Outgoing Mayor Pamela Kearns reflects on all the hard work done by councillors
‘I would tell new mayor to enjoy it’
Mayor Pamela Kearns handed over her title to her successor Cllr Francis Timmons last Friday, after a “really positive” year in the role.
Since 2009, Mayor Kearns has served as councillor in the Dublin South-West area and was elected mayor by her fellow councillors in 2025.
Speaking to The Echo prior to the end of her term, she reflected on the “amazing experience” she has had since her election.
Mayor Kearns was particularly proud of the housing projects she was involved in, as housing has been a particularly important social issue recently,
“I was lucky enough to turn the sod on a number of housing projects. I will go out there when all the houses are up and say I turned the first sod on it,” she said.
Mayor Kearns also commented on the honour it was for South Dublin County Council to win two awards, recognising the hard work done by all during her term.
SDCC scooped the award for Local Authority of the Year at the 2025 Chambers Ireland Excellence in Local Government Awards in December, as well as the Council of the Year Award at the 2026 LAMA All Ireland Community and Council Awards, in February.
She was particularly grateful for the staff of SDCC for all their help and support over the course of the year, saying;
“Karen, who looks out for me here in the office, kept me on track with appointments a lot, because it’s not my forte, as well as the admin staff and the Chief Executive, they have all made it an amazing experience.”
One piece of advice Mayor Kearns passed on to the next mayor, is to “make sure you have a good housekeeper” as the hundreds of engagements will ensure to keep them on their toes.
Another takeaway from her term as Mayor were the lessons she learned from members of the community, both old and young.
One young girl in particular reminded Mayor Kearns of the importance of politeness on the job after she decided to ad-lib a speech instead of reading one written for her, as she struggles with a speech impediment when reading aloud;
“She taught me a valuable lesson when she said, ‘That’s not very kind. That girl is after working hard to write that speech, and you’re not even going to use it.
“I said, ‘you know what, you are perfectly correct’. So, I apologised to the girl who wrote the speech for me, and I read the speech, and it taught me to be more mannerly and appreciate people more” she said.
Mayor Kearns reflected on all the hard work that she and her fellow councillors completed during her time in the office, but took away nothing but positivity and important lessons from the year,
“I had a ball; I really enjoyed it. It was hard work, and I would tell the new mayor coming in to embrace every minute of it and enjoy it.”
Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme
