Michael O'Connell (politician)

Michael O'Connell is an Irish Labour Party politician and former Lord Mayor of Cork.[1][2] He was born in Cork and represented the North West electoral area. He was first elected onto the Cork City Council in 1999, and served as Deputy Lord Mayor in 2006–2007. He has been a member of many Committees of Council and in June 2005 was elected Chair of the Cork City housing committee. He lost his seat at the 2014 Local Elections.[3]

Michael O'Connell
Lord Mayor of Cork
In office
June 2010  24 June 2011
Preceded byDara Murphy
Succeeded byTerry Shannon
Personal details
BornCork
NationalityIrish
Political partyLabour Party

Born in 1952, he was originally from Farranferris Place in Farranree, on the north side of Cork City, he attended the North Monastery Secondary School. By 2010, O’Connell was living in Briar's Court in Shanakiel, representing the North-West ward, where he was first elected in 1999. He was a member of the Workers' Party in the 1980s and later joined the Democratic Left. While he was involved in campaigns for both parties, it was only when he joined the Labour Party that he was persuaded to run for office and was subsequently elected. He served as chairperson of the South West Regional Authority.[4] As of 2009, he was outgoing chairman of the board of Gurranabraher Credit Union (GCU).[5]

He succeeded Dara Murphy as Lord Mayor of Cork in 2010, winning the position with six Labour votes along with the support of six members of Fine Gael and four members of Fianna Fáil, under an agreement that has seen the three parties share the mayoralty for the previous 3 decades in Cork City. Independent councillor Kieran McCarthy also supported O’Connell.[6] His term as Lord Mayor coincided with the historic visit of reigning British monarch, Queen Elizabeth II to Cork, to whom he presented a specially commissioned brooch.[7][8][9]

References

  1. "Mick O'Connell elected Mayor of Cork". Rte.ie. 24 June 2010. Retrieved 30 May 2021.
  2. "Mick O'Connell | The Labour Party". Labour.ie. 5 November 2015. Retrieved 30 May 2021.
  3. "Candidate - Michael O'Connell". electionsireland.org. Retrieved 30 May 2021.
  4. "Mick O'Connell - Biography". The Labour Party. 5 November 2015. Retrieved 16 September 2021.
  5. Shanahan, Catherine (3 December 2009). "Credit union faces court battle for €1.75m". Irish Examiner. Retrieved 16 September 2021.
  6. Roche, Barry. "Labour councillor is new mayor of Cork". The Irish Times. Retrieved 16 September 2021.
  7. "Queen's visit to Cork commemorated". echo live. 20 May 2021. Retrieved 16 September 2021.
  8. Laffan, Rebecca (21 May 2021). "Photo exhibit marks ten year anniversary of Queen's visit to Cork". Cork Beo. Retrieved 16 September 2021.
  9. "A Moment in Anglo-Irish history: Commemorating the Queen's Visit to The English Market". Cork City Council. Retrieved 16 September 2021.


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