Green Party councillor elected new Lord Mayor of Dublin

Green Party councillor Caroline Conroy has been elected the new Lord Mayor of Dublin, succeeding Cllr Alison Gilliland and becoming the 11th woman to hold the office.

At Monday night’s annual meeting of Dublin City Council (DCC) in City Hall, Ms Conroy was elected the 354th Lord Mayor of Dublin.

Ms Conroy, who was first elected to the council in 2019, represents the Ballymun and Finglas local electoral area. She also serves on the executive committee of the Green Party.

She is a member of the DCC strategic policy committee on transport, sits on the animal welfare committee and is involved in the move by DCC to take on direct responsibility for dog welfare.

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Green Party councillor Darcy Lonergan was elected the Deputy Lord Mayor at Monday night’s meeting.

Meanwhile, newly elected Lord Mayor of Cork Cllr Deirdre Forde said she hoped to further expand the role of women in local politics as she became only the sixth woman to hold the office in over 700 years.

Cllr Forde, who was elected to the expanded Cork City Council in 2019 after previously serving on Cork County Council for 20 years, received the backing of 21 councillors, including Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil members on the 31-member body.

Cllr Deirdre Forde recalled that it was not until the second half of the last century that Cork Corporation, as it was then, saw its first ever female lord mayor when Cllr Jane Dowdall of Fianna Fáil was elected to the office in 1959. A founder member of the Cork City’s Women Caucus set up in 2021 to help increase the participation of women in local politics, Cllr Forde said she was confident the number of women getting involved in politics would increase in the coming years.

Meanwhile Independent councillor Danny Collins, brother of Cork South West Independent TD Michael Collins, has been elected Mayor of Cork County, succeeding Cllr Gillian Coughlan of Fianna Fáil.