Independent councillor and historian Kieran McCarthy has been elected Lord Mayor of Cork and in his inaugural address invoked the spirit of his martyred predecessors Tomas Mac Curtain and Terence MacSwiney as he laid out his priorities for the year including reducing homelessness.
Cllr McCarthy, a native of Ballinlough on the city’s southside, said that there were many challenges facing Cork City Council in the year ahead, including ensuring both social and affordable housing projects remained on track as the local authority seeks to reduce homelessness.
He recalled Mac Curtain’s words upon his election in late January 1920 when he said he expected “from the members of the new corporation a sacrifice of time and a sacrifice, perhaps, of personal interest…that no self-interest would be put before the interest of the community at large”.
He similarly drew upon MacSwiney recalling his words from his book Principles of Freedom where he spoke about how people are gifted with certain powers of soul and body and the importance that people be given the chance to develop their talent and “fill one’s place in the world worthily”.
Opening with a reference to how young British architect William Burgess had recorded his delight in 1863 in securing the design for a new St Finbarre’s Cathedral by noting in his diary “Got Cork”, Cllr McCarthy said he too was similarly thrilled to have “Got Cork” by being elected lord mayor.
He also spoke about how the guardianship of the mayoral chain “links the past to our present, almost seamlessly – that one could argue that the chain links are not just physical links but if it could speak it has seen the highs and lows of Cork history from boom to bust and vice versa”.
The author of several books on the history of Cork, Cllr McCarthy recalled his great love of history was triggered by a project he did as an 11-year-old on the lord mayors of Cork following a visit to his school by the then first citizen.
“I was someone who likened the lord mayor’s visit to a form of Christmas and that they had some sort of superpowers and that the medallion of the chain was an actual key to a rich box of stories and papers of my city …. I was the child who wanted to be lord mayor when I grew up.
‘Ghosts’
“I became a someone who has studied and written on the high and lows of Cork history, encountering mayors and lord mayors like ghosts walking across my research of historic books and newspapers.
“A someone who created walking tours, a someone who wrote books on this historic city, and ultimately an epic voyage that has led me straight into this hallowed political gladiatorial space to meet and work with you good people, to work with different lord mayors of differing political hues and interests, to learn more about how this city ticks and develops.”
First elected in 2009, Cllr McCarthy was proposed by Des Cahill of Fine Gael and seconded by Terry Shannon of Fianna Fáil and with the support of both major parties, obtained 23 votes to easily see off challenges from Mick Nugent (Sinn Féin) and Ted Tynan (Workers Party).
Meanwhile, veteran Fianna Fáil councillor Frank O’Flynn from Glanworth in north Cork was elected Mayor of Cork County in an uncontested vote.
“My key priorities are addressing the pressing issue of housing and the urgent need to provide social and affordable housing. I also want to ensure we continue to work towards our ambitious aims in terms of climate change, economic development and securing adequate resourcing to fund a wide range of community projects,” said Cllr O’Flynn who was first elected to the council in 1999.
