Fianna Fáil's Mr Royston Brady was last night elected Lord Mayor of Dublin and pledged to use his term in office to help improve the quality of life for the capital's citizens.
Mr Brady (30), who was elected with the help of Labour members of Dublin City Council, is a constituency colleague of the Taoiseach, and is one of the youngest mayors in the history of the city. He takes over from Mr Dermot Lacey of Labour who defied the party whip to vote for bin charges and prevent the council from being dissolved.
The new Lord Mayor said his primary objective will be to promote the need for sports facilities to offer young people an alternative to crime and vandalism. "I believe there is a need for more all-weather pitches and sports centres and I would ask all councillors to support increased expenditure for parks, libraries and leisure amenities for this is, to paraphrase James Connolly, an investment in Dublin's greatest resource, her people."
Fianna Fáil's Ms Deirdre Heney, a candidate in Dublin North Central in the last general election, was elected as Deputy Lord Mayor last night.
Mr Brady is a brother of Senator Cyprian Brady. Both are believed to have wanted to run in the last general election alongside the Taoiseach, although Mr Dermot Fitzpatrick was eventually selected for the position.
Mr Brady has been a training adviser with the tourism training body CERT since December 1999. He was first selected as a candidate in November 1998 for the local elections and went on to become the youngest member of Dublin City Council at the age of 26.
Last night, Mr Lacey launched an attack on the Minister for the Environment and Local Government, Mr Cullen, who he said was a "destructive influence" on local government.
He said it was incredible that the Government had criticised the British government for its decision to suspend elections in the North while it was responsible for cancelling plans to provide for the direct election of mayors.
Cork's new Lord Mayor is solicitor Cllr Colm Burke. A Fine Gael member of Cork City Council since his election in 1995, Mr Burke was elected last night under a pact between Labour, Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil parties, which rotates each year. Cllr Tadhg O'Donovan became Lord Mayor of Co Cork.
Yesterday, Cllr Joe Cawley (FG) became chairman of Sligo County Council and Cllr Joe Queenan (FF) vice-chairman. Cllr Rosaleen O'Hanlon (FF) was elected Mayor of Co Monaghan and Cllr Gary Carville (FG) was elected Deputy Mayor.
Other local authorities have already selected their mayors or chairpersons: Mr Tadhg O'Donovan (FG) is mayor of Cork County Council; Ms Terry O'Flaherty (PD) is mayor of Galway City Council; Mr Frank Chambers (FF) is cathaoirleach of Mayo County Council.
