COUNCILLOR John Stafford (FF) has been elected Lord Mayor of Dublin for the next year by 27 votes to 24. He replaces Mr Brendan Lynch.
Mr Stafford is a long-serving member of Dublin City Council and his father was Lord Mayor 30 years ago.
He was elected as a Fianna Fail TD on two occasions - 1987 and 1989 - and is a former member of the British-Irish inter-parliamentary body.
The new Lord Mayor said last night that not everybody was sharing in the economic prosperity of Dublin and his main aim would be to "do something for the youth of the city", who had been neglected by many governments.
His mayoralty would be"for the young of Dublin". While the Lord Mayor had no power, he had a form of power by just being the Lord Mayor of the city.
He said the troubles in Northern Ireland had been of "great interest" to him for many years, and he intended to reach out to all the communities there.
The election of Mr Stafford was facilitated by an agreement between Fianna Fail and the "community group", which consists of all the Independent councillors.
After electing an Independent last year, this year it was the turn of a Fianna Fail candidate.
Paying tribute to the new Lord Mayor, Mr Eric Byrne (Democratic Left) said it was time the corporation paid attention to its 24,000 tenants, who had "to suffer the drugs crisis, bad housing, and long-term unemployment".
Mr Derek McDowell (Labour) said if the new Lord Mayor was to reach out to the communities in Northern Ireland, he should "reach out to all communities, not just one".
Mr Stafford is married with three sons and is a former funeral director and publican.
He has been a chairman of the Port and Docks board and a member of the Joint Oireachtas committee for human rights.
A Fine Gael councillor, Mr Tony McLoughlin, was unanimously elected Mayor of Sligo yesterday. Mr McLoughlin - a nephew of the late Sligo/Leitrim TD, Mr Joe McLoughlin - was also mayor in 1980, 1986, and 1993.