Politics

Clonakilty voters to elect mayor directly for first time

Poll to run alongside local and European elections on May 23rd

Voters in Clonakilty, Co Cork, are to elect their own mayor directly for the first time under a clause in the Government’s local government reform policy. Photograph: Provision
Voters in Clonakilty, Co Cork, are to elect their own mayor directly for the first time under a clause in the Government’s local government reform policy. Photograph: Provision
Wed Apr 23 2014 - 01:15

Voters in Clonakilty, Co Cork, are to elect their own mayor directly for the first time under a clause in the Government’s local government reform policy.

Pioneered by the town’s Duchas Clonakilty Heritage group, the mayoral election will run alongside the local and European elections on May 23rd at a venue next to the town’s polling station.

“We looked at this as being a heritage project because we can trace our history of town mayors back to 1605 and it was important for us that link would not be broken,” Clonakilty heritage group member Tomás Tuipéar said.

He identified a clause in the Government document Putting People First: Action Programme for Effective Local Government that allowed for a form of "place-based representation" to enhance and encourage participation in local democracy under the new system of municipal district councils.

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“It was a shock to us that we are losing our gold-plated town council but you have to embrace change. This is the law of the land now and we are just picking out the pieces from it that will best suit our situation,” Mr Tuipéar said.

The Government document states that while the municipal district will be the “most fundamental component” of the formal democratic system, it will not “preclude the existence of other types of representative structures for more localised areas such as community or parish councils”.

West Cork voters will return eight councillors to represent a region stretching 140km from Clonakilty to Dursey Island under the new municipal district boundary in the forthcoming local elections.

“The new mayor and deputy mayor positions will have no statutory power but they will have people power and they can use that power to lobby for change,” Mr Tuipéar said. The initiative is to be launched in O’Donovan’s Hotel tonight.