SF mayor loses council seat to party colleague

The Sinn Féin mayor of Derry has lost his seat on the city council

The Sinn Féin mayor of Derry has lost his seat on the city council. Gearóid Ó hÉara lost to his party colleague Elisha McLaughlin (22), who was contesting her first election.

Mr Ó hÉara held the Shantallow ward seat for 16 years, but his tenure ended yesterday when he was eliminated after the sixth count. He will remain as mayor until the council's annual meeting on May 23rd.

Mr Ó hÉara said he fell victim to his party's voting policy which aimed to take a seat from the SDLP. Just one party gained a seat, when the DUP took a Waterside rural seat from the Ulster Unionist Party.

Mr Ó hÉara is only the second sitting mayor of Derry to lose his seat. The first was James Hegarty, ousted in 1976 when he was the Irish Independence Party mayor.

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Eight new members were elected to the 30-strong council in Derry. Most of the new members are younger SDLP and Sinn Féin councillors who replaced older party colleagues.

Mr Ó hÉara said he did not believe his defeat had resulted from a personal vote against him. "It has been a privilege to represent republicans and all the people of this city. I, along with the other Sinn Féin candidates in Shantallow, was aware that we were running a high-risk campaign there in a bid to win a seat from the SDLP.

"While it is very embarrassing to lose a seat when you are the sitting mayor, and no doubt our political opponents will make hay of that, we have excellent people on the council. I will now go back into the ranks of the party and do what I am asked to do in a political role.

"I don't see this as some sort of slight or rebuke on me. I don't see this in a personal context."

Three other sitting councillors, all former mayors, also lost their seats in Derry - John Kerr of the SDLP, the DUP's Mildred Garfield and Independent Annie Courtney.