Laois County Council have confirmed the appointment of an interim CEO following the departure of John Mulholland.
Back in February, Mr Mulholland signalled that he would be retiring in June and attended his final meeting last month.
The current Laois County Council met for the final day today where his temporary successor was confirmed.
Mr Simon Walton will steer the ship while the search for a permanent successor is carried out.
Walton is currently the Director of Services for Roads, Transportation, Environment, Water Services and Emergency Services.
A native of Kilkenny, Walton, who is an engineer by profession, previously worked for Kilkenny County Council.
He arrived in Laois in September 2019 where he succeeded Kieran Kehoe.
In the five years since, Walton has shown himself to be hard-working, proactive and approachable.
The process to permanently replace Mr Mulholland is underway but if the last changeover is anything to go by, it may take some time.
Current Director of Finance Gerry Murphy spent almost a year as interim CEO before John Mulholland was appointed to the role in 2015.
Speaking to LaoisToday, Mr Walton said he is unlikely to look to fill the role permanently.
He confirmed the job has been advertised and while he says it is hard to say when it will be filled, he thinks sometime around September.
He also spoke about what the role will entail.
He said: “There is added responsibility across the organisation now but there is significant momentum behind us.
“There are a lot of positive things going on throughout the county across all of the service areas.
“So really my role as the interim chief is to try and maintain the momentum that has been gained.
“I know there are issues to be addressed and we will seek to address these as the Councillors raise them.
“But overall, there is a lot of progress being made and the challenge for the local authority is to maintain that which is what I and all of the team will be hoping to do.”
This is the final meeting of this Laois County Council ahead of the Local Election on June 7.
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