BREAKING: Cathaoirleach and leas Cathaoirleach elected for Clane-Maynooth MD
The announcement was made today in Kildare County Council's headquarters
A new Cathaoirleach and leas Cathaoirleach have been elected fot the Clane-Maynooth Municipal District (MD).
Fianna Fáil Cllrs Naoise Ó Cearúil and Daragh Fitzpatrick have been elected to the roles of Cathaoirleach and leas Cathaoirleach for the MD respectively.
At the meeting, which commenced at around 2.45pm, Labour Party Cllr Angela Feeney, who is also the outgoing leas Cathaoirleach, nominated Social Democrats Cllr Aidan Farrelly for the role.
This was seconded by Independent Cllr Pádraig McEvoy.
Fianna Fáil Cllr Paul Ward nominated for Cllr Ó Cearúil for the role, and this nomination was seconded by Cllr Fitzpatrick.
After the matter was put to a vote, Cllr Ó Cearúil was nominated, with five representatives in favour of him and four representatives in favour of Cllr Farrelly.
He will succeed Fine Gael Cllr Tim Durkan as the new Cathaoirleach of the MD.
Commenting on his appointment, Cllr Ó Cearúil thanked his fellow representatives.
He said that the representatives 'have a long year ahead' of them, with emphasis on the Maynooth Local Area Plan.
Cllr Farrelly was once more nominated for the leas Cathaoirleach role by Cllr Feeney, and this was seconded by Cllr McEvoy, while Cllr Fitzpatrick was nominated by his party colleague, Cllr Paul Ward, and this was seconded by newly-elected Fine Gael Cllr William Durkan.
Six representatives voted in favour of Cllr Fitzpatrick, while four representatives voted in favour of Cllr Farrelly.
Cllr Fitzpatrick was then elected leas Cathaoirleach of the MD.
The meeting was the first to feature two newly-elected representatives: Fine Gael Cllr William Durkan, who replaces outgoing Fine Gael Cllr Brendan Weld, and Cllr Peter Melrose of the Social Democrats, who replaces former Green Party Cllr Peter Hamilton.
The last two items on the agenda were for the members to approve the minutes of the monthly MD Municipal District meeting (which was held on Friday, May 3 last) and to consider the meetings calendar for the remainder of the year (it was agreed to hold the monthly MD meeting on the first Friday of every month).
As the meeting came to a close, Cathaoirleach Ó Cearúil wished his colleagues well, and also thanked the staff of Kildare County Council and journalists present in the Council Chamber.
Cllrs Durkan and Melrose also briefly spoke, in which both said that they were looking forward to representing the residents of the MD.
The meeting concluded at around 3pm.