Montague elected Dublin mayor

Labour councillor Andrew Montague, the man behind the hugely successful Dublin bike scheme, has been elected Lord Mayor of Dublin.

Mr Montague (43) previously served as Deputy Lord Mayor of Dublin in 2004, having been appointed to the position just weeks after first being elected to the city council.

He was nominated tonight by party colleague Paddy Bourke and seconded by Fine Gael’s Bill Tormey and was elected with 29 votes, defeating the Independent group candidate Ciarán Perry who received 10 votes and the Sinn Féin candidate Larry O’Toole who got five votes.

Fianna Fail, who have just six seats on the council did not nominate any candidate and abstained from the vote.

Originally from Santry, Dublin and now living in Ballymun Mr Montague said he wanted during his term to tackle anti-social behaviour possibly through restorative justice programmes that involve offenders making amends to their victims.

He also said he would like to develop a new food market in the fruit and vegetable market off Capel Street, and urban markets in the city’s suburbs. He said he wanted to attract more foreign investment and foreign student to the city and extend the bike scheme.

Mr Montague thanked Fine Gael’s Gerry Breen who he succeeded as Lord Mayor.