Ireland is to get its first woman county manager following a decision by the Local Appointments Commission. Ms Ann McGuinness, a principal officer in the Department of the Environment, has been awarded the post in Co Westmeath.
Ms McGuinness, who is married with two grown-up children, will join the ranks of the City and County Managers' Association, until now a 35-strong, all-male body which represents the executive power of local authorities.
Asked how it felt to be the first woman to breach this citadel, she said it gave her a "nice feeling" though she did not believe her gender was that important. "I'm really looking forward to it," Ms McGuinness said, adding that she expected to take up the post shortly.
Ms McGuinness succeeds Mr Jack Taffe, who retired recently after serving for many years as Westmeath county manager. Under the new contract for senior public officials, her term of office is limited to seven years with the option to reapply. She said her colleagues were "very pleased" about the news, which follows the appointment last week of the first female Garda chief superintendent.
The highest-ranking female local government official until now is Ms Theresa White, assistant county manager in Cork. Ms McGuinness, whose husband, Neil, is IBEC's health and safety officer, said she had come to the conclusion that local government was "the way to get things done", though she believed that her 17 years in the Department would give her a useful perspective. A Dubliner, she was educated at the Dominican College, Muckross Park, and later at UCD, where she graduated with an honours BA degree in English and history, as well as a Higher Diploma in Education.
Ms McGuinness joined the Department of the Environment in 1981 and has worked in various sections, including roads, personnel, local finance, international environmental matters and finally principal officer in charge of housing construction.
She is not the first Department official to "jump ship" by taking a top post in local government. Mr Paddy Donnelly, the Kilkenny county manager, and Mr Noel Dillon, former Cork county manager, both previously worked in the Department.
