The Mayoral Inauguration Ceremony 2009

Filmed on 19 May 2009

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Mayoral Inauguration Ceremony

At 7pm on Tuesday 19 May 2009, Councillor John B Sullivan JP, GNSM, LTCL was installed as the new Civic Mayor of Tameside for the 2009/2010 Municipal Year.

Councillor Susan Quinn was elected to the position of Deputy Mayor.

The Mayoral Inauguration Ceremony took place during the Annual Meeting of the Council, held in the Council Chamber at the Town Hall, Ashton-under-Lyne.

Procedural Notes are available for this ceremony.

Text version

Mayor's Attendant

Members of the Council, Distinguished honoured guests, ladies and gentlemen, can I have you all standing for the Civic Mayor, Mr Jack Davis.

Civic Mayor Jack Davis

Thank You,

ok, I think I'm right this time, sit down,

No, I'm not to be honest,

ok, we're actually on Agenda item 13, following on from the meeting previous.

Can I call on Councillor Joe Kitchen.

Councillor Joe Kitchen

Thank you chair,

I move that Councillor John Sullivan be and is hereby elected as Civic Mayor of the Metropolitan Borough of Tameside for the ensuing municipal year.

I apologise if I sound a bit hoarse but I'm starting with a cold, hopefully it's not that dreaded flu that's going around. It is the result of a recent operation, so you are safe I can assure you.

I'm delighted to be proposing John as Mayor tonight, it's a great night for Hyde, as it's been 22 years since we had a Hyde Mayor. And in fact the last Hyde Mayor we had of Tameside was Alderman Joe Fitzpatrick, who's sat at the back there, and it's nice to see Joe back in the Council Chamber.

I'm also delighted because I believe it's a role that will suit him down to the ground, not for the pomp and ceremony and the trappings of Mayoralty. But because back in 2004/2005 when he was deputy Mayor, it gave him first hand insight into the fantastic achievements of the volunteers and many other unsung Tameside heroes, who work tirelessly year after year in the pursuit of helping others and as Mayor he'll be largely occupied in the business of giving Civic recognition to them. I know for John and for Francoise too that will probably be the best part of the job.

So who is John Sullivan, well I can tell you, besides being a colleague, he is a good friend. I've known him since 1994, in fact he was my very first customer at my first advice surgery in Hyde Town Hall when I was first elected to the council. We obviously weren't friends at the beginning, but over the next few years we worked together both politically and as School Governors and eventually in the year 2000, I'm glad to say John joined us on the council.

He's a man who is extremely proud to be a Tameside Councillor, he is also a man with lots of interests besides his own passion for helping to ensure that local people live the best lives possible. One of those other interests in family history, and you could say there's a certain irony in John being made Mayor tonight, when you look back at his family roots, he's traced his male line back to the potato famine in Ireland, which caused his great great grandparents to move from Waterford to Manchester in 1853. Straight into the hardship and deprivation that was 19th Century Hulme's Little Ireland.

His grand dad John L Sullivan, not the boxer, was a great fighter for working class roots and was heavily involved in the battle of Bexley Square in Salford, spending time in the cells for helping a mounted policeman to dismount, though rather against his wishes. Of course the events of that terrible day in 1932 were made famous in Walter Greenwoods "Love on the Dole".

You could say that politics is in the family blood, it must be, his son, Ben, who's in the audience tonight is off later this year to read politics at Lancaster University, and I'm sure we all wish him well there.

On John's Mum's side as well as having one family member noted in the 1881 census as being gentleman of independent means, one great great uncle, Samuel Ryder, moved from the rural setting of Great Woodsworth in Cheshire, into Ancoats and became on of Manchester's first police constables in the mid 19th Century.

There's no need to explain about John's passion for music, with him being a classically trained musician, that's known far and wide, and local people have benefitted, and continue to do so because of his efforts to bring affordable top quality music to their doorsteps.

He'll tell you that his greatest achievement alongside having his son Ben, was to marry Francoise, who I know will do a great job as Mayoress. And proud she was too of course, originally she came from France where they have elected Mayors, but I know she values the traditional British system of Civic Mayoralty far more than the European model, she knows from experience that we've got it right.

