The Avondhu

Cllr Deirdre O’Brien elected Deputy Mayor for Cork County

As Councillor Danny Collins, an Independent councillor for the West Cork Electoral Area was elected Mayor of the County of Cork last week, Ballindangan’s own Cllr Deirdre O’Brien was appointed to the role of deputy mayor.

Cllr O’Brien, a member of Fianna Fáil, said in her speech to council members last Friday that she was “truly honoured to represent Cork County Council, for the year ahead.”

Congratulating Cllr O’Brien, several fellow councillors and management of Cork County Council referenced her family’s political history, with her father Ned O’Keeffe having served as a senator and a TD, also holding the role of Minister of State for Food for five years until 2001.

Ms O’Brien first entered Cork County Council after she was co-opted into the role following the election of her brother Kevin O’Keeffe to the Dáil in 2016, but said her exposure to politics began even younger than that.

“I do recall when I was first introduced to politics. It came about in my younger days, when on my school holidays my father Ned, newly appointed Senator, would summon me, as you can imagine, to bang out his letters with two fingers on this small manual typewriter. God bless for Tipp-Ex! That experience always stuck with me.”

“In my family, politics has been in existence in our lives for just over 40 years this year. I would now like to take this opportunity to thank my sons Conor and Cian, father Ned, sister Lorraine, brothers Kevin, Pat, Ciaran and their families for the support and the encouragement they have continued to give to me.”

MAYOR COLLINS - POLL TOPPER IN BANTRY

Cllr Danny Collins, the new county mayor for the year, topped the poll in the Bantry Electoral Area in the 2019 elections, having been co-opted to Cork County Council in March 2016 following the election of his brother, Michael to Dáil Éireann. Cllr Collins was nominated by Cllr Declan Hurley, and seconded by Cllr Seamus McGrath.

Mayor Collins, who lives in Bantry, said he is proud of his record on the Council since joining in 2016.

“Local government can make a real difference in the lives of ordinary people. I have been proud to work on local projects such as the new Pontoon in Schull, the flood relief scheme for Bantry, and the footpath from Glengarriff Village to the Nature Reserve. I look forward to leading the Council at this important time for Cork county, as we support businesses and celebrate the community links that have proven so important in the past two years.”

WHERE NEXT?

It is understood that the chain of office will travel next year to

Glanworth’s Cllr Frank O’Flynn, off the back of an agreement between Fianna Fáil, Independent and Labour councillors in 2019. If this is the case, he will be the last councillor to wear the chain of office before the next local elections in 2024.

NEWS

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2022-06-30T07:00:00.0000000Z

2022-06-30T07:00:00.0000000Z

https://avondhu.pressreader.com/article/281608129124114

The Avondhu (Ireland)