Omagh councillor retires after 22 years

ONE of the district’s longest-serving public representatives gave his retirement speech to Fermanagh and Omagh District Council when they met in Enniskillen Town Hall on Tuesday evening.

Bert Wilson, 82, (pictured) has served as a UUP councillor for 22 years, first being elected to Omagh District Council, before later being democratically allocated a seat in its succeeding body, Fermanagh and Omagh District Council.

Addressing his fellow councillors on Tuesday night, Cllr Wilson said his retirement was ‘largely-motivated’ by a desire to spend more time with his family after a long career that largely deprived him of this opportunity.

“I was elected to council as a unionist and this something I have always been proud of. But, as well as believing in unionism, I also believe in fairness and equality.

“I was first elected to represent Mid Tyrone, a very rural electoral area, and I am the only ever unionist there to top the polls. I have to thank the people of that area for putting their faith in me over the years, and I always did my best for them, regardless of class or creed,” said Cllr Wilson.

“My age brought difficulties over the years,” said Cllr Wilson, who described himself as ‘IT illiterate’.

“When I went to school in 1940 we did not have emails or IT.”

Cllr Wilson, humorously, but genuinely, thanked everybody within the council who helped him in respect of his tech trouble, before thanking his party colleagues, and all the councillors who he served along with down through the years.

As well as being a councillor, Mr Wilson also reminded the chamber that he was a member of the security forces, a bus driver, and, maybe most definingly, a farmer.

Many of the councillors who said a public goodbye to Cllr Wilson, including independant, Josephine Deehan, former council chairperson, Cllr Erroll Thompson and independant, Emmett McAleer, spoke about his unwavering support for local farmers.

Cllr Wilson concluded, “I did enjoy my time in council, and though we did not always agree, we always worked out something that was to the benefit of our constituents.”