John's interests go on and on, he writes music, observes stars and planets through his telescope, he's made rocking horses, carved leather bags and belts, he's made jewellery, he takes ultra close up photos of bugs and insects, he builds computers etcetera. But I don't think he'll have much time for that sort of thing this year, but there is one past time I think he hopes to use to highlight Tameside it's memorial year. Since 1977 in true Tony Hancock style, he's been a licensed radio amateur or radio ham as some call him. I know as a member of the Radio Society of Great Britain, he's hopeful he can get a special call sign license from Ofcom at some point in the year so that Worldwide broadcasts can be made by himself and other local amateurs calling attention to Tameside.

You may notice later on that there are enough magistrates and legal advisors to constitute an entire court here tonight, and that's because the other part of John's community life is occupied along with his colleagues in dispensing local justice, again helping to keep Tameside a safer place today. It's a great shame that John's Mum isn't well enough to be here tonight, she would have been extremely proud as she was in 2004 to see her son and daughter in law given this privilege, as would John's Dad who sadly died in 2003.

I know his brother, Michael, would have loved to be here, but he's engaged in defence of the realm in the Royal Air Force, and he couldn't be spared for this occasion. John and Francoise are happy through that in addition to their Son Ben, there are a large number of special friends and colleagues here tonight, all of whom represent a significant and important part of their lives. I think we've made an excellent choice in having John and Francoise as Civic Mayor and Mayoress of Tameside, I'm sure they'll do a splendid job and I'm sure they'll do us all proud. Thank you.

Civic Mayor Jack Davis

Can I call on Councillor Jim Fitzpatrick to second the motion.

Councillor Jim Fitzpatrick

Thank you Mr Mayor. It gives me great pleasure in seconding this motion. 

Before I do, I'd just like to say a few words about John. Joe has spoke about John and his family, but what he hasn't said, was that although John was born in Salford and was educated in Oldham, he had the good sense to move to Godley in 1987, and he's never looked back since. He was elected to the council, like Joe said, in 2000 and straight away became Chair of Hyde District Assembly, a job that he still does today, and he does it well.

We're very proud to have John as the Chair of our DA, and he manages that District Assembly wonderfully, he is a very good Chair of Hyde District Assembly and he's well regarded in Hyde for the work that he does in Hyde. Especially bringing music to Hyde the way that he has done, with his dinner time sessions where people come and listen to classical music in Hyde. It is the cultural centre of Tameside, we all accept that, and John heads that up very well.

We work as a team in Hyde, myself and Joe are fully behind John on this, and we will work and make sure that nobody misses out in Hyde while John's being the Mayor. John will be putting 100% in the Mayoralty, and it's for Tameside, and we accept that sometimes he may not be able to do his surgeries, and we will cover everything that John is not able to do while he's being the Mayor, and nobody will miss out on that. It's a great pleasure to support him in that.

As Joe said, John's got a great interest in history, so I've looked up what events happened on this day in history. And with the French connection, Napoleon Bonaparte in 1802 made the French Enair, it's a Civic or Military assignment given to people of great honour. We today are honouring John, the best way that we can in Tameside, making him Mayor of Tameside. It's also Saint Dunstan's Day, Saint Dunstan is one of the patron Saints of music, which is quite apt for John I think, I know it's Saint Ceclia that's the patron Saint of music as John as pointed out to me, but I'm assured Saint Dunstan is also a patron Saint of musicians.

So it gives me great pleasure in seconding the fact that Cllr John Sullivan should be Mayor of Tameside.

Civic Mayor Jack Davis

Ok, the motion's been put, all those in favour.

Motion carried.

Ok, can I ask the proposer and the seconder to leave the chamber.

Councillor John Sullivan

I John Bernard Sullivan, having been elected to the office of Civic Mayor of the Tameside Metropolitan Borough, hereby declare that I take the said office upon myself and will duly and faithfully fulfil the duties thereof, according to the best of my judgement and ability.

On behalf of Francoise and myself, may I first of all begin by thanking the members of this council for bestowing this great honour. We are delighted and immensely proud to stand here as your new Civic Mayor and Mayoress. I think we all realise that Jack and Carol will be a hard act to follow, they've served the borough well, and have been excellent ambassadors for this council. Francoise and I hope to continue and build upon their good work, as members may recall, we were pleased to be Deputy Mayor and Deputy Mayoress of Tameside in 2004/2005, when we worked alongside Councillor Bill Harrison and his wife Pauline. We do therefore appreciate that we have an extremely busy, but exciting time ahead.

