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First city councillor elected intends to run for Dáil in next general election
THE first councillor to be declared elected in the Cork City Council local elections has said he intends to run for Dáil Éireann in the next general election.
With a valid vote of 12,269 in the six-seat Cork City North West ward, Fianna Fáil’s councillor Tony Fitzgerald topped the poll with a vote of 1,930, and was declared elected on the first count just after 10.30pm in City Hall.
His election was quickly followed by that of Fine Gael’s Damian Boylan, who was deemed elected on the first count with a vote of 1,872.
Both men were hoisted onto the shoulders of their supporters, with chants of “Boylan, Boylan” narrowly drowned out by a chorus of “Tony, Tony” led by Mr Fitzgerald’s four-year-old grandson Eoin White.
Speaking to reporters, Mr Fitzgerald became emotional, and said he was thinking about his 91-year-old mother, who had gone home earlier, and his father who had passed away two years ago during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The former lord mayor thanked the people of the north-west for their votes, and his family and political party for their support.
He said the next council would face many challenges, and the new city would be the northside as it expanded, and he pledged that he and his party colleagues would work hard to ensure infrastructure spending was put in place for that expansion.
He said the biggest issue on the doorsteps in his ward had been water quality, an important public health issue which he said needed to be addressed urgently by Uisce Éireann.
Housing maintenance had been an issue raised on the doorsteps too, he said, and work was needed to be done with City Hall’s housing department.