CLLR  Danny Collins was elected the new chairperson of the West Cork Municipal District, while Cllr Deirdre Kelly (FF) was voted in as  vice-chairperson at the AGM this week.

Cllr Daniel Sexton (Ind Ire) proposed  Cllr Collins,  while Cllr Kelly seconded his nomination and no other names were put forward.

Cllr Collins (Ind Ire) takes over from Cllr Caroline Cronin (FG) who thanked her colleagues for the support, especially Cllr Kelly who, she said, ‘always took the time to check in with me especially on the hard days’.

She said while it had been an absolute privilege to be in the role, it had been an incredibly difficult year with the loss of two outstanding colleagues and friends, Cllrs Patrick Gerard Murphy and Joe Carroll (both Fianna Fáil).

‘They are greatly missed and will always be just a thought away. So thank you Deirdre for your kindness and your friendship,’ said Cllr Cronin.

She said there had been many great days too while she was in office. She gave a special thank you to the Municipal District management team, ‘this top table of powerful women, ladies you are outstanding’, she said.

Adding that she would miss the chairperson’s chain she joked: ‘I do love the bling! But I’m very happy to hand it over to the next chairperson and I wish them the very best for the year ahead.’
Cllr Collins thanked Cllr Cronin and said his focus would be to secure more funding for West Cork.

‘This is my third time doing this. I might not have your beauty, Caroline, but hopefully I’ll do the best I can. I hope to get more funding for our area and it’s badly needed.’