We look forward to working with our deputies, Sue and Kieran, I'm sure we'll make a great team, and together we hope to attend as many events as possible, right across Tameside. I'm especially looking forward to meeting community groups and working with volunteers and workers of all ages, I'm also looking forward to visiting local businesses and promoting Tameside.

I thank all members for your words of encouragement and advice, and good wishes, your support means a great deal to me. I hope this support continues throughout the year and particularly with my fundraising. The Mayor's appeal this year will be dedicated to helping many different charities and voluntary organisations here in Tameside and I hope you will all help me in raising money for these causes.

To close I'd like to thank our family and friends for being here this evening and for taking the time to share this special occasion with Francoise, Ben, and myself. It's a very proud moment, and we thank you all.

I now call upon Councillor Michael Smith to propose the formal motion for the appointment of Deputy Mayor.

Councillor Michael Smith

Thank you Mr Mayor. I’d like to formally propose that Councillor Susan Quinn be and is hereby appointed Deputy Mayor of the Metropolitan Borough of Tameside for the ensuing municipal year. 

It really gives me a great deal of pleasure to propose Sue, and a great honour that she asked me to do this for her. Over a number of years we’ve got to know Sue and her family, and Kieran, and myself and Theresa regard both Sue and Kieran as very close friends. When we needed support, Kieran and Sue were always there for us, and we don’t forget that.

I first met Sue when she was actually a ‘postie’, I’d be going to work at 7.30 in the morning and Sue would be tromping the streets of East Manchester with her buggy, rain, hail or shine. I think she likes working for Her Majesty because she was delivering the mail, so I think this new job working for the Queen again, representing the Queen will be a bit more exciting than tromping the streets of East Manchester.

Being a ‘postie’, Sue came into contact with a lot of elastic bands, and even though she doesn’t use them anymore to bundle letters, she’s found a more entertaining use for them, and that’s a private joke for £20 for the Mayor’s charity, there’s the first £20 there.

As you may notice, Sue has a bit of an accent, this is from her previous life in Liverpool. Kieran rescued her from the woolly backs and rehabilitated her into a Manchester United fan and a fully fledged ‘Manc’, so well done Kieran for that.

We are fortunate in Tameside to have many hard working Councillors, but I can honestly say without the shadow of a doubt that she is one of the hardest working Councillors I know. If you go to the Droylsden East Ward everyone knows Sue and they all love and respect her for her hard work and dedication. She organises various events and the time she gives to these activities shows that she really is a community leader in the true sense of the word.

I must add that she’s very modest as well, she’s very shy, she might give you the impression that she’s not, but she doesn’t like to push herself forward but I mean she does a load of work behind the scenes, and people respect that and she just gets on with what she does. This determination is obviously pushing Sue on; she seems to be copping for all the awkward situations for the Council at the moment and she’s coming through it with flying colours so keep the good work up Sue. I know that Kieran and Sue will both enjoy being Deputies and they will be excellent ambassadors for Tameside and will complete this work diligently with care and consideration for people we all serve; the wonderful people of Tameside.

Finally, Sue’s a lovely, honest, hard working person and all her friends wish her well in this coming year and I’m sure that John and Francoise, Sue and Kieran will make an excellent Mayoral team and will promote our home Tameside whilst in Tameside and in our neighbouring boroughs. Thank you.

Civic Mayor Councillor John Sullivan

Thank you Councillor Smith I now call upon Councillor Andrew Doubleday to second the formal motion as moved by Councillor Michael Smith.

Councillor Andrew Doubleday

Thank you Mr Mayor I am delighted to second the formal motion as moved by Councillor Mike Smith. This is a great honour for me tonight to second the proposal for Sue to be elected as Deputy Mayor of Tameside and to represent our Queen. It’s difficult to say anything bad about Sue but hey let’s give it a go anyway.

