Niamh O’Connor selected as the newest Cork city councillor

Eva Osborne

At a special meeting of Cork City Council on Tuesday, Niamh O’Connor was formally selected to replace Pádraig Rice TD on Cork City Council following his election to the Dáil.

Niamh O'Connor is a practising solicitor and lives off Barrack Street with her husband and two young children.

As well as being the newest member of the Council, O'Connor takes over from Rice as the youngest member of the council and the only one aged under 35.

Speaking after her formal co-option, Cllr O’Connor said: “I'm absolutely delighted, this is a huge honour for me. I have lived in Cork for my whole life and I really love the city.

"I think it could be the best little city in the world but it does need some TLC. The levels of vacancy and dereliction around town are shocking, the state of footpaths in my area is desperate and we need more reliable public transport.

“Pádraig has left big shoes to fill, he was a fantastic local representative and I intend to honour that by hitting the ground running and championing the local issues he was so adept at raising. "

Deputy Rice added: “I’m absolutely delighted that Niamh O’Connor has been chosen to take my seat on Cork City Council.

“I have known Niamh for a number of years now. She is hard-working, passionate about people and committed to making Cork a better place for everyone. She lives in the area. She knows the people and the places and I’ve no doubt she is going to do a great job.

“As a party, the Social Democrats are committed to gender equality. At the moment, there are too few women on the City Council, with just five women elected in June out of a total of 31 councillors. Niamh’s co-option today takes us one step in the right direction, but more work is needed. We need more mná in Irish politics."