Fergal Dennehy elected as Lord Mayor of Cork

Fianna Fáil's Fergal Dennehy has been elected as the Lord Mayor of Cork at a meeting of Cork City Council.
Mr Dennehy, a councillor, was elected by 23 votes in the Council Chamber.
In his mayoral speech, Mr Dennehy said he was "deeply honoured" to be elected mayor, adding that he is "fully aware of the responsibility it carries".
He pledged to "acknowledge and strengthen" communities and to work with "young people to ensure that they can be the best that they can be".
He added that he will collaborate and work with officials and stakeholders "across the political spectrum" to make Cork city "a place that all Corkonians can be proud of".
Newley Elected Lord Mayor of Cork Cllr. Fergal Dennehy with elected Deputy Lord Mayor Margaret McDonnell. pic.twitter.com/1IBhLwbdVM
— Cork City Council (@corkcitycouncil) June 20, 2025
Mr Dennehy was co-opted to Cork City Council in 2003 and subsequently elected in 2004, 2014, 2019, and 2024.
His father, John Dennehy, was also Lord Mayor of Cork.
The Lord Mayor also announced that fellow Councillor Margaret McDonnell will be the Deputy Lord Mayor.
Ms McDonnell, also of the Fianna Fáil party, said she was "extremely honoured" to be elected as Deputy Lord Mayor.
"I look forward to working with the new elected Lord Mayor and supporting him in every way I can over the coming year," she said.

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Learn with AIFact CheckingText to SpeechAI Summary

Related Articles

Irish Times

4 hours ago

• Irish Times

If our Geraldine can thrive in Trump's Washington, she might be a worthy winner of the race for the Áras

