Sean Kelly elected Cathaoirleach of Louth County Council

Louth County Councillor, Seán Kelly of Fianna Fail, was elected Cathaoirleach of Louth County Council at the Annual Meeting, held yesterday (Monday) at the County Hall in Dundalk.

Ahead of the election of the new Cathaoirleach, outgoing Cathaoirleach, Kevin Callan, Independent, thanked members and council staff for their work over the past year and for the help they had shown him during his tenure.

“I’ve had the opportunity to serve as the 58th Cathaoirleach of Louth County Council, a body set up in 1899 which predates the foundation of the Irish state. I want to thank all elected members for their support shown to me as chair, a role I’ve been honoured to carry out and it’s been a pleasure working with colleagues of all political groupings in this chamber”, he said.

“I’ve worked as hard as I can to ensure that I was there to support all colleagues and parties on issues that people needed help with along the way and have strongly felt the support back from all of you throughout the year at the many meetings at events across the county.”

Members at the meeting praised Cllr Callan for his time as Cathaoirleach, with Councillor Jim Tenanty saying he was proud to nominate him to the position a year ago and that he had “done a great job” and was “fair and unbiased.” He added “There was no prejudice or favour and everybody was treated the same.”

Nominations were called for the role of incoming Cathaoirleach. Cllr Andrea McKevitt nominated her Fianna Fail colleague, Cllr Seán Kelly for the role, with the nomination being seconded by Independent Councillor and outgoing Cathaoirleach Kevin Callan.

Cllr Pearse McGeough nominated his Sinn Féin colleague Cllr Eric Donovan for the role, with the nomination being seconded by Cllr Kevin Meenan.

A roll call vote was then taken, with Cllr Kelly receiving 19 votes to Councillor Donovan’s six with two abstentions coming from Independent councillors Maeve Yore and Bernie Conlon.

Cllr Kelly was congratulated by the members on his election. Cllr Kevin Meenan did, however, note his and Sinn Fein’s annoyance at the voting pact system which had seen Councillor Kelly elected but wished him the best of luck and praised his work as Cathaoirleach of Dundalk Municipal District in the previous two years.

Speaking following his election, Cllr Kelly said he was conscious of the trust placed in him and what an honour it was to lead the council. “The nature of politics in Ireland and that of the role of public representatives has changed substantially over the last number of years, we face almost daily scrutiny and challenges from online and in person abuse has increased but yet we’re still all here showing up to fulfil our role a lot of people would not put their head over the parapet to do.”

He further paid tribute to his sister and parents for their support in his political career.

Fianna Fail’s Andrea McKevitt was nominated by her party colleague Emma Coffey for the position of Leas Cathaoirleach with Councillor Coffey calling her a “peninsula woman through and through who represents the county in the best spirit” and is “a great role model for young women and for women in general.”

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Councillor Pearse McGeough was nominated for the position by his party colleague Kevin Meenan who said he was a “very hard working councilor” who had “a lot of experience in this council chamber.”

Cllr McKevitt was elected to the position by 19 votes to six with Councillor Marianne Butler of the Green Party abstaining and Independent Councillors Maeve Yore and Bernie Conlon also abstaining.