Dublin elects Fianna Fáil mayor

Clontarf-based councillor Eibhlin Byrne has been appointed the Lord Mayor of Dublin, the first Fianna Fáil councillor to hold the position since Royston Brady was Lord Mayor in 2003.

Fianna Fáil has been effectively locked out of the mayoralty for the last four years by a Fine Gael-Labour voting pact, however the agreement collapsed in 2006 after former Fine Gael councillor Niamh Cosgrave voted for the Fianna Fáil nominee, Independent councillor Vincent Jackson.

Ms Cosgrave had lost the Fine Gael whip the previous year when she failed to attend the mayoral election. She had put herself forward as a candidate for Lord Mayor, but the party chose Catherine Byrne. Ms Cosgrave was expelled form the council last September for failing to attend meetings.

Labour has now formed a voting pact with Fianna Fáil which has resulted in the election of Ms Byrne with the support of 29 of the 52 member council. This is one of the largest majorities gained by a mayoral candidate in several years and shows the strength of numbers of the Fianna Fáil-Labour alliance.

Fine Gael's candidate Mary O'Shea gained 11 votes, while Sinn Féin's nominee Críona Ní Dhálaigh got 10 votes. The lone Progressive Democrat councillor John Kenny voted for Ms O'Shea.

Eibhlin Byrne is the 339th Lord Mayor of Dublin and the sixth woman to hold the position. She is also likely to have the distinction of being the last appointed Fianna Fáil mayor as the position will revert to Labour before the mayoralty becomes a directly elected position.

Ms Byrne has been a member of the council since 2003. A former secondary school teacher, she currently works with the homeless charity the Depaul trust. Accepting the position last night Ms Byrne said she would be focusing on the development of the city's business community, on the provision of social services and on tackling anti-social behaviour on the capital's streets.

Labour councillor Emer Costello who has represented the North East Inner City Ward since being co-opted in 2003 to the seat vacated by Joe Costello, was elected Deputy Lord Mayor.