Councillor Noel Delaney is new Mayor of West Lancashire



Councillor Noel Delaney has taken over the chains of office as Mayor of West Lancashire and is looking forward to his new role.



During his year as Mayor he will perform many important duties including representing the Borough at civic events and raising money for Twinkle House in Skelmersdale and the scouts and guides groups at St Anne's RC Church, Ormskirk. The Mayoress will be Mrs Ann Stubbert and Councillor Delaney's Chaplain while he is Mayor will be Father Godric Timney from St. Anne’s RC Church.



Councillor Delaney has served a long apprenticeship before starting the top civic role, as he has held a number of titles since 2015.



First he was Deputy Mayor's consort, then Mayor's Consort and for the last 12 months he has been Deputy Mayor, prior to being appointed as Mayor on 16 May.



Councillor Delaney said: "Having left school without any formal qualifications I feel very proud and humble to be Mayor of West Lancashire. I want to promote West Lancashire as it is a great place to live and work.



"I hadn't planned to be Mayor when I started being Deputy Mayor's Consort, but when I was nominated to be Deputy Mayor I felt I had covered a lot of duties and I 'knew the ropes', so now I am really looking forward to being Mayor.



"There have already been a lot of highlights for me in civic roles and I even got to meet Prince Harry when he came to 'Cast North West' in Newburgh. I have met a lot of great people from voluntary organisations and I am looking forward to meeting more."



The second youngest of five brothers, Councillor Delaney moved to West Lancashire from Dublin in Ireland with his parents when he was 11. After going to a Catholic school in Burscough he was one of the first cohort of pupils at St Bede's High School, Ormskirk when it first opened.



After leaving school his first job was working at 'Southport Cakes' in Burscough and from there he joined another firm called 'Superwoods', which among other things made crates for beer bottles.

He played a role in helping to build Skelmersdale new town, working for the North West Gas Board as a service layer for 15 years.



Then it was back to St Bede's RC High School 1978 for a six-year stint as caretaker before he got a job working as a porter at Lancashire County Council's education buildings in Ormskirk.



While many people look to put their feet up when they retire Councillor Delaney wanted to serve the community by becoming a Councillor, representing Scott Ward since 2010. During his time with the Council he has served as Chairman of the Licensing and Gambling Committee and Vice-Chairman of the Licensing and Appeals Committee.



In his spare time Councillor Delaney is a keen horse racing fan and actually part owns two racehorses, one called Mulligatawny and another called Elusive Heights.



The new Deputy Mayor is Councillor Gaynar Owen from Up Holland Ward, who has been on the Council since 2012 and is currently Chairman of the Licensing and Appeals Committee and Vice-Chairman of the Licensing and Gambling Committee.