‘Hard as nails’ and ‘Tough but fair’ are among the tributes being paid to Tipperary County Council’s Director of Services for Roads.
Marcus O’Connor has announced that he is retiring on the 1st of March.
He’s been working with North Tipp County Council since the year 2000 and as Director of services since 2008.
Cllrs at today’s monthly meeting were full of warm praise for his honesty and hard work.
CEO Joe MacGrath says there is no part of Tipperary has hasn’t benefitted from Marcus’s work:
”Marcus has been an extraordinary public servant in this county for many, many years.
He started in Tipperary, what was then the North Tipperary County Council, back in 2000,
and became a Senior Engineer in 2001, before being promoted to the role of Director of Services in 2008. And of course, when the county emerged in 2014, Marcus took on the much broader role of roads and infrastructure in the county generally.
”So he had a very, very big brief. He has given outstanding service to the county over those years. And as I said at the meeting, his work and evidence of work is to be seen in every part of the county, because he has been very much involved with roles at projects and infrastructure projects. And indeed, he carried many other responsibilities prior to that as well.
”Marcus was very strong in his commitment to the county and in the work that he undertook, very loyal to the organization and to his colleagues and to the council. And look, he always believed if he believed something was the right way to do it, he followed that through.
”And, you know, I’m very, very grateful for the fact that I’ve had the opportunity to work with him for so many years. As I mentioned at the meeting, I first came across Marcus when we both worked in Limerick County Council. And I won’t say what year that was, but I’m very, very fortunate to have the opportunity to work with him. And indeed,
the extraordinary professionalism that he brings to the job, but also the very, very significant support that he gives to myself, to his colleagues and to his staff, and to the council generally.
”Marcus will be missed. He has been an extraordinary public servant to the county.
And I wish him and his family a very happy, long and healthy retirement because he certainly reaps the reward of many, many years of very hard work.”