As you know Sue’s a Scouser I know that’s not really a bad thing is it, but like Mike said she’s been rescued by Kieran and that’s not a bad thing either is it. Sue and Kieran they have two great lads, Matthew and Liam, wonderful boys you might say and I couldn’t agree more; the lads are fantastic, however, now here it comes, those poor boys have been led astray. As you have heard, Kieran rescued Sue from Liverpool and turned her into a Red. Well it didn’t stop there; those poor boys they’ve been punished all their lives in the way that they’ve been encouraged to follow United by their loving and caring parents of theirs.

Now Sue I’m really pleased that you’re going to be busy this year in your role representing Tameside. Not just because I’m proud to know you and Kieran that is. I have also been privileged to work with you in many areas around the borough and around Greater Manchester really. I have also had the opportunity to get to know you and your families and being close to people is good and having strong family values is even better and that’s what you have you have strong family values which is really good. There’s been times when I felt like one of the family especially when I’ve been round to your house having a drink and Sue’s said to me “Do you want a drink Andrew?” “Oh sure I would Sue that’s really nice of you.” “Well get your own then you know where it is”. So me being like I was, I’d just ask one of the lads Matthew or Liam get us a drink lads and being good lads they’d just go and do that which is great.

Like I said I’m really pleased that you’re taking on this role and it gives me the great opportunity now to work on those boys of yours and then turn them to the ‘Blue’ side which I’ll be very proud to do. So I’m going to end now and just to say let the moon always shine blue on Tameside and I look forward to (laugh) and I just want to wish you all the best in the coming year Sue, Kieran, John, Francoise and I hope it all goes well for all of you. Good luck and God bless you all.

Civic Mayor Councillor John Sullivan

Thank you Councillor Doubleday. I now put the motion to the Council that Councillor Susan Quinn be and is hereby appointed Deputy Mayor for the ensuing municipal year. Can I have a show of hands please all those in favour. The motion is carried thank you.

Councillor Susan Quinn

I Susan Quinn, having been elected to the office of Deputy Mayor of the Tameside Metropolitan Council, hereby declare that I take the said office upon myself and will duly and faithfully fulfil the duties thereof, according to the best of my judgement and ability.

Civic Mayor Councillor John Sullivan

Congratulations Madam Deputy Mayor, would you like to say a few words?

Councillor Susan Quinn

On behalf of Kieran and myself may I thank the members of this council for bestowing this honour upon us, it’s a very proud day for both of us. We promise to carry out our duties to the best of our ability and we look forward to the year ahead. Our sincere thanks go to John and Francoise for picking us to be their Deputies. We’re looking forward to working alongside them. 

We know that John and Francoise will do a fantastic job and we wish them well for a successful and memorable year in office. Thank you all for your good wishes, advice and kind words of encouragement and support; it means a great deal to us. Kieran and I intend to work hard for the borough and for the people of Tameside and we hope you will be proud of what we achieve. We are looking forward to going round and meeting all the community groups, possibly as many as possible but I’d also like to say a special thanks to our family and our friends who could be with us this evening. Thank you.

Civic Mayor Councillor John Sullivan

Thank you Madam Deputy Mayor. It’s now my pleasure to propose a vote of thanks to the retiring Civic Mayor and Mayoress and their Deputies. I’m sure Members will agree that Jack and Carol and Brenda and Graham have worked extremely hard during their year in office. They’ve conducted their duties with great dignity and have been excellent ambassadors for this authority. I’m delighted to move the vote of thanks and to wish them well for the future. I understand Councillor Jackie Lane is going to second this.

Councillor Jackie Lane

Thank you Mr Mayor, am I the first to call you Mr Mayor? I think I am yes. I’d just like to say it is an honour and a privilege to second this vote of thanks to Jack and to Carol, Brenda and to Graham. They’ve been absolutely brilliant, they’ve been great ambassadors, great representatives for Tameside Council and for the people of Tameside, they’ve done really, really well.

All four of you have really supported me in my role as Project Head of Heritage. In fact I think I’ve seen Jack sometimes and Carol more that what I’ve seen Dawson because you know we’ve been in each other’s company a lot and there’s been many rumours flying about and it seems a shame really that they’ve got to stop to be honest with you but just want to say thank you for all your hard work and your support. They’ve really done Tameside very proud, but a special note of thanks go to Carol who’s worked really, really hard and she’s really enjoyed and loved every minute of it. She’s enjoyed the people of Tameside and the people of Tameside have really enjoyed you as well Carol so well done and thank you.

