LABOUR COUNCILLOR Emer Costello was last night elected Lord Mayor of Dublin. No other party on Dublin City Council put forward a candidate.
Ms Costello, who represents the north inner city ward and had been serving as deputy Lord Mayor, said helping create jobs in Dublin would be one of her priorities.
“I want Dublin to be the jewel in the crown of European cities . . . Dublin is the engine of our economy. It must also be an engine of economic recovery,” she said.
Warning councillors they would have to work within the constraints of “woefully inadequate financing of local government”, she called on parties to pull together for the sake of the people of Dublin.
Ms Costello also said the door of the Mansion House would always be open to victims of institutional abuse.
The new Lord Mayor is married to Joe Costello, the Labour TD for Dublin Central. They live in Stoneybatter. Ms Costello and 18 other Labour representatives were recently elected to Dublin City Council. She was re-elected on the first count with 2,084 votes.
She has represented the north inner city ward since being co-opted to the seat vacated by Mr Costello in 2003 and was returned to the council in the 2004 election.
Labour councillor Kevin Humphreys was elected deputy Lord Mayor by a majority of 46 to five. Independent councillor Mannix Flynn was also nominated by Bríd Smith of the People Before Profit Alliance. Ms Smith said she was nominating Mr Flynn “to cut across the usual cosy arrangements where all nominations are done beforehand and it’s all done and dusted”.
Last month, Minister for the Environment John Gormley announced that Dublin will have a directly elected mayor next year for the first time.