It's been no fun trying to whip up any sort of speculation about the forthcoming presidential election. The kites aren't flying the way they used to. It seems the vicious nature of recent campaigns is making potential candidates think twice about taking a tilt at the Áras, while the political parties, still weighing up their options, hope a shorter mobilisation might limit carnage. Nonetheless, some interesting names are floating about. A number of Fianna Fáil stalwarts have been mentioned: former taoiseach Bertie Ahern , former minister Mary Hanafin and MEP Cynthia Ni Mhurchú while Barry Andrews, her colleague in Brussels, has graciously ruled himself out. READ MORE Then there was talk of the party sounding out the former SDLP leader, Colum Eastwood , who said he wouldn't rule out running when he was sounded out by the BBC. The MP for Derry's Foyle constituency said he was mulling over his prospects because 'people have asked'. Fianna Fáiler Micheál Martin was quick to say he wasn't one of them. 'There's been no contact with me, there's been no engagement that I am aware of from the Fianna Fáil party and it hasn't been on the agenda at all,' he said. A candidate from outside the fold remains a distinct possibility. There are whispers in political and diplomatic circles about Geraldine Byrne Nason, Ireland's ambassador to Washington. Fianna Fáil sources say her name is getting a lot of traction. A hugely experienced diplomat with an impressive CV, Byrne Nason spearheaded Ireland's successful campaign for a seat on the UN Security Council in 2020. She is a former second secretary general in the Department of An Taoiseach, which made her the country's highest-ranking woman public servant at the time. She received Concern Worldwide's annual Women of Concern Award for 'her outstanding career as a female leader within the diplomatic and Civil Service and her unwavering dedication to advocating for women's rights at home and abroad'. She was awarded the freedom of her native Drogheda in 2020. A Fianna Fáil source said: 'There really is a dearth of good candidates out there. Geraldine would be an inspired choice. She would be a candidate of stature and if the party rows in behind her campaign we could be on to a winner. And she'd have the Louth vote sewn up.' Here's another interesting one. The businessman and founder of the homeless charity Tiglin, Senator Aubrey McCarthy, is also a name which keeps coming up when the presidential election is discussed. Senator McCarthy, who was elected to the Upper House for the first time this year, has not ruled out a run. One Leinster House observer tells us how Kildare-based Aubrey 'has been noticed on the Ferrero Rocher embassy circuit of late'. Meanwhile, he is holding a big bash in The Elms in Punchestown this weekend for friends and sponsors who helped him in his Seanad campaign. What better way for Aubrey to kick start a new campaign, if he really is thinking of throwing his hat into the ring? But surely Seán Gallagher has to be a long shot? The businessman who unsuccessfully contested the last two presidential elections – he looked set for victory in 2007 until his campaign imploded amid controversy over his connections with Fianna Fáil – was seen a number of weeks ago in the Dáil bar with Cathal Lee, a key member of his campaign team. They met a number of independent senators, according to our source. But it seems unlikely he would go for the hat-trick of runs. On the Sinn Féin front, Northern Ireland First Minister and party vice-president Michelle O'Neill has yet to rule out a run for the Irish presidential election. She said at the North South Ministerial Council that the party 'is working its way through deliberations on putting forward a candidate'. Fine Gael seems to be quietly coasting towards the campaign with front-runner Mairead McGuinness keeping a low profile while questions rage over which other candidates might join her on the ticket. But nothing has been decided yet. MEP Seán Kelly hasn't indicated whether he will contest the party's nomination. He is due to address the Association of European Journalists in Dublin next Thursday. Guests will be wondering if he chooses this occasion to bow out or make his first stump speech. And finally, Dr Mike Ryan, the Sligo-born public health specialist, is being lined up as a keynote speaker at next month's MacGill Summer School. The former deputy director general of the World Health Organisation – he became a household name during the Covid crisis and is an outspoken voice on the humanitarian cost of Israel's assault on Gaza – is being courted by a number of parties, including Labour , as a consensus Left candidate. If he makes it to Glenties, his speech may reveal all. Fox news The sad news of a fox perishing in the fountain outside Government Buildings in Dublin on Tuesday was one of the most-talked-about topics of the week. Not least because many of us feared it was Mildred, a fox regularly sighted strolling around Leinster Lawn haughtily ignoring the political and media wildlife trying to take her photo. Not to be confused with the other Mildred Fox, who was an Independent TD for Wicklow from 1995 to 2007. A number of people have been in touch since we reported the sad death, wondering how a creature as strong and agile as a fox could drown in relatively shallow water. Former Green Party minister Roderic O'Gorman has the answer. It was a fox cub, probably still getting used to going out exploring on its own. O'Gorman's office in the Engineering Block looks into an area at the back of Government Buildings, near the service and maintenance areas for Leinster House. There is an open basement area under the block where a family of foxes resides in a hidey hole under the pipes. 'I saw them originally about three weeks ago just peeping out of the den – still very small. But they are growing up fast.' he told us on Friday. 'When I see them now, it's just them on their own, so they are obviously big enough for their parents to let them out.' O'Gorman shot a video of them running around the place last week. 'I saw four of them playing then, but when I was looking down on them this morning [Thursday] there was only three.' The Merrion Street/Kildare Street campus is their playground. 'They can go through to the courtyard through the arches. One of them must have gone in there, which is awful.' Three government ministers held press conferences in the courtyard on Tuesday morning – Paschal Donohoe, James Browne and Jim O'Callaghan. There were large media contingents at the briefings. Strangely, nobody noticed the dead fox in the fountain. It was switched off the following day and thoroughly cleaned. 'It's great to see such amazing wildlife right here in Leinster House in the very heart of Dublin, but it's awful sad to see us losing one of the family,' said O'Gorman, the only Green TD in the Dáil. Just don't tell Danny Healy-Rae or Michael Collins where the rest of them are. Mildred, we are assured, is still around. Welcome to the wildly inaccurate Rose county Don't cry for me, Ballymena... Maria Walsh , a former Rose of Tramore, told the EU Parliament in the Brussels town of Strasbourg this week that Ireland and Europe must stand with victims of hate-fuelled crimes and 'show that diversity is a strength, not a threat'. The Fine Gael MEP for Midlands-Northwest referred to recent public order disturbances in the North during the 'One-minute speeches for matters of political importance' slot on Monday. With just 60 seconds to get her point across, Walsh, reading carefully from her one-page script, didn't notice a glaring error in her opening line. A microphone malfunction at the start wouldn't have helped either. 'Recent riots on the island of Ireland, which began in the town of Ballymena in Co Leitrim have morphed from concern about a tragic sexual assault allegation into xenophobic violence against migrant families,' she began. 'As Amnesty Northern Ireland director Patrick Corrigan said, we are just one petrol bomb away from racially motivated murder.' Luckily, Sinn Féin's eagle-eyed observers spotted her geographical gaffe and, in the spirit of comradely co-operation, a member of the comms team took to social media to point it out. 'Could someone please provide Fine Gael with a map of Ireland?' Luke O'Riordan asked, attaching a video clip of the moment. As it happened, the error was spotted a couple of days before this generous intervention. The clip Walsh posted to her own account had already been seamlessly edited with no reference to Leitrim, the Wild Rose County. AK-47 is reloaded and the safety catch is off Former Labour leader Alan Kelly is enjoying something of a renaissance these days, what with chairing the Oireachtas Media Committee and a nicely blossoming Dáil double-act with Minister for Justice Jim O'Callaghan . Kelly has suddenly become the man with the inside track on issues of concern in the world of law enforcement. He says he has told the minister more about what is going on than his Garda Commissioner, Drew Harris . He was talking about the overdue remedial work on Garda stations, particularly those affected by asbestos. Why has the Commissioner not given the minister details of people at risk and situations where the State may be exposed to claims? 'Does this not create a huge risk that you really need to put close to the top of your pile as regards the issues the Commissioner hasn't told you about? Maybe you need to have a truth and reconciliation meeting with the Commissioner. Perhaps you need to sit down and say, 'Hey Commissioner! Do you know what, you're out the gap there on the first of September. Is there anything else in the long list of issues that you haven't told me about?'' The following day, Kelly told the Dáil that he was the first person to inform the Minister that undercover gardaí supplied guns to Evan Fitzgerald, the young man who took his own life at a Carlow shopping centre on June 1st. He said he rang O'Callaghan on June 3rd to let him know of the involvement of undercover gardaí. 'Is it correct that I had to tell him to go to the Garda Commissioner and ask him about the full details in relation to this case?' He has already revealed information about garda holsters, importation issues with guns, drugs in HQ, thousands of missing fingerprints. 'I can guarantee you many of the other issues still have not been brought your attention,' he said, ominously. 'So I would encourage you to have that truth and reconciliation meeting very soon. Otherwise, I'm going to be coming in here on many many more issues that you're not bloody well aware of.' Justice Questions might be worth watching in the future.

