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Sharon Sullivan
made new Lord Mayor on Birthday!
LIVERPOOL'S new Lord Mayor was sworn in on
Wednesday, 23 May 2012, the same day as her 55th Birthday!
Councillor Sullivan priorities during her year as Lord Mayor, no to
be confused with the new Mayor, will be to act as the City's Civic
Face and to make sure the role of dockworkers and merchant seamen
and women in Liverpool are better recognised. As part of that, she
has chosen Merchant Navy, Dock Workers and the Sea Cadets as 3 of
her 4 charities.
The incoming Lord Mayor said in a press statment that:- "All
the men in my family, including my father, worked on the docks and
travelled out to sea and I think there needs to be more
acknowledgement of the huge contribution dockworkers and merchant
seamen and women have made to our city. That's something I'm very
keen to focus on during my time as Lord Mayor."
Along with her sister Sheila and her brother Peter, Councillor
Sullivan wants to help people in the city who dedicate their lives
to looking after parents and other family members. So during her
year in office, she has picked as her 4th charity Carers, as she is
personly acutely aware of the important role of people who give up
their time to look after others.
She will be aided during her year as Lord Mayor by her 17 year old
son, Harry, as her husband, Jack, sadly passed away 2 years ago. She
said:- "I know Jack would have been very proud of me. I also
know that I couldn't have achieved what I have achieved in life
without him."
Harry is a pupil at Holy Family Catholic High School in Crosby
studying biology, chemistry and physics.
Councillor Sullivan, who has lived in the Scotland Road area of the
Liverpool all of her life, said:- "I'm very humbled and
honoured to have been chosen to be Lord Mayor. It's the one of the
highest honours that can be bestowed on anybody who lives in and
loves this city. Ultimately, as Liverpool's First Citizen I am the
servant of the residents and that will be at the heart of everything
I do as Lord Mayor."
In her spare time Councillor Sullivan enjoys reading and has a love
of 50's music, particularly the greats such as Frank Sinatra and
Ella Fitzgerald. She is also a keen and talented vocalist and in
2008 sang on stage at the Philharmonic Hall with the Royal Liverpool
Philharmonic Orchestra at a special concert to honour the city's
best pub singers. Councillor Sullivan also scooped the
'Councillor Idol' award in 2009 for her rendition of Cole
Porter's 'Every Time We Say Goodbye' in aid of the
Lord Mayor's Charity Appeal.
Councillor Sullivan was handed the chains of office by the outgoing
Lord Mayor, Councillor Frank Prendergast.
The new Deputy Lord Mayor is now Councillor Gary Millar.
The ceremony formed part of the council's Annual General Meeting,
and was particularly historic, as it is now the first ever time
councillors have met since the newly-elected Mayor of Liverpool, Joe
Anderson, took office. Who has
signed a specially
commissioned scroll accepting his new position, which is entirely
separate to that of the Lord Mayor, and involves leading the council
and overseeing the £130 million City Deal. |
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Crimestoppers
offer up to £2k reward for information on the theft of plaque for
boys killed in IRA bomb attack
A reward of up to £2,000 is
being offered by crime-fighting charity Crimestoppers for
information on thieves who stole a metal plaque erected in the
memory of 2 young boys killed in an IRA bomb attack in Warrington.
The victims; 12 year old Tim Parry and three year old Johnathan
Ball, died in 1993 after 2 bombs were detonated in the town centre
in a blast that also injured 54 others. The 2 bombs exploded within
a minute of each other on 20 March 1993. The plaque is
believed to have been stolen between 20 April and 5 May 2012. The
scrap metal value of the stolen plaque, which forms part of the
River of Life memorial on Bridge Street in Warrington, is thought to
be worth around £30. The plaque replicates a passage from the
bible featuring a large rock in which water flows down a channel
into a dome. Along the channel are words to commemorate the bombing
and the boys who lost their lives.
Lord Ashcroft, KCMG, Founder and Chair of Crimestoppers said:-
"It is a sad reality that some individuals pay such little
respect to the memory of those young boys whose lives were so
tragically taken. It is disgraceful that something as sentimental as
this plaque would be stolen for such small monetary gain when the
illegal removal of it has such painful effects on the loved ones of
the victims. It has stripped the family and friends of these boys
from the peace the plaque represented and deeply upset the community
in which it was taken from. I urge anyone with information on the
identity of the person(s) responsible or the whereabouts of the
plaque to act immediately by contacting Crimestoppers anonymously
on:- 0800 555 111 or by visiting our
website."
Crimestoppers Regional Manager for the North West, Gary Murray,
said:- "We want to encourage the public to fight back against
metal thieves who heartlessly remove memorials of the deceased and
create severe disruption for local communities and cost millions to
the UK economy. Those who care can help us by giving any information
they have about the theft of this plaque or about anyone stealing
metal, anonymously to Crimestoppers."
Speaking at Prime Minister's Questions, the Warrington Conservative
MP said:- "The government has already legislated to prevent
the sale of scrap metal for cash. Would the prime minister consider
further legislation that the theft of memorials such as this is an
aggravating factor?"
Mr Cameron was sympathetic, but he made no commitment on changing
the law saying:- "Everyone remembers the Warrington bomb and
the people that died in that bomb. He is right to say that we have
already legislated and we have made this an offence. We're also
doing everything we can to sort out the problems of the scrap metal
trade. I'll look at his suggestion of an aggravated offence, but
clearly any court in this sort of circumstance is able to hand out
exemplary sentences because of the fact that public justice is
important and the public is absolutely appalled by what has
happened."
The reward of up to £2,000 is on offer for information provided to
Crimestoppers through our anonymous number:- 0800 555 111 that leads
to an arrest and conviction of the individual/s responsible for this
specific crime. |
