Derry set to make history with first black mayor today
SDLP councillor Lilian Seenoi-Barr will become mayor this evening
Derry City and Strabane District Council will make history later today as SDLP councillor Lilian Seenoi-Barr will become the first black mayor in the north.
Cllr Seenoi-Barr will officially become mayor at the council's AGM this evening where she will receive the mayoral chain from outgoing First Citizen, Patricia Logue.
Cllr Seenoi-Barr has been a councillor for the Foyleside ward since 2021 when she was co-opted before retaining the seat in the 2023 election.
Originally from Kenya, she previously worked to promote gender rights issues for Maasai women, focusing on forced marriage and female genital mutilation.
In 2012, she founded the charity North West Migrants Forum which supports migrants and asylum seekers.