Fine Gael made it a double in Cork city and county yesterday when former FG Cork North West TD Michael Creed was elected Mayor of Co Cork just a day after former FG Cork South Central TD, Deirdre Clune became Lord Mayor of Cork city.
A native of Macroom, Mr Creed defeated Fianna Fáil nominee, councillor Aindrias Ó Muineacháin and Labour councillor Paula Desmond.
Fine Gael holds 24 of the 48 seats on Cork County Council. While a number of members were absent or paired, Mr Creed also received the support of Independent councillor Noel Collins. He won by 22 votes to 12 for Mr Ó Muineacháin and five for Ms Desmond.
Mr Creed paid tribute to his predecessor, former Cork South West TD, Paddy Sheehan, and identified his priority areas for attention during his term.
He said the council's local area plans provided an important blueprint for sustainable development of smaller settlements throughout the county, including the provision of proper infrastructure to ensure that they develop into vibrant communities.
He called for the setting up of a parks department within the council to ensure proper management of green spaces, as well as more staff in the planning department's enforcement section to ensure planning was adhered to.
Mr Creed is the third generation of his family to sit on Cork County Council following his father, Donal, who was a councillor between 1964 and 1985, and his late grandfather, Michael Creed, who was a councillor between 1950 and 1963.
Earlier, Ms Clune pledged to use her year in office to help promote Cork as a tourist destination and she urged all tourist and business interests in the city to adopt a united approach to marketing Cork.
"We recognise in this council that we need to develop Cork as a tourist venue and Cork's strength as a cultural, historical and heritage centre," Ms Clune said.
The renewal of Cork city centre, the refurbishment of Blackrock Castle as an astronomy research centre and the development of a heritage centre at the old Lee Road water works were just some of the developments aimed at making Cork more attractive for visitors, she said.
She called on various hotel, tourist and business interests to speak with one voice to promote Cork.
Ms Clune was elected in succession to Fianna Fáil councillor Seán Martin as part of a pact between Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and Labour, which have 25 of the 31 council seats and rotate the mayoralty between them over the council's five-year term.
She defeated Independent councillor Con O'Connell by 24 votes to four after receiving the backing of eight Fine Gael councillors, six Labour councillors and nine members of Fianna Fail, as well as Progressive Democrat Máirín Quill.