The two local authorities in Sligo will have the distinction of having two female politicians leading the millennium celebrations in the county.
Newly-elected Fianna Fail councillor Rosaleen O'Grady was chosen as the mayor of Sligo at her first meeting, while Fine Gael councillor Mary Barrett, of Dromard, has taken the county council chair.
It's the first time Sligo County Council has had a chairwoman. Both women are nurses.
Ms O'Grady's election as mayor sparked a wave of reaction throughout the town. This was not so much because Cllr O'Grady had become mayor just minutes after officially taking her seat on the corporation. It had more to do with the fact that Fianna Fail and Sinn Fein had copperfastened a controversial pact (Sinn Fein calls it an "agreement", Fianna Fail an "alignment of parties") to decide on the mayoralty for the next five-year term of the body.
It had been expected that the long-established Fianna Fail-Fine Gael pact at corporation level would continue, but the election of three new Fianna Fail candidates brought about a new deal.
Fianna Fail with its four seats and Sinn Fein with its three now have a majority of one on the corporation. Barring the breakdown of the pact/agreement, and with obvious obstacles at estimates time, it should mean that Sligo will have a Sinn Fein mayor for the later half of the millennium year.
Indeed, the race to become millennium mayor was one of the main issues in the local elections. The most senior alderman and top vote-getter, former Labour TD Declan Bree, claimed he deserved the honour. He has not been mayor during his 25 years on the corporation.
Before the election, Cllr O'Grady had said she was against the pact system: "The days of pacts are long gone; if people elect councillors on to the corporation, then everybody has a right to be mayor."
She staunchly defends those pre-election comments. "This was an alignment group. We were being inclusive and including the people who had never been mayor before. Fianna Fail contacted Fine Gael, Labour and Sinn Fein in their discussions about the mayoralty, and that's the bottom line.
"Our Taoiseach and the Sinn Fein leader have sat down and put the peace process in place, and why wouldn't we try and complement that work and do it at corporation level in Sligo?"
The controversy aside, Cllr O'Grady was thrilled with her election as mayor: "It's an absolutely great honour for me and my family." In her first speech as mayor, Cllr O'Grady said she wanted to be the "people's mayor". She was "their servant".
The election of Ms Barrett was less dramatic but even more historic. She becomes the first chairwoman just weeks after the council celebrated its centenary.
Her election was facilitated by a continuation of the Fine Gael-Fianna Fail voting pact.
Cllr Barrett has listed five priorities in her role as millennium chairwoman. She wants the council to intervene in the housing market to provide affordable housing for young people. She says the council should build houses at an cost affordable to people under a certain income or, alternatively, provide sites to allow young people build their homes at a reasonable price.
She also wants development plans adopted for Co Sligo.