‘I’m honoured and humbled to be elected Mayor of county’
By William O'Connor
AS PREDICTED in last week’s Echo, Cllr Vicki Casserly was elected Mayor of South Dublin County on Friday in council chambers.
A delighted Councillor Casserly, said she was honoured and humbled to be elected as Mayor and take over the role from Cllr Mark Ward.
Mayor Vicki Casserly with Chairs of Area Committees – Cllr’s Charlie O’Connor, Shane Moynihan, Deputy Mayor Trevor Gilligan, Mary Seery Kearney and Peter Kavanagh (Photo by Ben Ryan)
Mayor Casserly in her acceptance speech said: “I am honoured and humbled to be elected Mayor of our great county. As a local resident, a local mum, a local wife, a local sister, a local daughter and a local carer, my roots go deep in our community.
“During my coming year as Mayor, my vision is to make real progress on the journey to making our county fully accessible and fully inclusive for all residents.”
Mayor Casserly con-cluded her speech by adding “I will work hard to ensure our chamber is fully inclusive and my pledge to you is to be a fair chair, creating a forum where all views are debated and treated respectfully.
“I have lived in this area all my life. I have worked in this area all my life. This is where I am raising my family. I am from this area, and as Mayor I will be firmly and fearlessly for this area.
“I’m really looking forward to the year ahead and promoting our county”
Tributes were paid to the outgoing Mayor, Cllr Mark Ward (Sinn Féin) and Deputy Mayor, Cllr Cathal King (Sinn Féin), who thanked fellow councillors, Chief Executive, Daniel McLoughlin and the management and staff of the Council for their help and support during their term in office.
Cllr Casserly was proposed for Mayor by Cllr Emer Higgins (Fine Gael) and was seconded by Cllr Ed O’Brien (Fianna Fáil). Following a roll-call vote Cllr Casserly was deemed elected to the Office of Mayor.
Cllr Trevor Gilligan (Fianna Fáil), representing the Clondalkin Electoral, Area was elected Deputy Mayor.
Deputy Mayor Gilligan said: “This time last month, I wasn’t sure I would still be a councillor.
“To have been elected four times by our community, then to be elected Deputy Mayor of South Dublin Council is a real privilege and to be honest, these last few weeks have been a whirlwind.
“I think I’m still in disbelief, so it will take a while to sink in.
“I would also like to congratulate my Mayor, Cllr Vicki Casserly – she has been so supportive, she is well liked in the community and this will stand to her and to South Dublin County Council over the next year.”
Cllr Gilligan was proposed as Deputy Mayor by Cllr Ed O’ Brien (Fianna Fáil) and seconded by Cllr Francis Duffy (Green Party).
The following councillors were elected as Chairs of the Area Committees:
Cllr Peter Kavanagh (Green) Clondalkin Area;
Cllr Shane Moynihan (Fianna Fáil) Lucan / Palmerstown / Fonthill Area; Cllr Mary Seery Kearney (Fine Gael) Rathfarnham / Templeogue / Firhouse /Bohernabreena Area; Cllr Charlie O’Connor (Fianna Fáil) Tallaght Central / Tallaght South Area.
