Cork councillor elected as County Mayor for second time

Newly elected County Mayor Mary Linehan Foley pledged she would “rock on” as she paid tribute to the “Joe show” after being returned to the position of first citizen for a second term during Cork County Council’s annual meeting.

The “Joe show” to which the Youghal based independent councillor was referring was not the final outing of RTÉ’s Joe Duffy on Liveline but that of outgoing county mayor Joe Carroll who handed over the chain of office after being the recipient of a flood of tributes from his council colleagues who extended their best wishes to him and his wife, Sheila, after a busy year.

Before Mr Carroll handed over the ceremonial chain of office to his successor, he expressed his gratitude to his council colleagues, chief executive Moira Murrell and the other members of the executive as well as his wife and family.

He also referred to those who might criticise the trips abroad undertaken by himself, other councillors and council officials, and mentioned his trip along with former mayor Frank O’Flynn to China at the end of 2024.

“A particular highlight was our visit to China where we were warmly received and it was a privilege to showcase our county and deepen our economic and cultural relationships,” he said. 

“I want to make this very clear now that a visit to China is not just a week away in China. The amount of work that you get through while you’re out there and the amount of building between the community in China and here is very strong and that’s proven by the fact, and it’s very clear to some people here, that I entertained three delegations from China inside in this building in the past 12 months.” 

There was only one candidate for the position of Mayor, and leader of the independent councillors, Alan Coleman, proposed the name of his fellow independent, Mary Linehan Foley, who had been elected previously as mayor during in June 2020 when the pandemic imposed serious restrictions on her role.

Mr Coleman mentioned the new mayor’s father, Paddy Linehan, who served as a councillor for 44 years before retiring in 1999. 

“In his own words he took advantage of the scrappage scheme that was available at the time and, to keep with the car analogy, the Linehan family upgraded to a new model and Mary took up a position in public life in the same year,” he said, adding that she would be the first woman to hold the position of County Mayor for more than one term.

After the handing over of the chain of office, the new mayor expressed her gratitude, saying outgoing mayor Mr Carroll would be “a hard act to follow”. 

“Well done, Joe, thank you for an incredible year and it was a Joe show but, look, we’ll rock on now and we’ll go into Mary’s year and see how Mary will do,” she said. 

“I’m looking forward to working with you all.” 

Tributes were also paid to Macroom based independent councillor Martin Coughlan who served as deputy mayor for the past year and was succeeded in the role by Ian Doyle, the Charleville based Fianna Fáil councillor.