Minutes:
The Mayor reported to the meeting the sad news of the death of Councillor George Meehan who passed away on Thursday 16 July 2015, following a short illness.
The Mayor also reported the death of former Councillor Pat Tonge who passed away at the weekend. The Mayor commented that former Councillor Tonge served on the Council from 1982 to 1986 as elected Member for Coleraine Ward, and from 1987 to 1994 as elected member for Green Lanes Ward.
The Mayor asked Councillor Rice, to say a few words in his memory.
Councillor Rice, in thanking the Mayor for the opportunity to speak, informed the meeting that Pat Tonge served as a Councillor for Coleraine Ward from 1982 -1986. In 1986 he had the dubious distinction of being the first Labour member to be defeated by a Liberal in a public election. He was replaced by Councillor Alex L’Estrange, the old-school type Liberal. He wasn’t away from the Council for very long, as he won a by-election for the Green Lanes Ward in 1987 and served until 1994. Unfortunately, around 1993/4 he had a stroke and lost the use of his voice, which is a dreadful thing to happen to any politician. However his speech was lovingly restored by the nurses, doctors and therapists at the North Mid hospital, for which he was eternally grateful.
Councillor Rice advised the Pat had chaired the Contracts and Construction Committee, and he also chaired the Labour Group. Councillor Rice recalled that he was a kind, jovial man, always with a chuckle and a laugh. He worked for British Rail and during the latter part of his life he suffered from a whole number of ailments, which he took in extremely good cheer. Councillor Rice also informed the meeting that Pat was predeceased by his wife Margaret, but his daughter survived him, and she lived in the United States. Councillor Rice concluded that Pat Tonge had both a common sense approach to politics, a kindness and joviality to his colleagues and the community at large for which his colleagues would be eternally grateful.
The Mayor thanked Councillor Rice for his tribute and then said a few words in memory of Councillor Meehan.
The Mayor remarked that many of those present would have worked with Councillor Meehan, who served the people of Haringey for more than 40 years.
The Mayor advised that Councillor Meehan was first elected as a Labour Party ward councillor in 1971, serving Green Lanes Ward from 1971 to 82, then for Tottenham Central Ward from 1982 to 1986. He was re-elected as a councillor in 1990, and served Coleraine Ward from 1990 -98, and then Woodside Ward from1998 till his death. He had lived in Haringey with his wife Mary since moving to London from County Donegal, Ireland in 1963. He served three separate periods as Leader of the Council, from 1983 to 1985; 1999 to 2004 and from 2006 until 2008. Councillor Meehan was also Deputy Leader of the Council in 1978-79 and 1996-99, and served as a school governor in a number of local schools.
The Mayor said that, as those who had worked with him would be well aware, Councillor Meehan believed passionately in delivering quality public services and in involving local people in the decisions that affect their everyday lives.
He was also a strong advocate of the power of education in helping young people to fulfil their potential. It was this commitment to education that saw the state-of-the-art new community school Heartlands High open during Councillor Meehan’s leadership, alongside countless improvements to the borough’s existing secondary schools thanks to his determination to bring significant Building Schools for the Future funding to Haringey.
The Mayor added that, on a personal note, she would always remember how George supported the three new Councillors when they were standing in Hornsey ward with his good advice and support. She was grateful for all of his advice received during that period.
The Mayor then asked Councillor Kober to speak.
Councillor Kober thanked the Mayor, and stated that few people had devoted as much of their life to improving a place as George Meehan. All those present would have their own memories of George, their own stories, and it was a mark of his stature that he touched so many lives. She said that it was only since he had been ill that she had realised just how often she used George to sense-check things, to get his take on how she should deal with something or to understand the background to an issue. Councillor Kober said that it is often said that you have very few friends in politics but she knew that George would always give her an honest appraisal of a situation and he’d tell her when she’d got something wrong as well as when she had it right.