Thanks again for doing hard work for us, have a lovely break because it’s well deserved and just good luck for the future and God bless you all, thank you.

Civic Mayor Councillor John Sullivan

Thank you Councillor Lane. On behalf of the Council it is my pleasure now to present the Retiring Civic Mayor and Mayoress with medallions and a certificate in recognition of their year in office and as a thank you for their hard work and loyal service. I therefore ask Jack and Carol to step forward to receive these gifts.

Civic Mayor Councillor John Sullivan

I’d also like to present a certificate to the Retiring Deputy Mayor and her Consort. Once again this is presented with the Council’s thanks and is in recognition of their hard work for the past twelve months. Brenda and Graham could you please join me?

Civic Mayor Councillor John Sullivan

I now call upon the Retiring Civic Mayor, Councillor Jack Davis, to say a few words.

Councillor Jack Davis

Thank you Mister Mayor. I would like to start by saying a very big thank you to you all for a wonderful year. Carol and I are grateful to the Members of the Council, our family, friends and the people of Tameside for making the past twelve months very special. It’s been an incredible year although it has been hard work I don’t mind admitting but we’ve had a ball. With the help of our Deputies Brenda and Graham we have conducted over four hundred engagements. We have tried to make each one special and memorable in its own way. 

It is therefore difficult to pick out highlights of the year but without a doubt one event that immediately springs to mind is my Mayoral Procession and Civic Service. It was perhaps our first major event of the year and it was held in my own Ward of St. Peter’s. The local community came out in force to show their support and it was a very special day; I’ll remember that always.

Carol and I have been fortunate to visit Montigny-le-Bretonneux, Denton’s twin town in France, twice during the year. The first time in June we joined a delegation from Denton for the town’s carnival parade. It was a marvellous weekend and it was fantastic to see Denton represented in the cavalcade by members of Denton Town Twinning Association and children from St. John’s, Fisher and Dane Bank Primary Schools. I must say those youngsters were particularly wonderful on that weekend and some of the music they produced was terrific.

We were invited back again in December for the annual Christmas Market. Once again, members of Denton Town Twinning Association were much very involved in the event and they even had a stall selling a well known brand of Christmas Puddings and Mince Pies.

In October, Carol and I were delighted to host a reception for the Borough’s Olympic and Paralympics starts. It was both a pleasure and a great honour to meet these young sportsmen and women who had represented their country and the borough of Tameside so well in Beijing.

Over the last few months we have been pleased to visit several local businesses, churches and schools, and it has been wonderful to receive guests here in the Town Hall. It has been especially nice to be able to welcome some of the Borough’s older citizens to the Mayor’s Parlour to visit some of the care homes in order to meet people unable to make the journey into the Town Hall.

As part of our fundraising efforts for the Mayor’s Charity, I staged a Charity Dinner and Dance in October and a Valentine’s Ball in February. Both events were highly successful and have helped to raise just over seven thousand pounds for locally good causes. My sincere thanks go to everybody who supported the Mayor’s Charity during the year; your kindness is greatly appreciated.

There have been so many people that’ve helped and supported Carol and myself during our term of office and to all these people we offer our grateful thanks and we would like to mention just a few. We thank our friends and colleagues on the Council but special thanks must go to the Executive Leader, Chief Executive, Borough Solicitor for their much valued guidance and support. A very big thank you goes to my Chaplain Deacon Roger Hensman and to the Mayoral staff for their hard work and loyal service throughout the year. I just want to add a little bit there. I observed all the other Mayoral teams through the year and there is none better than the Mayoral team we have in Tameside. They are the most professional group and I’d like you to give them a round of applause.

And also of course to our Deputies Brenda and Graham for their friendship and support. They reminded me tonight I owe them a dinner. They worked incredibly hard over the last twelve months and have been wonderful ambassadors for the Council and for the borough.

And last but not least, I offer a huge and heartfelt thank you to my Mayoress, Carol. Despite her disability, Carol has been at my side throughout the year, always smiling, always enthusiastic and always ready to help people feel welcome and at ease. Many times I knew she was in great pain and discomfort but she was determined this would not spoil the event in hand and she would carry on regardless. I am immensely proud of her and all she has achieved and I am grateful for her love and support.

