Labour councillor Paddy Bourke was last night elected Lord Mayor of Dublin. Mr Bourke was among a number of new mayors elected across the State, including those in the cities of Dublin, Cork, Waterford and Limerick.
The new Lord Mayor of Dublin secured the support of the Fianna Fáil group on the council and defeated Sinn Féin candidate Robert Sargent, and Fine Gael candidate Naoise Ó'Muirí. A number of Fine Gael councillors also voted for Mr Bourke giving him 31 votes compared to Cllr Sargent's 11 and Cllr Ó'Muirí's nine votes.
Anne Carter, also of Labour, was elected deputy Lord Mayor defeating Christy Burke of Sinn Féin and Claire Byrne of the Fine Gael.
Thanking the councillors for his election the Lord Mayor said his priority was to be inclusive and to ensure that reports of community groups and mayoral commissions be given a good hearing.
The party leaders also complimented outgoing lord mayor Vincent Jackson, a community councillor, on his term in office.
Good wishes were extended to Cllr Jackson and his wife Veronica, who it was noted is expecting a baby in one month's time.
Commenting on the party system which ensures the larger parties get most chances at the mayoralty, Independent councillor Mick Rafferty said the only way "to cut it out" is to have directly elected mayors. He hoped the Green Party in Government would bring about such a change.
In south County Dublin Labour's Denis O'Callaghan was elected Cathaoirleach of Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council. A former worker director of An Post, he said his priorities for the year included the dangers of privatisation of domestic waste collection in Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown.
In Cork city veteran Fianna Fáil councillor Donal Counihan was elected Lord Mayor when he received the backing of Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and Labour councillors under a long standing pact between the three main parties.
Mr Counihan identified community development as an issue to which he hoped to contribute.
Waterford city councillors elected Fine Gael's Mary O'Halloran as Mayor of the city, the first time that a woman has taken up the position in Waterford. She replaces Independent Cllr Lawrence "Cha" O'Neill.
Ms O'Halloran said she was "looking forward with great anticipation to the year ahead".
She said she was "deeply moved" at the honour of becoming the first female mayor of Waterford in 900 years.
The new Mayor of Limerick city is Cllr Ger Fahy of Fine Gael. He replaces outgoing mayor Joe Leddin of Labour.
Speaking after his election, Cllr Fahy, the Fine Gael leader on the council, said he was honoured to become the city's new mayor.
He included the future of Limerick docklands, a city boundary extension and the continued support of the Regeneration Boards among his key focal points during his mayoralty.
"I welcome the John Fitzgerald report and the establishment of the Regeneration Boards," he said.
"But I must express my disappointment that there is no representative from city council on the boards," he added.
"It's imperative that the boards have members from the local representatives and I hope that when I meet with the CEO [chief executive officer] Brendan Kenny, I will impress upon him the urgency for this."
