Omagh District Council (FODC).

The council has agreed that the chains used previously by Omagh District Council will be reused by the new council.

At last Wednesday’s Policy and Resources Committee meeting Councillors considered the fifth draft of a presentation on how the new chains of office should be designed.

They decided on a shield, rather than an oval. They also decided that the Chair and Vice Chair’s jewel or pendant should be the same size.

The Chair’s jewel will have a gold background and the Vice Chair’s will have a purple background.

Sinn Féin Councillor Marty McColgan queried why the titles ‘Chairman’ and ‘Vice Chairman’ were not also shown in Irish (i.e. Cathaoirleach and Leas Chathaoirleach). He said that the bilingual option had been voted through at the last P&R meeting.

FODC Chief Executive Brendan Hegarty said that the audio of the last meeting would be checked but, in the meantime, they should deal with the current design options.

The Director of Corporate Services and Governance, Joan McCaffrey explained that the jewels would cost approximately £2,500 - £3,000 each.

UUP Councillor Victor Warrington stated: “We spent 45 minutes on this the last night and given the Council’s view on a coat of arms which was scrapped, surely if we wanted to save money we could scrap this as well?” Sinn Féin Councillor Tommy Maguire was not impressed by the Celtic knot design on the jewel, saying: “I’ve done a bit of knotting work in my time. There are plenty of Celtic craftsmen who could improve on that knotting.” Mr. Hegarty acknowledged: “We have broad agreement but we will have to bring the dual languages back to you.”