Cllr John Coonan elected new Mayor of Kilkenny

Cllr John Coonan was unanimously elected as the new mayor of Kilkenny, succeeding Cllr Andrew McGuinness, at the Annual Meeting of the Municipal District of Kilkenny on Friday morning. 

The Fianna Fáil councillor held the position in 2020 and accepted the role once again as around 15 of his friends and family members, including wife Ann and son Aidan, watched on from the public gallery. 

After a brief delay while the ceremonial Kilkenny City Sword and Mace were brought from the Medieval Mile Museum to County Hall, the meeting began as outgoing Mayor McGuinness thanked the council for the opportunity to serve and was presented with a photo album marking his tenure by County Council Director of Services, Tim Butler.

The motion to elect Cllr Coonan was proposed by Cllr Joe Malone and seconded by Cllr David FitzGerald who highlighted the fact that Cllr Coonan had previously held the office during the Covid-19 pandemic and that he was looking forward to seeing him experience the mayorship to its fullest extent this time around.

After this, the title was officially passed over to Mayor Coonan who was given a warm round of applause by the meeting attendees which included Fianna Fáil Carlow-Kilkenny TD, Peter 'Chap' Cleere.

“To all my fellow members of the Kilkenny Municipal District, I extend my deepest gratitude for supporting my nomination today. This is, without question, the proudest and most profound moment of my political career,” Mayor Coonan, who was first elected to Kilkenny Corporation in 1994, said in his acceptance speech. 

“To fulfil my role effectively, your support and cooperation are not just important; they are an essential prerequisite. I want to build a term defined by collaboration and shared purpose,” he said to the other elected members.

“Together, let us continue this important work. I look forward to serving you all. Go raibh míle maith agat.”

After Mayor Coonan’s election, Cllr Fitzgerald in his own words, “threw the cat among the pigeons,” by putting Green Party councillor Maria Dollard forward for the position of Deputy Mayor. 

A visibly shocked Cllr Dollard was also unanimously elected and said: “I did not see this coming, it’s something you don’t expect in a minority party.