New mayor will pose challenge for Dáil seat

A likely Independent candidate in Tipperary North at the next general election was elected mayor of Tipperary North County Council yesterday.

Jim Ryan (33) is a native of Thurles and becomes the first Independent to hold the position. He resigned from Fianna Fáil when he failed to get a nomination for the 2004 local elections.

He was subsequently elected to Thurles town council, topping the poll, and was elected on the first count to the county council.

If, as expected, Mr Ryan challenges for a seat in the Tipperary North three-seater at the general election, it will be a further blow to his old party. Fianna Fáil's Michael Smith, former minister for defence, and Maire Hoctor, hold two of the seats, while Independent Michael Lowry holds the other.

With Mr Lowry appearing to be in a strong position, one of the Fianna Fáil seats will come under pressure from a challenge from Fine Gael's Senator Noel Coonan and Labour's Senator Kathleen O'Meara. Mr Ryan's performance in the local elections, and the fact that he is likely to still have his year-long high-profile mayoral position when the election is called, will make him a force to be reckoned with.

Meanwhile, Fine Gael's only member of Killarney town council, Sheila Casey, was elected mayor with the support of Fianna Fáil and an Independent.

She defeated Labour councillor Seán O'Grady by five votes to three. Mr O'Grady said that because Ms Casey is being investigated by the Standards in Public Office Commission, he had expected that Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael would have dealt with the situation and change the agreed sequence for the mayoralty.

Ms Casey, an employee of the Gleneagle hotel group, last March voted for the controversial rezoning of lands owned by the group, whose managing director is Fianna Fáil councillor and Tourism Ireland director Patrick O'Donoghue. Mr O'Donoghue, who is also being investigated arising from the vote, supported Ms Casey last night.

Town clerk Michael O'Leary said that the investigation into whether Ms Casey and Mr O'Donoghue had breached ethics legislation was ongoing.

Galway got its first Green Party mayor last night when a rainbow alliance of Fine Gael, Labour and the Greens elected councillor Niall Ó Brolcháin.

He was proposed by Labour's Tom Costello and seconded by Fine Gael's John Mulholland.

Fine Gael councillor Martin Brett was elected mayor of Kilkenny city last night, receiving support from Fine Gael, Labour and the Green Party.