MR Brendan Lynch was elected Lord Mayor of Dublin last night by 27 votes to 25 over the favourite, Mr Paddy Bourke (Lab). He succeeds his fellow Community group member, Mr Sean D. Loftus.
Mr Lynch was elected after his four member Community group split from the Civic Alliance parties, which have been rotating the Lord Mayor's office between them since 1992.
The outcome was a major surprise to the Alliance, which accused the Community group of being "dishonourable". Mr Tomas Mac Giolla, of the Workers' Party, said the Community group had done very well out of the Alliance and had "milked it for all they were worth".
He said they had got one Lord Mayor and the chairmanship of one of the standing committees and then "formulated this dirty deal".
However, Mr Vincent Jackson (Community) maintained that the Alliance had failed and was not meeting the wishes of the people, while Mrs Carmencita Hederman (Community) said Mr Lynch was a long serving council member and would make an excellent Lord Mayor.
Fianna Fail, the biggest party in the council, did not put forward a candidate and supported Mr Lynch, as did Mr Tony Gregory TD (Independent), Mr Christy Bourke (SF) and the Progressive Democrat member.
The Civic Alliance is composed of Labour, Fine Gael, Greens, and Workers' Party and also received the support of Democratic Left in last night's vote.
Mr Lynch, who has been a member of the council for 22 years, is a former employee of the Irish Press. He has been chairman of a number of council committees and was a prominent member of the credit union movement.
He said he would do his best to fight the "social ills besetting the city". He announced he would soon be setting up a drugs commission and doing something about the lack of community facilities.
Meanwhile, two brothers hold the chair of both Louth County Council and of Drogheda Corporation for what is believed to be the first time ever in Ireland. Last night Mr Malachy Godfrey (36) was elected Mayor of Drogheda under a pact between Fianna Fail, Fine Gael and Mr Godfrey, who is an independent councillor.
His brother, Frank, who is also a member of Drogheda Corporation, is the chairman of Louth County Council and has twice been Mayor of Drogheda.
Mr Seamus Dolan (FF) was unanimously elected the new Mayor of Sligo yesterday. Mr Dolan, who has been a member of the Borough Council for the past two years, is a native of Newtownmanor, Co Leitrim.
The chairman of the Border Regional Authority, Mr Patrick Treanor (FF), was elected chairman of Monaghan County Council last night. Mr John F Conlan (FG) was elected vice chairman.
Mr Dominic Kiernan (FF) was elected Mayor of Wexford at the annual meeting of Wexford Corporation.
This is the second time Mr Kiernan has held the position of mayor, having previously served in 1987-1988.
The new Mayor of Kilkenny is Mr John McGuinness. He is a son of fellow councillor and seven times mayor, Mr Michael McGuinness.