RTÉ News​

9 hours ago

• RTÉ News​

Fergal Dennehy elected as Lord Mayor of Cork

Fianna Fáil's Fergal Dennehy has been elected as the Lord Mayor of Cork at a meeting of Cork City Council. Mr Dennehy, a councillor, was elected by 23 votes in the Council Chamber. In his mayoral speech, Mr Dennehy said he was "deeply honoured" to be elected mayor, adding that he is "fully aware of the responsibility it carries". He pledged to "acknowledge and strengthen" communities and to work with "young people to ensure that they can be the best that they can be". He added that he will collaborate and work with officials and stakeholders "across the political spectrum" to make Cork city "a place that all Corkonians can be proud of". Newley Elected Lord Mayor of Cork Cllr. Fergal Dennehy with elected Deputy Lord Mayor Margaret McDonnell. — Cork City Council (@corkcitycouncil) June 20, 2025 Mr Dennehy was co-opted to Cork City Council in 2003 and subsequently elected in 2004, 2014, 2019, and 2024. His father, John Dennehy, was also Lord Mayor of Cork. The Lord Mayor also announced that fellow Councillor Margaret McDonnell will be the Deputy Lord Mayor. Ms McDonnell, also of the Fianna Fáil party, said she was "extremely honoured" to be elected as Deputy Lord Mayor. "I look forward to working with the new elected Lord Mayor and supporting him in every way I can over the coming year," she said.

Irish Examiner

14 hours ago

• Irish Examiner

New Lord Mayor of Cork vows to make city centre safer with 'decisive action'

The new Lord Mayor of Cork has vowed to work to make the city centre safer and to make historic City Hall more accessible to citizens. Fianna Fáil councillor Fergal Dennehy, who represents the city's south west local electoral area, made the pledge after his election at the annual general meeting of Cork City Council on Friday night, which was attended by his party leader and Taoiseach, Micheál Martin. 'Cork's heart must be a place where everyone feels welcome and secure,' Togher-based Mr Dennehy said. 'By working closely with An Garda Síochána, businesses, and community groups, we will maintain confidence and vibrancy to our city centre. 'I welcome the recent appointment of a council director with specific responsibility for the city centre and also the collaboration with the Cork Business Association to provide city centre wardens. 'I will work closely with all of the stakeholders to achieve our goals here to make our city even safer.' Mr Dennehy, a father of two, was first elected to council in 2004 but lost his seat in 2009. He won it back in 2014 and has retained it since. He was nominated for the position, and faced a vote against Solidarity Cllr Brian McCarthy and Sinn Féin Cllr Michelle Gould. He secured 23 votes, against five for Ms Gould and two for Mr McCarthy, and took the chain of office some 42 years after his father, former Fianna Fáil TD, John Dennehy, was elected lord mayor, leading the city through the Cork 800 celebrations. 'Your leadership and collaboration with businesses and communities laid the foundation for a year of pride and achievement that still resonates in Cork,' Mr Dennehy said. Thank you for your continued service and dedication to our city and of course thank you for everything that you have done for me as my father in both my political and personal life. They are the third father and son duo to hold the mayoral office in recent years — following on from John and Brian Bermingham, and Danny and Damian Wallace. There were cross-party tributes to outgoing Lord Mayor Dan Boyle, and deputy Lord Mayor, Honore Kamegni, for their work over the last 12 months. In his speech, Mr Dennehy said the city stands at a crossroads, facing challenges in housing and transport that demand 'bold vision and decisive action'. 'With a huge projected population growth in the coming years, we must ensure every citizen has access to quality social and affordable housing,' he said. He said transport projects such as the Luas light rail and BusConnects must serve all residents equitably and protect our environment for generations to come, and he cited the potential of Cork docklands, but said growth must be inclusive, lifting all citizens, and all communities. 'For me, Cork has always been about its people and communities,' he said. 'Everything we do as a city council must be guided by their needs and aspirations. 'I will continue to work closely with community groups, sporting organizations, our elected representatives and the voluntary sector to strengthen the bonds that have already made this city so special.'