New Mayor elected as Council meets for the first time
Cllr Brian McDonagh has been elected as Mayor of Fingal, with Cllr JK Onwumereh being appointed as Deputy Mayor
The 40 newly-elected members of Fingal County Council have met for the first time as the council’s Annual Meeting was held at the County Hall in Swords.
There were 12 new faces in the council chamber, with the Annual Meeting coming exactly two weeks after the local elections took place. They will join the 28 returning Councillors as the public representatives of the people of Fingal over the next five years.
The AGM saw the election of Cllr Brian McDonagh (Labour, Howth-Malahide) as the new Mayor of Fingal, with Cllr JK Onwumereh (Fianna Fáil, Blanchardstown-Mulhuddart) being elected as Deputy Mayor.
A happy resident of Portmarnock, Cllr McDonagh was first elected to the council in 2014. With a professional background in IT & politics, he is fluent in Irish. The new Mayor of Fingal said his priorities would include the issues of housing, community services, active travel and the delivery of community infrastructure.
Mayor McDonagh said it was an honour to be elected as the first Mayor of this Council’s five-year term.
“I am extremely proud to represent a County as culturally diverse as the one we have, particularly as it continues to be one of the fastest growing regions in the country in terms of population and the economy. As a group of Councillors, we all bring different life experiences and a healthy mix of professional backgrounds and skills to the table. I am looking forward to now getting to work to help ensure we are delivering the services that the people of Fingal deserve.
"I'd like to also say how delighted I am to have Cllr JK Onwumereh as Deputy Mayor as he represents the best of a new Ireland."
At the meeting, the incoming Councillors thanked previous Councillors for their commitment to the community over the past five years.
Fine Gael and Labour with seven councillors each are the largest parties in the new Council and there are also seven councillors with no party affiliations. Fianna Fáil have six councillors, Sinn Féin have four, while Aontú, the Social Democrats and People Before Profit-Solidarity have two each. Three parties, Independents4Change, the Green Party and the National Party have one councillor each.
