Mayor of the City holds inaugural dinner

Guests included the Lord Lieutenant Mrs Joan Christie OBE; Lord Bannside and Baroness Paisley; Dame Mary Peters DBE and Dr Janet Gray MBE; Minister Edwin Poots who accompanied his father, Freeman of the City of Lisburn, Mr Charlie Poots; Seamus Close OBE and Ivan Davis, Freeman and Mr Nigel Dodds MLA who was accompanied by his wife, Diane Dodds MEP. The Rt Hon Jeffrey Donaldson also attended.

The Mayor’s Charity, the Diabetes Unit at the Lagan Valley Hospital; community representatives, special guest, Mrs Una Crudden and her husband, Felix; family and friends along with elected members also enjoyed the civic evening.

The Guest Speaker was Mrs Diane Dodds, who spoke about the role of women in society and she paid a warm tribute to the Mayor.

The Mayor addressed the guests and praised the work of the former Mayor, Alderman William Leathem and his wife, Kathleen, who raised over £100,000 for his Mayoral Charity during his term of office.

Mrs Tolerton also referred to the significant work carried out by women at many charities, community groups and churches and stated the importance of their role. Councillor Tolerton is the first female DUP Mayor of Lisburn City Council and she is the fourth female Mayor to hold the office of Mayor. She has embraced the many contributions to everyday life from women during her Mayoral term and she supports women’s groups and the work of women in the City area.

The Mayor said: “This was a very special evening for me. It was a pleasure to welcome so many of my acquaintances to Lisburn. I was particularly delighted that Lord Bannside and Baroness Paisley were able to attend my inaugural civic dinner.