To close it’s been an honour and a privilege to be your Civic Mayor and Mayoress and Carol and I thank you again for this amazing experience and year of fantastic memories. We wish John and Francoise and Sue and Kieran well for the year ahead and we know they will do a wonderful job and we wish them success.

Civic Mayor Councillor John Sullivan

Thank you Councillor Davis. I now invite our Retiring Deputy Mayor, Councillor Brenda Warrington, to say a few words.

Councillor Brenda Warrington

Well thank you Mister Mayor. It really just seems only like yesterday you know that we were in this chamber actually accepting the Deputy Mayoral chain of office and I really don’t know where the last twelve months have disappeared to; it has gone so, so quickly. But on behalf of Graham and myself can I thank every one of you for allowing us to experience such a wonderful year. It’s been an honour and it’s been a privilege to have been Deputy Mayor and Consort and we sincerely hope that we’ve repaid your trust in us and have represented the Borough as well as you would have expected of us. 

People have asked on a number of occasions what has been your favourite engagement, what has been your highlight of the year as Deputies? And quite frankly it’s just been an impossible question to answer; it’s all been so special. Graham and I have met many wonderful people over the year, from the very young to the very old and those in-between, across a range of religions and diversities and embracing a phenomenal array of talents, cultural, artistic, sporting and academic, and we shared many a happy exchange of pleasantries and also some very serious discussion on occasion. We’ve made lots of new friends and we have many, many, many happy memories to treasure and we will always look back on this year with great fondness; it’s been tremendous.

Our special thanks must go to Jack and Carol for affording us the opportunity to share in their special year in office and particularly Jack and Carol for your friendship and your support throughout the year and yes Jack you do owe us a dinner, I haven’t forgotten. I can say without fear of contradiction I know that Jack and Carol have worked very hard over the year on behalf of Tameside and I do know that they have enjoyed a very successful year and I think we owe them a debt of gratitude for continuing to ensure that Tameside is foremost in people’s minds, and like Jack we want to thank the Mayoral team.

I mean in no particular order as they say on the game shows there’s Joanne, there’s David, there’s Peter and Neil and they have taken care of us for the whole year; they’ve ensured that we do our job to the standard expected within Tameside. Their dedication, their professionalism is second to none; we really do have the best team not just in AGMA and not just in the north-west but frankly within the whole of the United Kingdom in my view. And that’s exactly what you’d expect of the best Borough in the north-west. That team has never let us down and I do thank you for that. I’d like to thank Graham. Graham’s support throughout this last year has been tremendous. He’s been there to make dinner when I haven’t and you know he’s just always been there for me. I’ve been proud Graham to have you as Consort.

And finally I’d like to thank Jack again and Carol again for inviting us to take this position and what I’d like to do is wish our new Mayoral team, John and Francoise and Sue and Kieran the very, very best for the year ahead. I know that they’ll have a wonderful year. If our experience is anything to go by you’ll have a great time and I know that the four of you will do a great job between you so just one piece of advice from us and that is simply to enjoy every single minute of it just as we have. Thank you very much.

Civic Mayor Councillor John Sullivan

Thank you Councillor Warrington. That brings us to the end of the meeting. Before we proceed next door into the Civic Hall for a buffet reception, I would like to ask my Chaplain, Father Dennis Marr, to close the meeting with prayers.

Father Dennis Marr

Tonight we thank you God for our new Mayor and Mayoress. We ask you Lord to give them every blessing, every grace, every help, every support that they will need during this coming year. They will need a lot of energy and strength Lord, so we ask you to give them that. May it be a wonderful year for them. I’m conscious of the fact Lord that our new Mayor will be called upon to make many speeches. We pray Lord that all his speeches may be like a lady's skirt, sufficiently long to cover the essentials and short enough to be still interesting.

Mayor's Attendant

Members of the Council, Distinguished honoured guests, ladies and gentlemen, please may I have you all standing for the Civic Mayor, and Mayoress, Deputy Mayor and Deputy Mayor's consort, the Acting Chief Executive and the Mayor's Chaplain. as they exit the council chamber. Thank you.