Councillor Kober said that there’s little in politics that George didn’t see. As a councillor for 40 years he made an unparalleled contribution to the borough. It wasn’t just about the roles he undertook - though it was clear from what the Mayor had said that in his time he did just about every leading position in the Council - it was that he was a man who lived and breathed the borough, the Council and the Labour Party. George was not only about Wood Green, he previously, as the Mayor had said, served as a Tottenham councillor. He cared about the borough as a whole: Hornsey, Tottenham, Stroud Green, Wood Green, Highgate, Muswell Hill, for him it really was one borough. Councillor Kober said that she knew that she was not the only one present feeling a deep sense of sadness and loss. George did his politics like he lived his life, with a high level of personal integrity, a respect for everybody, including his political opponents, and a lifelong commitment to social justice. Above all, George understood where he came from and who he was here to serve.
Councillor Kober recalled that it was only a few months ago that she had last canvassed with George; they were in Woodside ward one cold, February morning. He’d come straight from his surgery at the Civic as he often did on a Saturday. The thing that struck her that morning was the same thing that struck her every time she walked the streets of Wood Green with George – he knew, not only by sight, but by name, so many of the people they encountered on the streets and on the doorsteps. And he didn’t just know their names, he knew where they lived, he knew their families and he knew their stories. He often knew them through his casework or he’d know them through the church or he’d know them through the Irish Centre, or he’d simply know them because he walked every day from Eldon Road to the Council and back more than once. There are few politicians who have that breadth or depth of relationship with the community they serve.
Councillor Kober stated that George was a politician’s politician – he was wise, tactical and deeply pragmatic. She said that she lost count of the number of times he reminded her that politics is the art of the possible, but he also had wider ambition for Haringey and for its communities. He was the best kind of local politician, totally committed to the borough, principled and caring but prepared to do the difficult thing even at considerable personal cost. She said that she would miss his encyclopaedic knowledge of all things Haringey, his ability to dig out of a committee paper something that happened 16 years ago - often much to someone’s annoyance - a fantastic skill, his unwavering commitment to education and to decent housing in this borough, and just his presence.
But for all his politics, Councillor Kober said that those who spent time with him in the Council were left with absolutely no doubt that George was first and foremost a family man and that’s why everyone should have Mary, Michael, Martin, Debbie, Olivia and Gabriel in their thoughts at this time.
The Mayor thanked Councillor Kober and asked Councillor Engert to speak.
Councillor Engert thanked the Mayor for allowing her to speak on behalf of the Liberal Democrat Group of councillors. She advised that she understood that there would be other opportunities to speak about George, so she would keep her speech at this time brief. Councillor Engert said that she thought everyone could agree that George Meehan’s death was a loss to this Council and to the borough. George was a very dedicated councillor for 40 years, he served his local community in Woodside with aplomb and he was an able leader of the Council. He was always very clear and strong in his convictions and in his dedication to his party.
Councillor Engert said that she would remember him as a principled man, who was never afraid to speak his mind. Whilst he was often a tiger in the council chamber, he was always very courteous outside it. Everyone’s thoughts were with his family and friends at this difficult time, particularly his wife Mary and his sons Martin and Michael.
The Mayor thanked Councillor Engert, and asked Councillor Waters to speak.
Councillor Waters thanked the Mayor, and stated that she didn’t want to say very much, just how much everyone would miss George, and how wonderful he was, as everybody had said. As a fellow ward councillor, she said that she didn’t know him until she stood for election with him in 2010 and that she was very scared when she started. But she said that everybody knew George, George knew everything, and he was always totally supportive, very kind, very helpful, always.
Councillor Waters said that her memory would be of him, Pat Egan and her walking the streets of Woodside and, as Councillor Kober had said, George knowing everybody, and telling them as they went up the front path “No, don’t go there, they’ve had some problem, go next door, they’re really good, they’ll be your vote” and you just knew he knew everything about the ward. He would be very much missed.
Having seen him decline over the last few weeks, Councillor Waters said that she was perhaps not as surprised as everybody else when he died, because she had seen him the week before and he had looked not the George everyone remembered. She said that it was much nicer to remember the George who stood in the Chamber and shouted at the Lib Dems than to remember anything else. She looked forward to the time when everyone could pay tribute to George and thanked the Mayor for the opportunity to speak now.
The Mayor thanked Councillor Waters.
The Mayor asked and the Council stood for a 1 minute silence in memory of Councillor George Meehan, and former Councillor Pat Tonge.
At the conclusion of this the Mayor closed the meeting.