THE third Clonakilty mayoral election will take place on Saturday, June 8th, the day after the local and European elections.
A public information meeting for potential candidates and the general public outlining how the election and count works takes place at O’Donovan’s Hotel on Thursday May 9th at 8.30pm.
Since the abolition of the local town council and statutory mayor in 2014, the people of the town and surrounding area, organise and vote every five years to directly elect five members of the local community who then serve one year each as mayor of the town.
The format was initiated 10 years ago by community organisation Dúchas Clonakilty Heritage when central government abolished all the 80 historic town councils in the state so that the position of mayor of Clonakilty would not also fall after 400 continuous years.
Clonakilty is the only town in Ireland since with a mayor and is also the only community ever in the country where the people directly elect peers to the position.
The position is totally voluntary and politically independent with candidates not representing any political parties (even if they are members of them). It has worked well over the last decade with the mayor of the day having a ceremonial, non-statutory role in the community.
Everyone interested in the process is encouraged to attend the public information meeting and official launch of the election. Official nomination papers will also be available whereby people can nominate themselves or nominate another person as a candidate. These nomination papers will also be available at any time from the reception of O’Donovan’s Hotel up to and including 5.30pm Saturday 18th May when nominations officially close.
Polling will be open on Saturday 8th June from 10am-7pm at Scoil na mBuachaillí for all voters over 18 in the Clonakilty urban and Clonakilty rural areas. People with businesses in the town but living outside the voting area can also vote.
The count will be held the following day Sunday 9th June and starts at 10am at O’Donovan’s Hotel followed by declaration of results. This process will be open to the public and like the election itself, will be overseen by Dúchas Clonakilty Heritage, and will result in five community mayors of Clonakilty, each serving one year each up to June 2029.
