A consultant physician at Wexford General Hospital was yesterday elected president of the Medical Council, the regulatory body for the medical profession.
Dr Colm Quigley defeated Dr Brendan Healy, a consultant orthopaedic surgeon at Sligo General Hospital and chairman of the council's fitness to practise committee, by 18 votes to seven.
The election, which proved necessary after Dr John Hillery stepped down from the position to run for the Seanad, took place at the monthly meeting of the council at its Dublin headquarters.
Dr Quigley said afterwards he was committed to protecting patients.
"My main priority is to ensure that the partnership between the Medical Council, training bodies, patient groups and the broad profession work together in a very positive and supportive way to ensure the regulation of doctors in Ireland is of the highest standard and that we, as doctors, not just do our competence assurance, peer review and audit but that we demonstrate to our patients that we are actually doing it."
The length of his term of office is uncertain as a new medical council will have to be elected once the provisions of the new Medical Practitioners Act, passed this year by the Oireachtas, come into force..
Dr Quigley, who has served as vice-president of the council since 2004, had opposed some elements of the new Medical Practitioners Act, including the fact that it will ensure medical councils in future have a majority of lay members.
Elections to fill the vice-presidency will take place in September.